Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) made it a stage-win hat-trick at the Vuelta a España, winning the hilly stage 10 in Baiona.
He outsprinted breakaway companion Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) after attacking on the final, cat-one climb of Alto de Mougás, and holding on during the descent to a technical finish at the end of the 160km outing in north-west Spain.
It saw him retain the green points jersey and move into equal points with Adam Yates (UAE-Team Emirates) at the top of the mountains classification.
It was an impressive reiteration of the Belgian's versatility, after he won the bunch finish on stage three, and won from another large group sprint on stage seven to Cordoba.
Afterwards Van Aert said the win was "extra special", as his family was there at the finish.
"It's not too often I can win when they visit me on the race," he said. He also admitted that he had nearly given up on his hopes of making the breakaway, after suffering on the first climb.
"It was my aim to be in the breakaway, but I had a hard time on the first climb, and actually I almost gave up," he said. "But I gave it one more try before the top, but still I think for 50 kilometres we really had to fight to get a bit of a gap.
"I think it was in my favour, because the climbers in the group had maybe less fresh legs… that's how I won.
It was put to him that 'every stage is a Wout van Aert stage'.
"That's a bit exaggerated, I would say," he smiled, "but it's nice in a race like this, when you have a versatile profile… when I end up in a situation like this, I always have a chance.
GC leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) successfully defended the red jersey over the flurry of climbs that comprised the final third of a warm stage in verdant countryside.
How it happened
Two big-name riders had clearly earmarked today's stage in their calendars, with Marc Soler (UAE-Team Emirates) and Van Aert spending the first 25km after the start in Ponteareas trying to make a breakaway happen. They eventually managed it, establishing a five-man break that also featured William Junior Lecerf (Soudal-Quick Step), Juri Hollman (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and Pacher.
With all of them more than an hour down on GC aside from Pacher who had a 34-minute deficit, they posed no threat to the overall and the peloton was happy to let them off the leash.
Carefully marshalled by O'Connor's Decathlon-AG2R team-mates, the gap rose slowly to around six minutes, where it remained until the race reached the trio of climbs that made up the final 60km of the stage. This part of the race saw cat-three and two cat-two ascents, one after the other.
The break still had five minutes at the foot of the final climb – also the day's hardest and the only cat-one. This was where Van Aert made his move, Pacher tagging on to his coat-tails.
They quickly gained around half a minute, and although Soler made a concerted attempt to close the gap, he was unable to do so.
Pacher and van Aert worked in tandem, successfully negotiating the descent of the Mougás, then the final 10km, which included a small hill and ensuing technical descent to the line.
Pacher offered up a token attack with 1,500m to go, which van Aert shut down immediately, before the Belgian delivered the predictable sprint victory with ease.
Results
La Vuelta a España 2024 Stage 10: Ponteareas > Baiono (160km)
1. Wout van Aert (Bel) Visma-Lease a Bike, in 3:50:47
2. Quentin Pacher (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +3sec
3. Marc Soler (Spa) UAE-Team Emirates, +2:01
4. William Junior Lecerf (Bel) Soudal-Quick Step
5. Juri Hollman (Ger) Alpecin-Deceuninck, both s.t.
6. Txomin Juaristi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi, +5:13
7. Jhonatan Narváez (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, +5:31
8. Stefan Küng (Swi) Groupama-FDJ
9. George Bennett (Nzl) Israel-PremierTech
10. Harald Tejada (Col) Astana-Qazaqstan, all at s.t.
General Classification after Stage 10
1. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 40:05:54
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:53
3. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +4:32
4. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +4:35
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, +5:17
6. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:29
7. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, +5:30
8. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, +5:30
9. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +6:00
10. David Gaudu (Fra) Groupama-FDJ, +6:32
