Cort takes third stage victory at 2021 Vuelta with help from Craddock

For the third time in this year’s Vuelta a España Magnus Cort (EF Education First-Nippo) crossed the finish line on top, winning stage 19 from a breakaway that went early in the stage. Rui Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) finished second behind Cort with Quinn Simmons (Trek-Segafredo) rounding out the podium.

Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) finished safely in the peloton 18 seconds after the winner along with the rest of the top general classification contenders.

The hilly Parcours of stage 19 encouraged a breakaway to take off early. Unlike other stages where the break struggled to force a gap, stage 19 saw multiple small groups jump off the front of the peloton to create a break of 24 riders.

Unfortunately a crash in the peloton with 40 km to go forced Louis Meintjes (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux) to abandon the race and forego his tenth place overall.

Over the climbs and under the strain of multiple attacks from the breakaway riders, the leaders lost riders, eventually entering the top 10 with only seven. Team DSM and Team BikeExchange were both active to bring the break back after the two teams failed to put a man up the road.

As the race passed 2 km to go the breakaway had an advantage on the peloton with a 27-second gap. Lawson Craddock (EF Education First-Nippo) led the break into the final 300 meters to lead his teammate into a third Vuelta stage victory this year.

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