La Vuelta ciclista a España

Castro Urdiales welcomed the Vuelta a España peloton for just the third time in history Friday afternoon, as the race entered its second half, one which will be heavily tilted towards the climbers. Four men attacked soon after the neutralized start and built a 12-minute gap – the largest one a breakaway has enjoyed since the beginning of the race – but under Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s impetus that buffer melted on the rolling roads of Cantabria, the quartet being overhauled inside 17 kilometers to go.

It was the cue for Rémi Cavagna to launch one of his trademark moves, which saw the “TGV of Clermont-Ferrand” stay at the front for a couple of kilometers, the peloton reeling him in just before the uphill kick to the line. A stage winner at the race seven years ago, Zdenek Stybar moved to the head of affairs and stretch out what was becoming a reduced group, before neo-pro Andrea Bagioli kicked out 200 meters from the line.

The Italian punched above his weight in the exploding finale and took a remarkable third place – behind stage winner Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) – for his first ever podium in a Grand Tour stage. It was another result, after the victories at the Tour de l’Ain and Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali, which confirmed his huge potential that at the moment doesn’t seem to have a ceiling.

“In those last two kilometers it was a question of positioning and timing and the boys did a great job for me. Zdenek and Michael brought me in a great position at the bottom of the climb and from there I just remained attentive and bided my time before accelerating with 200 meters to go. I like this type of finishes and I am very happy with my first top 3 in a World Tour race. I’ll draw a lot of confidence from today and hopefully we’ll continue to rack up some more strong results until the end of the race”, said Andrea after netting Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 15th top 3 finish of the season in a Grand Tour stage.

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