Mitchelton-Scott’s transformation is complete. The Australian team entered the sport with a focus on stage victories and one-day races before later declaring its intent to focus on GC at the Grand Tours. After a handful of near-misses in recent years — podiums at the Giro and Vuelta, and another four top-10s — the Aussie men’s outfit has its first Grand Tour victory, courtesy of Simon Yates.
Yates looked set to win the Giro d’Italia earlier this year before blowing up with just days remaining. There was no such implosion for the 26-year-old at the Vuelta a España. Yates went on to win the race by nearly two minutes, ensuring Great Britain would win all three Grand Tours this season, and all with different riders.
Of course, there was more to this year’s Vuelta than just Yates’ victory. There was Elia Viviani’s domination of the sprints, Ben King’s great stage wins, and the evergreen Alejandro Valverde. And then there was 23-year-old Enric Mas who confirmed his vast potential by winning a stage and finishing second overall. And let’s not forget that 24-year-old Miguel Angel Lopez snagged his second Grand Tour podium for the year by finishing third.
The photo gallery you see below tells the story of the final week of the 2018 Vuelta a España, stages 16 to 21. Follow the links for galleries from week 1 (stage 1 to 9) and week 2 (stages 10 to 15).
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- Stage 16 was a 32km, largely flat individual time trial.
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- Rigo Uran was off the pace …
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- … while fellow GC contender Steven Kruijswijk had one of the rides of the day, finishing fourth and moving from fifth to third overall.
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- Rohan Dennis, meanwhile, was in a class of his own. The Aussie champ was fastest by nearly a minute, adding to his win in the prologue. He promptly left the race and will now turn his attention to the world championships.
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- Stage 17 took the riders into the Basque country for a tough day in the mountains. Dylan Teuns was part of the day-long breakaway that survived until the steep final climb. He punched away on his own …
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- … but had Michael Woods close behind.
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- Woods was able to make up ground, hit the front, then hold on for an emotional victory.
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- The Canadian has been close to a breakout win for a long time now and on stage 17 of the Vuelta he finally got it. Woods gave an emotional post-race interview in which he spoke about his son’s tragic stillbirth a few months earlier.
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- Yates did enough to stay in red, but both Alejandro Valverde and Enric Mas were closing in.
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- After going deep in the stage 16 time trial, Kruijswijk suffered on stage 17, dropping more than a minute to some of his GC rivals. He was back in fifth overall as a result.
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- Nairo Quintana lost time too and dropped down to sixth.
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- After riding hard in support of Simon Yates, Jack Haig had some time to mess about on the final climb.
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- Stage 17 was no laughing matter for Fabio Aru. The Italian crashed on the final descent and was afterwards seen blaming his bike. He rode to the finish with a bit of extra ventilation.
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- Stage 18 saw the riders cover 186 mainly flat kilometres into Lleida for what looked certain to be a bunch sprint.
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- Sven Erik Bystrom and Jelle Wallays had other ideas though. They forged on from the day’s breakaway …
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- … and were able to hold off the chasing bunch to contest the win. Wallays forced Bystrom to the front in the closing kilometre and was able to roll his companion to take the win. Sagan led in the peloton, just behind.
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- Sagan was on stage at the start of stage 19, helping to present a bike to Spanish MotoGP champion Marc Marquez.
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- Stage 19 was the first of two in Andorra; a stage that started easily enough before ramping up into a 17km climb to the finish.
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- Thibaut Pinot, Simon Yates and Steven Kruijswijk emerged as the strongest climbers …
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- … and would finish in that order. Pinot took his second stage win of the race …
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- … while Yates went deep to put more than a minute into his closest rival, Alejandro Valverde.
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- Kruijswijk bounced back up to third overall in what was a rollercoaster of a week for the Dutchman.
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- The hilly principality of Andorra provided a backdrop for the race’s penultimate stage — the final chance for the GC contenders to make their mark.
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- Simon Yates was ably supported by his twin Adam on stage 20, as he has been throughout the Vuelta.
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- After slipping from third to fourth on stage 19, Enric Mas bounced back emphatically the following day. On the final climb he got clear with Miguel Angel Lopez for company, before beating the Colombian in the final sprint.
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- The win is Mas’ first (of many?) at a Grand Tour, and moved him into second overall. Best victory salute of the year?
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- When Lopez and Mas rode away, Yates rode his own tempo to finish third on the stage and hold on to red.
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- Things were a little less serious further back in the field.
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- Ben King took a tumble on stage 20, but with two stage wins, he’s certainly got plenty to celebrate from this year’s Vuelta.
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- After a long transfer to Madrid after stage 20, the riders started the final stage at twilight.
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- Igor Anton rode into retirement by getting off the front and saluting to the crowd.
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- There was some breakaway action on the final stage, but it was destined to come back to a sprint.
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- Who else but Viviani?
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- It wasn’t particularly close either. The Italian champ has had his best-ever season, winning three stages at the Vuelta to add to his four at the Giro.
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- Mitchelton-Scott were rocking a special red kit as they celebrated winning their first men’s Grand Tour. The win comes a few months after Annemiek van Vleuten won the only women’s Grand Tour, the Giro Rosa.
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- Simon Yates first, Enric Mas second, Miguel Angel Lopez third. Some exciting GC battles lay ahead.
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- Simon Yates, winner of the 2018 Vuelta a España.