Imperial, the Belgian Wout van Aert took a third victory on Tuesday during the tenth stage of the Tour of Spain cycling race in Baiona (Galicia) by beating the Frenchman Quentin Pacher, his breakaway companion, for more than 100 kilometers at the head of the race.
The Groupama-FDJ rider tried his luck by attacking 1.6km from the finish but the wearer of the green jersey, renowned as one of the fastest riders on the circuit, left him no chance in the final hectometres to confirm his return to form on this 79e edition of the Vuelta, still dominated by the Australian Ben O’Connor.
“In the intermediate sprint he [Van Aert] “He left, that’s where I told myself I had to follow him. It wasn’t easy to find a moment to attack him because he’s strong everywhere… I just followed his wheel, I gave it my all without thinking, I can only be satisfied, because I was beaten by a guy who was simply stronger,” Quentin Pacher told Eurosport.
The two men finished the stage two-up after being part of a five-rider breakaway with Spaniard Marc Soler, Belgian William Junior Lecerf and Dutchman Juri Hollmann, which the peloton led by the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale team let slip by more than five minutes.
The general classification therefore remains unchanged at the start of the second week of racing, with O’Connor still ahead of the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, second with a delay of 3 minutes and 53 seconds, and the Ecuadorian Richard Carapaz, third at 4 minutes 32.
Frenchman David Gaudu remains tenth, 6 minutes and 32 seconds behind the Australian.
Victim of a fall on Saturday, the Italian Giulio Ciccone, from the Lidlt-Trek team, threw in the towel during the stage.
The 11e Wednesday’s stage will start and finish from the same town of Padron, in Galicia, with a 166.5 kilometer route including four difficulties.