VALLADOLID, Spain : Italian Filippo Ganna tore through the final third of Thursday’s shortened individual time trial to win stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana in Valladolid, and third-placed Joao Almeida gained 10 seconds on overall leader Jonas Vingegaard.
Time trial specialist Ganna was fifth out of the gate and set a time of 13 minutes, but the Ineos Grenadiers rider then had an agonisingly long wait to see if he had repeated his success of two years ago in the same city.
With the aim of ensuring greater protection for the stage after the disruptions caused by pro-Palestinian protesters during this year’s race, the organisers of La Vuelta decided to shorten the route to 12.2km instead of the scheduled 27.2km.
“Obviously, with the news of the change in the parcours last night it was a bit strange, but I tried to do all the best today,” Ganna said.
“I hope it’s enough, we cross the fingers. If someone was stronger than me, I will just say ‘chapeau’.”
Nobody was stronger, though Australian Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) came close, finishing one second off the Italian to take second place, with his Portuguese teammate Almeida a further seven seconds behind, and now 40 seconds off Vingegaard.
“I think I did the best I could,” Almeida said.
“It’s just a pity that it was not 27km, but it is what it is.”
Almeida and Vingegaard are locked in their own GC battle, and with three stages remaining, including a mountain stage on Saturday, the pre-race favourite and two-times Tour de France winner Vingegaard, who was ninth in Thursday’s time trial, still holds the red jersey.
“I think I can be happy with my performance and I’m still in the lead so I’m happy with how today turned out,” the Dane said.
THE LONG WAIT
Ganna, who also has seven Giro d’Italia stage wins to his name of which six came in time trials, was the hot favourite to take the stage, and although he began slowly, outside the top 10 at the first intermediate check, nobody could match the Italian in the last four kilometres.
“I struggled to find my rhythm in the first part of the course, so then I just tried to push with everything I had, without thinking about the numbers or anything,” Ganna said.
Almost two hours after Ganna finished, Vine looked like claiming his third stage win of this year’s race, but the mountains classification leader fell just short.
Ganna then had to wait for the top GC riders before he could celebrate.
“I think I suffered more in the last three hours in the hot seat than on the bike,” Ganna said.
Thursday’s stage passed off without disruption, although Spanish authorities told Reuters that two protesters were arrested in Valladolid’s University Square.
During stage five’s team time trial, when the race reached Spain for the first time, protesters waving Palestinian flags halted the Israel-Premier Tech riders.
Stage 11 in Bilbao was stopped with 3km to go – with no winner awarded – due to protesters blocking the road, while stage 16’s finish line was changed mid-race to the 8km-to-go banner.
