Thymen Arensman wins queen stage to Sierra Nevada as Remco Evenepoel manages Vuelta a Espana lead

The 15th stage of the Vuelta a Espana was by many termed the hardest, and differences were created in the ascent to Sierra Nevada. It was however a day where Remco Evenepoel defended his lead against the attacks of Enric Mas and Primoz Roglic, whilst the stage win was taken by Thymen Arensman who went into the day's breakaway and took a very strong and needed win.

The day had an incredibly hard finale and the GC teams had the intention of getting riders in the break so as to have a tactical benefit later in the day. This culminated in a strong and big group going up the road featuring a whole 29 riders which included Richard Carapaz, Thymen Arensman, Jay Vine, Jai Hindley and several other top climbers.

Lawson Craddock went clear before the Alto del Purche where Jay Vine attacked and caught up with him - whilst the chasing group was heavily reduced, and in the peloton Jumbo-Visma and AG2R Citroën Team looked to set up a strong pace to shed the peloton. Things remained rather calm until the final ascent, Marc Soler led the race in as he attacked on the approach.

Jumbo-Visma entered the climb full-speed ahead with several riders, breaking the peloton in the first meters of the climb, with only Evenepoel and O'Connor following Roglic. The group grew as the pace slowed slightly, however an acceleration of Roglic with around 20 kilometers to go saw the likes of Carlos Rodríguez, Juan Ayuso and João Almeida distanced definitely. Roglic paced the group, with Fausto Masnada coming from the breakaway to pace the group in the following kilometers. Soler kept his distance to the chasing group in the meantime, as in the final ten kilometers Thymen Arensman went clear from the chasing group and bridged across to Soler with three kilometers to go.

Miguel Ángel López attacked with nine kilometers to go, with Enric Mas bridging across after, paced by David de la Cruz afterwards. Evenepoel found himself alone however, having to pace for O'Connor and Roglic. The situation remained similar throughout the following kilometers, as Arensman went solo off the front and the remaining groups remained stable. Primoz Roglic attacked Remco Evenepoel into the final kilometer, however gaps were limited.

The Dutchman rode into the win, keeping his gap big. Enric Mas rode into second place on the day, followed by Miguel Ángel López. Evenepoel lost 36 seconds on Mas and 15 on Roglic, but has kept the race lead and stable.

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