Nicolas Roche of Ireland on Thursday won the hilly 18th stage of the Vuelta a Espana, while Dutchman Tom Dumoulin protected his slim lead over Fabio Aru.
Dumoulin responded to Aru’s repeated attacks on the final ascent to keep his three-second advantage over the Itailan with three days to go until the finish of the Grand Tour.
“A second for every day,” Dumoulin said. “It’s very little time and a lot can happen in the coming days.”
Photo: EPA
Roche beat fellow escapee Haimar Zubeldia in a sprint to the finish line to complete the 204km ride from Roa to Riaza in just over five hours.
“Zubeldia is a very strong and experienced rider; I have lost many sprints to him,” Roche said in Spanish. “I tried to go first and to control the speed, and it worked.”
Roche, son of former cyclist Stephen Roche, had to be attended by medics for a wasp sting after the stage.
“I was afraid of the bug. Well, I am exaggerating, but I touched it and it stung me,” Roche said. “I thought it would be bad luck.”
Dumoulin took the lead of the general classification by erasing a deficit of almost two minutes by winning Wednesday’s individual time trial.
Back in the peloton on Thursday, Aru’s Astana set a hard pace and succeeded in shedding Dumoulin of his Giant-Alpecin teammates. However, Dumoulin stayed pegged to Aru’s wheel on three separate attacks going up the final category 1 ascent, while the rest of the top 10 riders in the general classification took turns trying their luck only to be reeled in.
Saying he felt fit, Dumoulin even saved a little spurt to then turn Aru and company into chasers.
“It was a difficult day, but I am still in red,” Dumoulin said. “[Aru] was strong, but I knew how to keep the red jersey. He spent some energy in those attacks, and when [Davi] Moreno went, I followed his wheel, so I did the little counterattack.”
The race appears to be down to a two-man contest with third-placed Joaquim Rodriguez still 1 minute, 15 seconds behind, and fourth-placed Rafal Majka 2 minutes, 22 seconds back.
Yesterday’s stage was another rolling 185.5km route from Medina del Campo to Avila.
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