May 21, 2018. It’s the second rest day of the Giro d’Italia. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) leads the race by more than two minutes having won three stages. He’s looking unbeatable in the hills and is the big favourite to be in pink come Milan.
Things go to plan for the next three days. Yates stays in pink through the stage 16 individual time trial, and all the way through the end of stage 18. But then, on stage 19, something goes horribly, inexplicably wrong. As Chris Froome (Sky) rides to one of the most amazing victories in recent memory, Yates implodes, dropping nearly 40 minutes. His dreams of winning the Giro are over.
Fast forward four-and-a-half months to the second rest day of the Vuelta a España. Again Yates leads with six stages remaining. Again it’s an individual time trial that will kick-start the final ‘week’ of racing. Again he’s the favourite to win the race overall.
Yates’ lead is slimmer this time around — just 26 seconds over the evergreen (and green-jersey-wearing) Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), with two others within 20 seconds. But this time Yates doesn’t have world-class time-trialists nipping at his heels, as he did with Tom Dumoulin (Sunweb) and Froome at the Giro. Regardless, the big question of this year’s Vuelta lies before us, waiting to be answered: Can Yates hold on?
Can he make up for the frustrations of the Giro and become the first male rider from the GreenEdge setup to win a Grand Tour? Six stages separate him from Madrid, four of which are ripe for changes to the general classification.
As the riders enjoy their second and final rest day of this year’s Vuelta, we hope you enjoy the following photo gallery. It tells the story of the second ‘week’ of the 2018 Vuelta a España — stages 10 through 15. Click through to see our gallery from stages 1 to 9.
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- After the first rest day, the Vuelta resumed its march towards the north-western pocket of Spain.
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- While there were a few rolling hills to negotiate, stage 10 was always likely to be one for the sprinters.
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- That meant a largely stress-free day for Simon Yates in the leader’s red jersey.
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- When it came to the predicted bunch sprint, Elia Viviani was too good again.
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- That’s two stage wins at this year’s Vuelta for the Italian champion. So far.
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- Stage 11 was a significantly lumpier affair than the previous day’s stage.
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- A stage-winning breakaway got clear, and splintered in the closing kilometres. Thibaut Pinot was up there and was leading the race for a time.
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- Alessandro De Marchi was in the break too. He attacked late with Jhonatan Restrepo for company, before going it alone inside the final 5km.
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- Could Simon Clarke be Australia’s go-to option for Sunday?
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- De Marchi held on to win the stage solo. It was the Italian’s fourth professional victory and his third at the Vuelta.
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- Fabio Aru lost another 40 seconds to his GC rivals on the day, dropping him from 11th to 13th overall, 1:49 behind Yates.
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- Stage 12 took the riders along the Cantabrian coast to Spain’s northernmost point: the Estaca de Bares lighthouse.
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- It was another day for the breakaway, with 18 riders getting up the road.
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- It was a group of five that reached the final sprint together. Alexandre Geniez launched early …
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- … and while Dylan van Baarle closed in, Geniez was able to hold on for the victory.
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- Unfortunately for those in the leading group, a member of the race organisation was on the road immediately after the finish, leading Geniez and others to crash.
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- Van Baarle went down the hardest …
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- … and needed help getting up.
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- Jesus Herrada was in the day-long breakaway before crossing the line in 16th, 2:32 behind Geniez. As the highest-placed rider in the break, and with the GC favourites finishing more than 11 minutes down, Herrada took up the overall lead.
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- After stage 12 the Spaniard led the Vuelta by 3:22 over previous leader Simon Yates.
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- Sagan loves him some Haribo.
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- Stage 13 took the riders into the Cantabrian Mountains in what would be another day for the breakaway.
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- The GC contenders were up and about in the closing stages …
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- … so too the likes of Floris De Tier who was trying to fire up the crowd.
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- The stage eventually went the way of 23-year-old Spaniard Oscar Rodriguez.
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- It was Rodriguez’ first professional win.
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- Overall leader Jesus Herrada dropped a bunch of time on the main GC contenders but stayed in red by day’s end.
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- Stage 14 was another lumpy day in the Cantabrian Mountains.
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- Red jersey Herrada again found himself off the back, this time dropping 9:16 on the stage and falling down to 17th overall.
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- Kruijswijk led many of the GC contenders in the closing kilometres …
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- … even getting away on his own for a time. But he couldn’t hold the attack, and ended up getting caught and then distanced before the line.
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- Simon Yates, meanwhile, was able to pull away on the steep slopes of the final climb …
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- … to win the stage just a couple seconds ahead of his rivals.
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- In doing so he moved back into red.
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- Stage 15 was a third-straight day in the mountains and another opportunity for the GC contenders to make up time. Miguel Angel Lopez attacked and would finish the day in second …
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- … but it was an attack from Thibaut Pinot that would win the day. Pinot made his move with 6km to go …
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- … and crossed the line with a 28-second buffer over Lopez.
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- Will Yates be able to get away to win Worlds as well?
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- … 26 seconds ahead of green jersey Alejandro Valverde. The Spaniard’s teammate Nairo Quintana is third, another seven seconds back.
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- Kiwi George Bennett had a tough run of it in the Cantabrian Mountains, dropping from 11th overall after stage 12, to 22nd by the second rest day.
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- Don’t worry Simon — only six stages to go.