Landa saves Kiss

The newspaper library and the photo archive sometimes contain real gems that become more and more symbolic over time. There are images that are not so far away the autumnal return of the pandemicwhich shows Jonas Vingegaard and Sepp Kuss put on the peloton their leader, Primoz Roglic, on the climb before Angliru. On that day, November 1st, the Slovenian lost the red jersey to Richard Carapaz, but regained it in the next stage and wore it to Madrid. It was his second three wins in the Spanish round. Three years later, a lot has changed. the Jumbo’s chest. Vingegaard has gone from gregarious to two-time Tour champion. And Kuss, who remains sociable, still dreams of winning the Vuelta. But the dream threatened to disappear on his 29th birthday In the hell of the Angliru.

Mikel Landa, the best outside of the Jumbo, the best of the people, did the best gift to kiss, after he gave up his steering wheel in the last kilometers after his two colleagues were stripped of the red jersey. A gesture that, together with the bonus, helped the American to keep the garment for eight seconds. The 2023 photo had the same protagonists again, but this time As a consolation prize, Roglic won the stagewith an adult Vingegaard at the helm, getting ever closer to a tie the Tour-Vuelta double. The third was Sepp, in another Jumbo hat trick, as happened in Tourmalet. The most ironic thing of all is that Kuss was defending himself against his own teammates. In fact, it was the American who said over the earpiece to keep going when he wasn’t hooked. As explained in the finish, the trident agreed The law of the strongest. Instead of waiting for Kuss to give him the win on his birthday, Roglic and Kuss stepped up. And the person who helped him keep the jersey was, paradoxically, a rival. Pure countryism.

The first sets on stage had already sent two clear messages. One of Remco Evenepoel wanted the stage. Two of that also the jumbo. In this case by crushing. The Belgian wanted to win in a breakaway group. It was an announced chronicle. The day before, he had deliberately lost 17 minutes in order to be more rested and not to worry the entire team. What’s more: this strategy was made public in full on the rest day. The Angliru is a very beautiful piece that enriches the character of a figure with its workmanship. But Roglic also thought the same, adding a mythical highlight to his collection of twelve victories at the Vuelta. Perhaps the most mythical. Courtesy of the Lakes.

Evenepoel kept his promise and played in an escape his inseparable companion Mattia Cattaneo, although he didn’t get as much of a lead as he expected because the yellow scooter was also running with the stopwatch in hand. At the summit of Cordal, the previous climb, he reached the summit in 2:18 minutes. He let himself gasp for air on the way down. And it was all or nothing the hellish ramps of the Asturian colossus, those endless 24 percent slopes. It was nothing. Less than six kilometers away, Remco succumbed. By this point the jumbo had already disappeared from my memory, replaced by an ambitious Bahrain. His pace overtook the other two Spanish candidates. First to Juan Ayuso. Then to Enric Mas. And it promoted its leader, also Spanish: Mikel Landa.

While Evenepoel was heading towards his impossible goal, another game had been played behind him that was not going well. The UAE team has sacrificed a piece of its board, Marc Soler, who was sixth overall at the start of Ribadesella, 3:28 behind. Soler started with the first climb of the day, Colladiella, 50 kilometers from the day. His start resulted in wear and tear on the jumbo that could have been multiplied if he had safely teamed up with Remco a later recording by Juan Ayuso. But the one who was exhausted first was Soler himself, who was neutralized after the Cordal. The ensuing crisis of its young leader dashed the boldness. Yes, the UAE fell bravely. Ayuso saved fourth placebut already four minutes before red. AND Landa, who started seventh, improved by two places and is now in fifth place, 4:06 minutes behind. He was the other hero of the day. Kiss’ savior.

General ranking

Pos cyclist	equipment	Time
1 Primoz Roglic	TJV	3h:15:56
2 Jonas Vingegaard	TJV	+00:00
3 Sepp kiss	TJV	+00:19
4 Mikel Landa	TBV	+00:19
5 Wouter Poels	TBV	+00:44
6 Joao Almeida	UAD	+00:58
7 Cian Uijtdebroeks	BOH	+01:20
8th Santiago Buitrago	TBV	+01:20
9 Juan Ayuso	UAD	+01:42
10 Enric Mas	MOV	+01:43

Pos cyclist	equipment	Time
1 Sepp kiss	TJV	60h:34:21
2 Jonas Vingegaard	TJV	+00:08
3 Primoz Roglic	TJV	+01:08
4 Juan Ayuso	UAD	+04:00
5 Mikel Landa	TBV	+04:16
6 Enric Mas	MOV	+04:30
7 Cian Uijtdebroeks	BOH	+06:43
8th Alexander Vlasov	BOH	+07:38
9 Joao Almeida	UAD	+09:26
10 Santiago Buitrago	TBV	+11:26

See full classification