Remco Evenepoel solos to stage 18 victory to take 50th professional win in scintillating style
Cycling
The breakaway prevailed on stage 18 of the 2023 Vuelta a Espana with Remco Evenepoel launching a stunning solo success to claim his 50th professional victory in scintillating style.
Stage 18, another brutal day in the Asturias. A proper high mountain stage with three first-category climbs among others with a finale atop La Cruz de Linares with the riders riding up it on two different occasions with 8.5 kilometres at 8%.
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Fourteen riders went clear in the day's breakaway including the likes of Remco Evenepoel, Egan Bernal, Damiano Caruso, Max Poole, Andreas Kron and Andrea Piccolo.
For once, the peloton were actually letting the time gap grow as well. With Evenepoel the closest on the GC at nearly 38 minutes down there was no Red Jersey threat and as they reached the top of the second categorised climb, with 90km to go, the difference between break and peloton was nearing ten minutes.
As has been the case almost every time he's been in the break, Evenepoel took to the front and set the pace for the majority of the climbing with riders dropping out the back.
Cresting the third-categorised climb of the day, Evenepoel once again took maximum points, securing his position as winner of the King of the Mountains competition, just five riders remained in contact with the Belgian.
By the time they reached La Cruz de Linares for the first time, a further two had regained contact. They didn't last long once the road began to ascend however, as Kron accelerated at the foot of the climb.
However, Kron was struggling soon after, as Evenepoel returned to the front, setting a pace only Caruso and Poole could keep up with.
Once Evenepoel attacked properly with 4km to the summit, no one could live with him. Just over 28km to go and the Soudal - Quick-Step was solo out front.
By the time Evenepoel had begun descending, he had already extended his lead over Poole to 1:22. Surely securing himself another stage win despite the fact another ascent of the La Cruz de Linares remained.
After Evenepoel took maximum points at the intermediate sprint, closing the gap on Groves in the Green Jersey classification, the Belgian reached the bottom of the final climb, 2:20 ahead of Poole and Caruso.
Almost 12 minutes back down the road, Aleksandr Vlasov attacked clear from the Red Jersey group in anticipation of the final climb.
With Evenepoel nearing a landmark 50th professional victory aged just 23, the Belgian reached 3km to go over 4 minutes clear of Caruso and Poole.
After Vlasov had been caught and overtaken by a Bahrain - Victorious-led peloton, Mikel Landa decided to try and make a move.
Noticeably, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic seemed to be riding in the service of Sepp Kuss rather than attacking him.
With Kuss responding quickly to late attacks from Juan Ayuso and Enric Mas, the American looks to have secured hims
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Kieran WoodDeputy Editor-in-Chief
Kieran Wood is a sports journalist based in Wales and has been active in journalism since 2022. He regularly contributes to DartsNews.com and CyclingUpToDate.com, where he covers professional cycling and darts. In cycling, his work includes liveblogs from major races, including the Tour de France, the Giro d’Italia, and La Vuelta a España, alongside race reports and analysis. He has also conducted interviews with professional riders.
His reporting spans the full racing calendar, from one-day classics to stage races, with a focus on accurate, real-time coverage and clear contextual analysis. For statistics, results, and historical context, he regularly uses resources such as ProCyclingStats. To support reporting on rider activity and training context where relevant, he also references Strava.
In his work, Kieran places strong emphasis on careful sourcing, editorial accuracy, and updating articles as new, verified information becomes available.
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- Where Merckx just rode every single race he could and won all the time, Hinault won less often (percentage wise) because he was more judicious in what he raced. His palmares are nuts. He had amazing rivals, one to start his career and another to end it in the grand tours. His classics were solid. What sets him apart from Merckx and Pogačar are that he basically dabbled in the classics while the other two love(d) them. I used to compare Pogačar to Hinault for his grand tour record and occasional classics win, until I realized that the comparison was wrong. Pogačar loves the classics - ah, the memory of his reaction to finishing fourth in a 2 person sprint in Flanders in ‘22: utter domination in any one day race since then, even when he doesn’t win. Hinault lived for the grand tours and I don’t think anyone else will ever reach his record. 10 wins in 13 attempts? Good lord. An amazing rider. Wish there was more footage to watch.RidesHills11-11-2026
- I had no idea about that either.
santiagobenites10-11-2026 - great analysis thanks! appreciate you posting this. I didn't realize CX had a different standard for deviation. this is even more egregious it seems.mij10-11-2026
- As he isn't currently with Red Bull, I guess if he want to race for one more year he needs to find a team. He's 37 so this will be his last year I would guess, unless he wants to race for almost nothing like Froome did.awp10-11-2026
- I think some are making much ado about nothing. Even though Jonas is getting older, before his crash in the Tour, he looked like a solid 2nd all the way home. No one can really climb with Tadej until this year, Eric Mas showed himself which I think was a one off year for him and Paul Seixas has been able to be pretty close to him. Whatever stage race Jonas enters as long as Tadej is not there he is a favorite to win.awp10-11-2026
- Giro or not Giro, he won't win the Tour!MajorPayne10-11-2026
- Very true.awp10-11-2026
- Ciccone had a very strong end of season. Consistently attacking and livening up races. Hope he makes that last leap in progress and starts notching some significant wins. Great rider to watch.Occam10-11-2026
- Me too!!!!!Occam10-11-2026
- they can sign any 100 of top riders today but Pogi will win over Remco any time at the TDF unless something goes wrongabstractengineer10-11-2026
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NOUVELLE VICTOIRE EN BAROUDEUR DE REMCO EVENEPOEL ! Encore présent dans l'échappée, le Belge (Soudal-QuickStep) s'impose sur la 18e étape du Tour d'Espagne, pour son 3e bouquet sur cette édition et le 13e cette saison. A 23 ans, il s'offre aussi un 50e succès pro ! #LaVuelta23
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