Deceuninck-QuickStep put in an incredible final 5km on stage 13 at La Vuelta today, shredding the front of the main peloton and taking the victory with Florian Sénéchal.
The Belgian team put numbers on the front and hit it hard
from over 5km out; using the crosswinds and the constantly changing road
direction, due to roundabouts, to their benefit.
They went so hard on the front that even Tom Pidcock
(Ineos Grenadiers) was unable to hold the wheel, with splits appearing all over
the peloton at the end of 203.7km of racing into Villanueva de
la Serena.
With 6km to go on the stage, Ineos Grenadiers were on the front; riding hard and with the breeze already clearly a big factor and putting lots of riders under pressure.
However, the breeze today meant a right hand turn with
just 3.5km to go took on huge significance as the wind then became a more
pronounced crosswind for long stretches of road.
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Deceuninck-QuickStep took over on the front at will from Ineos Grenadiers with just over 4.5km to go. And from that point the Belgian team turned the screw and shredded the main field; hitting over 60km per hour going under the 4km marker and never letting up.
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Once they hit the roundabout with 3.5km to go and turned
right, Deceuninck-QuickStep had the first four positions, followed by Matteo Trentin
(UAE Team Emirates).
Pidcock was behind him, trying to keep Ineos Grenadiers
team leader Egan Bernal in position, with Fabio Jakobsen of Deceuninck-QuickStep
just behind them.
Pidcock looked like he was struggling to hold the wheel as several roundabouts had to be negotiated and with 1.5km to go Jakobsen also let the wheel go.
That left his four team mates, with Trentin in their
wheel, to pull clear as a couple of Alpecin Fenix riders tried to close up to
them, which they did with 1km to go.
Alexander Krieger (Alpecin-Fenix) opened
the gallop first, going far too early. That allowed Florian Sénéchal (Deceuninck-Quick Step) to take his wheel and use him as a lead out
man.
And while Trentin
pushed Sénéchal all the way to the line, it was the Belgian team that
won the stage; Sénéchal taking it from Trentin, with Alberto Dainese (Team DSM) coming through for 3rd.
The first 12 riders on the road all gained time, with the main field, containing Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) and race leader Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux), losing 11 seconds to the stage winner.
Bernal handled himself very well at the pointy end and though he couldn’t hold the very strongest men on the flat, he finished 10th on the stage. He gained five seconds on the other GC men who were in the main bunch.
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