Five talking points from the ninth stage of Vuelta a España 2021

Brilliant Caruso wins again in its golden year

Damiano Caruso continues to be the antidote to the tendency of young people to win bike races.

Three months after shocking everyone by finishing second in the Giro d’Italia and crowning his place on the podium with a victory in the penultimate stage of the race, the Italian arrived at Vuelta a España with the ‘intention to show that he can reproduce this performance.

The Bahraini-Victorious rider made his way through the ninth stage breakaway, then attacked solo before the last long and winding climb in Spain’s semi-arid desert, the Tabernas.

He had a considerable advantage of around six minutes at the foot of the Alto de Velefique climb, and if that time gap gradually narrowed, he was able to maintain his lead and comfortably win by over a minute. and allow yourself a long -the bike party.

At 33, Caruso is having his best year ever and will be an inspiration to many servants who yearn for their own season of personal opportunity.

RogliÄ moves away from everyone except Mas

A few seconds ago, it looked like Primož RogliÄ – resplendent in the red leader’s jersey he has worn since the 2019 edition of this race – had been discovered. Had he cracked?

Adam Yates’ initial attack, with more than 5 miles to go, briefly left the Slovenian behind, and it looked like he was retreating as the Briton advanced.

And then normalcy returned: RogliÄ woke up from his very light sleep, pulled out his saddle, wrestled with his bike and caught up with Yates. A small group of five emerged and in the end RogliÄ was only joined by Enric Mas; all other contenders for the overall standings had been unable to keep pace with the defending champion.

He is now 28 seconds ahead of Mas, three seconds more than before the start of the stage, and during the first test in the mountain itself, it was obvious that the leader Jumbo-Visma is the strongest of the race.

As he discovered at the Tour de France, crashes can ruin ambitions and plans, but if he can keep himself from bad luck in the next couple of weeks, it’s very hard to see how he won’t win. a third Vuelta title on the rebound. .

Movistar sometimes succeeds

Mocking Movistar and their questionable tactics is a common occurrence in every recent Grand Tour, but credit should be given to the Spanish outfit when they aren’t that funny to watch.

On the ninth stage they were arguably the biggest winners of the day: Mas moved up to second and looked much better than many of his other rivals, while Miguel Ãngel López made many strong turns. in front of a small group of five in the last kilometers. and still managed to climb to third place overall, now 1-21 behind RogliÄ.

Mas looked confident when it was just him and RogliÄ on the left, leading the race leader up the climb and only hesitating in the final 100 meters when RogliÄ’s killer instinct to absorb the seconds bonus saw him sprint for the line and Mas was unable to respond.

Thanks to his second place at the Vuelta 2018, Mas has been Spain’s hope in the general classification for a few seasons, but his performances in the last two Tours de France have gone a little unnoticed, a fifth place last year and a sixth this summer.

He showed in the opening week of the race that he is able to match or perhaps improve on his result from three years ago, while López is also on track to finish on the podium. – a result he has not achieved since his third place at the 2018 Giro d’Italia and Vuelta.

RogliÄ leads before the first day of rest, but Movistar have been the best team all around.

But a bad day for Ineos

However, the same cannot be said for Ineos Grenadiers who did not have a great day in Almeria.

Adam Yates was exciting, attacking several times and twice flawlessly, but the Briton appeared to have acted too soon, eventually succumbing to the big efforts and coming home 29 seconds behind RogliÄ, a disappointing result after his promise was made. daring. moves. Still, he jumped to sixth place overall, 2-07 behind the red.

Yates won’t be a concern for Ineos – his willingness to attack RogliÄ from afar will earn him praise and have reportedly been greeted enthusiastically by his team managers – but teammate Egan Bernal has had his worst day so far.

Bernal was let go by the favorites halfway through and if he bravely held on to limit his loss to 65 seconds, the Colombian would have expected much more of himself in the race’s first major upheaval.

He is fifth overall, 1:52 behind RogliÄ and 15 seconds ahead of Yates who had lost time earlier in the week, but his hopes of winning the Giro-Vuelta double in the first year seem rather slim based on this evidence.

More alarming was the collapse of Richard Carapaz. The Olympic champion hadn’t been at his best in the first eight stages, but on Sunday he completely broke into the punitive climb and finished 9:08 behind winner Caruso, meaning even a top 10 for him seems now a distant possibility.

The top 10 evolves as the race takes shape

The Vuelta has been a slow burn so far, so it was refreshing to see a flurry of attacks and some real excitement in the final throes of Stage 9.

Running up to an altitude of 1,800m, the race’s overall standings underwent their first major significant overhaul, allowing observers to really assess who will be in the podium and top 10 in two weeks time.

Jack Haig of Bahrain-Victorious was one of the big winners of the day, coming back well and moving from seventh to fourth place, while Giulio Ciccone of Trek-Segafredo now sits in seventh, an improvement from 11th .

Felix Großschartner, second before the stage thanks to his strong performance two days earlier, dropped seven places to ninth place, and David de la Cruz of UAE-Team Emirates entered the top 10. Only 2-04 separate López in third and Großschartner in ninth, which means the fight for the top three. should be tight and intense over the past two weeks.

As for first place, RogliÄ’s lead over Mas may only be 28 seconds, but it already looks like the rest of the overall riders are fighting for a place alongside him on the podium. .