For the second time in three days, Australian Jay Vine, who picked up an Alpecin-Deceuninck contract after his Zwift Academy virtual racing exploits, won a stage of the 2022 Vuelta a España on a misty summit finish. He also took over the King of the Mountains lead. Vine took his first professional victory on Thursday. Remco Evenepoel had no problem keeping his red jersey.
You can watch the 77th Vuelta a España at FloBikes.
The Course
There was plenty of climbing on Saturday, with a Cat. 2 arriving almost immediately after the start, and four more categorized climbs before the 2022 Vuelta’s second summit finish, 10.2-km, 7.9 percent Colláu Fancuaya. It was steepest at the top.
A hard day awaits at #LaVuelta22.
An uphill start, a total of six classified climbs, and a tough summit finish are on the menu of stage 8, 153.4 kilometers between La Pola Llaviana and Collau Fancuaya. pic.twitter.com/JsFjVUM4lC
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) August 27, 2022
One thing was for sure on Saturday: there would be a new man in blue polka dots, as a crash made Victor Langellotti abandon soon after Vine surpassed him in the competition, the Australian having tipped over opening climb Alto de la Colladona first. Stage 6 winner Vine was part of a 10-man breakaway that included Mikel Landa, Thibaut Pinot and Stage 5 winner Marc Soler.
Vine also racked up maximum KOM points on Cat. 2 Alto de la Mozqueta and Cat. 3 Alto de Santo Emiliano.
Midway through the 153-km stage, the breakaway’s gap was 4:30. Mikel Landa was the best placed at +6:33.
All our riders are doing a great job controlling the escapees’ advantage, and at the same time protecting @EvenepoelRemco, with 80 kilometers to go.
Photo: @GettySport pic.twitter.com/K2Fa3CATdf
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) August 27, 2022
Atop Cat. 3 Puerto de Tenebredo and Cat. 3 Puerto de Perlavia, Vine took more points ahead of Pinot. Fugitive Mads Pedersen was first over the day’s intermediate sprint, yanking the green jersey from Sam Bennett’s shoulders.
Colláu Fancuaya
Wow, what a finish we have today at #LaVuelta22!
A 10.1km climb with an 8.5% average gradient and some parts reaching an incredible 19%!
Did we mention the final three kilometers, where the gradient doesn’t drop below 9% and those roads hitting 17% with 500 meters to go? pic.twitter.com/C2qeNKELHt
— Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team (@qst_alphavinyl) August 27, 2022
When the race reached the foot of the final…
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