Race leader Remco Evenepoel fended off multiple attacks from his rival Enric Mas at the Vuelta a España, resisting every effort by his chief rival to reduce the gap between them. The two went head to head on the final climb of Thursday’s 18th stage, trading blows en route to the summit of the Alto del Piornal, with the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl rider then outsprinting Mas by two seconds at the finish.
Dutchman Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma) was the last survivor of the day’s breakaway and dug deep to try to stay clear, only to be caught a stone’s throw from the line and instead take third.
With the finish-line time bonus taken into account, Evenepoel ended the day with a lead of two minutes seven seconds over Mas with just three stages remaining.
“Winning atop a mountain with the red jersey is amazing,” he said. “Enric is a really fair play guy. In the end we worked together to go for the stage win. This was the most perfect day ever. Winning La Vuelta is still not done with a really hard stage to come. They will, for sure, attack me. But maybe now it’s easier to control because I feel my legs are really good. This is very good for me and for the team for the last three days.”
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Meanwhile, Lieke van Zeelst of the Netherlands took over at the top at Rás na mBan, winning stage two to Woodstock Gardens in Inistioge with an 18 kilometre solo move. She went clear just after the top of the day’s second Queen of the Mountains ascent, the climb of Coppenagh, and sped down wet roads to build a maximum lead of 44 seconds.
She was chased all the way to the line by British rider Kate Richardson (Alba Development Team), who narrowed the gap on the final climb to 10 seconds. Danielle Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) led in an eight-woman chase group a further 12 seconds back, with Ellen McDermott (Team BoomPods) best of the Irish riders in fifth. Wednesday’s opening stage winner Lara Gillespie (Ireland) was 39 seconds back in 17th and saw her race lead shift to Van Zeelst.
She is five seconds clear of Richardson heading towards Friday’s stage, with another Dutch rider, Violinde den Breeijen (Greenmount Cycling Academy), 17 seconds back in third place. McDermott is on the same time in fifth overall.
Richardson’s runner-up slots on Wednesday and Thursday see her lead the Sport Ireland-sponsored points classification. She is also the WomensCycling.ie best young rider, while Shrosbree is IVCA Wicklow 200 Queen of the Hills leader.
Rás na mBan is Ireland’s top cycling race for women, and features a mostly-international field. It continues on Friday with a difficult 96 kilometre race from Portlaoise to the summit finish of The Cut.
Elsewhere, Matthew Teggart further bolstered his lead in the intermediate sprints classification at the Tour of Britain. He was one of four riders who was clear for much of stage five to Mansfield, winning two of the day’s three intermediate sprints and extending his total to 24 points. His WiV SunGod team-mate Ben Perry is second on eight points, making Teggart very likely to win the classification overall.
The race is due to end on Sunday but could potentially be declared over before that due to the death of Queen Elizabeth.
Finally Megan Armitage had a superb performance in France, netting fourth on stage three of the Tour Cycliste Féminin International de l’Ardèche. She led out her IBCT team-mate Loes Adegeest in the finale after they and two others reached the line in Pernes-les-Fontaines 31 seconds ahead of the next group.
Armitage jumps 31 places to fourth overall, 16 seconds behind Adegeest with four stages remaining.
