Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) may claim to be looking to farm out the red jersey of the Vuelta a España, but he didn’t pass up the chance to add to his overall lead by winning the intermediate sprint in the finale of stage 5 to Burriana.
The stage was ultimately won by Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceunick) in a bunch sprint, and Evenepoel would finish the day safely in the front group alongside his overall rivals who avoided the split caused by a crash with a shade over 3km to go.
The six bonus seconds netted by Evenepoel in the finale have therefore seen him extend his lead on all his rivals. He now holds a buffer of 11 seconds over Enric Mas (Movistar) and 17 seconds over Lenny Martinez (Groupama-FDJ) in the overall standings, while Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) lies in fourth place, 37 seconds off the pace.
Romain Bardet (DSM) was the one rider from the upper reaches of the standings after he reportedly suffered a puncture with 5km to go. The Frenchman lost 5:29 and drops from 7th to 40th overall.
Elsewhere, the gaps to Evenepoel have all been extended by six seconds, with Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) now trailing by 43 seconds, Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) by 44 seconds and João Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) by 48 seconds.
Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) lies 12th at 55 seconds, with Geraint Thomas (Ineos) in 17th place at 1:17.
Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-Alula), who began this Vuelta with designs on a place in the top 10 overall, was forced to abandon the race on stage 5 after he crashed in the neutralised zone.
After Wednesday’s fraught sprint finale, the Vuelta returns to the mountains on stage 6 with a summit finish on the category 1 ascent of Pico del Buitre in the Sierra de Javalambre.
Evenepoel might hope a rider from the early break can divest him of the red jersey but the Belgian will still look to gain time on his rivals on the stiff climb to the finish.
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