(Reuters) – Jonas Vingegaard tamed the Tourmalet to win stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana, on a dramatic day which saw last year’s winner Remco Evenepoel’s challenge wither in the Pyrenees on Friday.
The stage, which began in Formigal and ended at the iconic Col du Tourmalet, featured three other climbs before the final ascent to the finish.
The relentless climbing and downhill racing took its toll on many, including last year’s winner Evenepoel, who now finds himself out of contention.
It was the Jumbo-Visma team which controlled the stage, with Sepp Kuss in the red jersey, Primoz Roglic and Vingegaard all in the leading group on the final climb, before Vingegaard made his telling break with eight kilometres to the finish.
A smiling Kuss held onto the leader’s jersey with a brave ride to finish runner-up ahead of Roglic in a Jumbo-Visma 1-2-3.
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
