Briton Adam Yates wins after long breakaway, Ben O’Connor retains leader’s red jersey

Wake-up call has come for the UAE Team Emirates. After the loss of Joao Almeida, affected by Covid, it was another of its riders, Adam Yates, who went on to pocket the victory at the finish of the 9th stage of the Vuelta, Sunday August 25, between Motril and Granada. After a long breakaway, the Briton crossed the line first at the foot of the Alhambra, in the heart of the Andalusian city. Enough to secure his first stage victory on the roads of the Vuelta, his second only on a Grand Tour after the inaugural stage of the 2023 Grande Boucle.

Present in the day’s breakaway, Adam Yates put on a recital for almost a hundred kilometers. Having taken the lead on the two climbs of the Alto de Hazallanas, one of the two difficulties of the day, he put on the polka dot jersey for best climber and moved up to 7th place in the general classification (+5’30”). Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz (EF Education First) went for second place on the stage, while the red jersey Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) beat the peloton in a sprint for the third step of the podium.

The day after his summit victory in Cazorla, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) had a much more mixed day. Struggling in a peloton that quickly tightened around the favourites, the Slovenian showed signs of weakness on the final climb of the Alto de Hazallanas. However, he was able to contain the attacks of his opponents, from Richard Carapaz, who failed to take back the runner-up spot, to Enric Mas (Movistar), who came out of the peloton but was slowed down by a big scare on the final descent of the day. Enough to limit the damage before the first rest day.