Rás na mBan
Stage 2 Kilkenny to Inistioge: 1 Lieke van Zeelst (Greenmount Cycling Academy) 88.8 kilometres in 2 hours 16′33″, 2 K Richardson (Alba Development Road Team) at 10″, 3 D Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) at 22″, 4 Z Langham (Pro-Noctis-Rotor-Redchilli Bikes), 5 E McDermot (Team BoomPods), 6 V den Breeijen (Greenmount Cycling Academy), 7 A Morrice (Team LDN – Brother UK), 8 A Mrugal (Cardinal-Classic Cycling) all same time
Best young rider: 1 Kate Richardson (Alba Development Road Team) 2 hours 16′33″, 2 A Morrice (Team LDN – Brother UK) at 12″, 3 M Yeoman (Tofauti Everyone Active) at 19″, 4 E Maclean-Howell (Tofauti Everyone Active) same time, 5 S Zaman (Brother UK Orientation Marketing) at 24″
Best Irish domestic rider: 1 Amelia Tyler (Cycling Ulster) 2 hours 17′30″, 2 C O’Brien (Cycling Leinster) at 3′09″, 3 A O’Brien (Cycling Ireland Women’s Commission) at 3′30″, 4 G Glodenyte (UCD) at 3′44″, 5 C McCarthy (Cycling Ireland Womens’s Commission) at 3′52″
Queen of the Hills classification:
Category 2 climb at The Rower: 1 Danielle Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) 9 points, 2 A Morrice (Team LDN-Brother UK) 7, 3 Z Langham (Pro-Noctis-Rotor-Redchilli Bikes) 5
Category 2 climb at Coopenagh: 1 Danielle Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) 9 points, 2 Z Langham (Pro-Noctis-Rotor-Redchilli Bikes) 7, 3 L van Zeelst (Greenmount Cycling Academy) 5
Category 2 climb at Woodstock: 1 Lieke van Zeelst (Greenmount Cycling Academy) 9 points, 2 K Richardson (Albe Development Road Team) 7, 3 D Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) 5
Team classification: 1 Cams-Basso 6 hours 50′35″, 2 Team BoomPods at 10″, 3 Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes at 30″, 4 Tofauti Everyone Active at 32″, 5 IBCT-RDL Team at 39″
General classification after two stages: 1 Lieke van Zeelst (Greenmount Cycling Academy) 88.8 kilometres in 2 hours 16′33″, 2 K Richardson (Alba Development Road Team) at 5″, 3 V den Breeijen (Greenmount Cycling Academy) at 17″, 4 A Mrugal (Cardinal-Classic Cycling), 5 E McDermott (Team BoomPods) both same time, 6 Z Langham (Pro-Noctis-Rotor-Redchilli Bikes) at 22″, 7 D Shrosbree (Cams-Basso), 8 B Storrie (Cams-Basso) both same time
Womenscycling.ie best young rider overall: 1 Kate Richardson (Alba Development Road Team) 2 hours 16′33″, 2 M Yeoman (Tofauti Everyone Active) at 19″, 3 E Maclean-Howell (Tofauti Everyone Active) at 24″, 4 L Gillespie (Ireland) at 29″, 4 S Zaman (Brother UK Orientation Marketing) same time
Best Irish domestic rider overall: 1 Amelia Tyler (Cycling Ulster) 4 hours 9′15″, 2 C O’Brien (Cycling Leinster) at 3′9″, 3 A O’Brien (Cycling Ireland Women’s Commission) at 3′30″, 4 G Glodenyte (UCD) at 3′44″, 5 C McCarthy (Cycling Ireland Womens’s Commission) at 3′52″
Sport Ireland Points classification: 1 Kate Richardson (Alba Development Road Team) 18 points, 2 L van Zeelst (Greenmount Cycling Academy) 10, 3 L Gillespie (Ireland) 10, 4 D Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) 8, 5 J Finney (Cams-Basso) 8
IVCA Wicklow 200 Queen of the hills: 1 Danielle Shrosbree (Cams-Basso) 28, 2 Z Langham (Pro-Noctis-Rotor-Redchilli Bikes) 15, 3 L van Zeelst (Greenmount Cycling Academy) 14, 4 K Richardson (Alba Development Road Team) 13, 5 A Morrice (Team LDN-Brother UK) 7
Team classification: 1 Cams-Basso 12 hours 25′40″, 2 Team BoomPods at 10″, 3 Pro-Noctis – Rotor – Redchilli Bikes at 35″, 4 Tofauti Everyone Active at 37″, 5 IBCT-RDL Team at 44″
Paddy Doran best Irish team classification: 1 Cycling Ulster 12 hours 42′18″, 2 Cycling Ireland Women’s Commission at 9′04″, 3 UCD at 11′24, 4 Cycling Leinster at 25′36″, 5 Cycling Munster at 1 hour 37′35″
