End of party of an unforgettable Vuelta a Andalucía 2023. Omar Fraile closed the Andalusian race by raising his arms in Alhaurín de la Torre, some sweetness of victory that he had not tasted since he was proclaimed champion of Spain in the 2021 Nationals. The Spaniard from Ineos prevailed in a explosive arrival to Alessandro Covi, avoiding what would have been a full of victories for the UAE in each of the stages. The inevitable was, as might be expected, the coronation of Tadej Pogacar as hood of the general in his best debut ever in a professional elite season: five victories in six days of competition. Crazy. His companions on the podium, to a world despite his meritorious performances, were two Bahrain: Mikel Landa (1:23) and Santiago Buitrago (1:28).
He port of the sun stood as the last strong dish of this 69th Route of the Sun. In total, 17 km at 5% average with 21 horseshoe curves. Colleoni arrived at the Andalusian Alpe d’Huez (Jayco), debondt (Alpecin), Fetter (EOLO-KOMETA), eenkhoorn (Lotto), isasa (Euskatel), Van Gestel (TotalEnergies) and Van Hemelen (Baloise), the seven brave men who made up the escape of the day. However, a willful Movistar who set the pace at the head of the pack for much of the day, stabilized his lead at around 2 minutes. Despite the spectacular surroundings, that its summit was 85 km from the finish line did not favor any distant movement by the men of the general. Much to lose, little to gain…
The gap between the breakaway and the peloton was reduced to just a handful of seconds at the arrival of the last trap of this edition, a Alto de los Núñez that in its last 600 meters hid a wall at 13.5% on average. To avoid scares, Pogacar tightened the pace in the rise of the hand of Majka and Wellens, which avoided attacks from direct rivals and neutralized the breakaways, except for a De Bondt who managed to crown alone. On the descent, as he tried on several occasions in days past, Mohoric used his expertise to open a slight gap that the Ineos men were in charge of closing.
With the general and the podium more than resolved, the last unknown to clear up would be the last stage winner. Movistar won many points with García Cortina and Gonzalo Serrano, who managed to resist on the last ascent, but after 2 km they lost the leading positions when they took a roundabout on the longest side. Pogacar, who could afford to do whatever he wanted, put on his work overalls to make it easier for his partner Covi to win. It seemed that the Italian would put the icing on the cake for the UAE, but Fraile came back with great force in the last few meters to put an end to his drought. But, once again, unperturbed, the figure of Tadej Pogacar at the top of the podium. This year he does not want to leave even the crumbs.
Results 5th stage
1st Omar Fraile (Ineos) – 4h 27:59
2nd Alessandro Covi (UAE) – mt
3rd Andrea Pasqualon (Bahrain) – mt
6th Gonzalo Serrano (Movistar) – mt
General final of the 69th Tour of Andalusia
1st Tadej Pogacar (UAE) – 9:00 p.m. 04:57
2nd Michael Landa (Bahrain) – 1:23
3rd Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain) – 1:28
4th carlos rodriguez (Ineos) – 1:44
5th enric mas (Movistar) – 2:03