The opening kilometres were frenetic, with multiple moves before an eleven-man break finally stuck, featuring Paul Ourselin, Jonathan Lastra, Iker Mintegi, Fabien Grellier, Nickolas Zukowsky, Alex Díaz, Iker Gómez, Mattia Bais, Rodrigo Álvarez, Nicolas Sessler, and Ferran Miravalles.
The group enjoyed just over three minutes while UAE Team Emirates and Lidl-Trek shared the workload at the head of the bunch. Marcos Freire, Domen Novak, and Julien Bernard set the pace to keep the move in check for their leaders, especially Giulio Ciccone, Pavel Sivakov, and Jay Vine.
The break began to shed riders after a mechanical for Iker Gómez and, as the race approached Pike, the gap started to fall significantly.
The first ascent of Pike blew the race apart. The tempo set by UAE shattered the peloton and only four riders held the front of the race: Paul Ourselin, Jonathan Lastra, Nickolas Zukowsky, and Mattia Bais.
Soon after, Bais went solo, cresting first to lock up the mountains classification. However, the Italian could not withstand the drive from the favourites’ group, led by Lidl-Trek.
Natnael Tesfatsion, estrella de Movistar Taem
Ciccone and Camprubí light it up
On the decisive climb of Pike came the anticipated move from Giulio Ciccone. The Italian kicked hard and only Spanish champion Marcel Camprubí could initially match his acceleration.
The pair opened a small gap on a chasing group headed by Alex Aranburu and Ion Izagirre, even holding a few seconds over the top.
However, cooperation behind snuffed out the attack. With nine kilometres to go, the main group came back together with the likes of Sivakov, Jay Vine, Aranburu, Izagirre, Ciccone, Bonnet, Camprubí, Milan Vader, and César Pérez, while around twenty riders returned from the rear.
Tesfatsion finishes off Movistar’s work
In the closing kilometres, Bahrain Victorious and Cofidis took control, with strong pace-setting from Pello Bilbao to make it hard. Inside the final kilometre, Pavel Sivakov tried to tee up the finale for UAE.
The decisive move came with an attack by Milan Vader. Pello Bilbao reacted immediately and Natnael Tesfatsion was alert to close down the Pinarello rider.
Victory was settled in a reduced sprint between Tesfatsion, Pau Miquel, and Alex Aranburu. The Eritrean from Movistar Team kept his cool and launched the decisive effort to cross the line first, sealing a prestigious win in one of the most emblematic classics on the Spanish calendar.