Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-Alpha Vinyl) comes under a lot of pressure - especially from the media and public at home in Belgium - and has handled it very well on this Vuelta so far. However, the presence of a persistent autograph hunter at the end of today's stage 17 did not please the race leader.
In the warm-down area a man and a child had gathered just as Evenepoel was about to get on his trainer. And when the fan was persistent, even throwing a race leader's jersey at him to sign, the Belgian nodded to a staff member beside him to address the onlookers.
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However, out on the road today - on the 162.3km stage from Aracena to Monasterio de Tentudía - Evenepoel had no problems. The sting has somewhat gone out of the general classification race for him after the withdrawal today of 2nd place Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) after his crash yesterday.
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Today a breakaway won the day, with Rigoberto Urán (EF Education-EasyPost) proving strongest of the escapees on the uphill finish after a very aggressive finale. Lawson Craddock (BikeExchange-Jayco) and Jesús Herrada (Cofidis) both put in impressive digs close to the finish, though Urán overhauled them and outmuscled them on the final run to the line.
The Colombian, taking his first victory since winning the TT stage on Tour de Suisse last season, won from Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), with stage 7 winner Herrada 3rd at two seconds.
Evenepoel - who had to cover some attacks from Enric Mas (Movistar) on the final climb - finished alongside Mas, who were 14th and 15th, some 5:11 down on the winner. Evenepoel now leads the race overall by 2:01 from Mas with 19-year-old Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) 3rd at 4:51.
