Vuelta a Espana: Remco Evenepoel survives final mountain journey as Richard Carapaz flies into third stage win
Cycling
Richard Carapaz started the Vuelta a Espana with the goal of winning it, and although he failed to contest the overall classification, he has succeeded wildly as he took his third stage win at the Puerto de Navacerrada. Remco Evenepoel sealed the overall win as he resisted once again the attacks put on by Enric Mas.
The start of the day saw several attacks, with a small group going up the road and getting three minutes of advantage, however with an acceleration in the peloton from the riders waiting for the uphill slopes bringing down the gap quite a lot. Marc Soler bridged across to the front, whilst several groups formed behind and started gaining distance on the peloton.
It was a chaotic first hours of racing, eventually with Marc Soler and Robert Stannard going clear from the rest of the breakaway, and a 24-rider group chasing. With 70 kilometers to go the duo was caught by the peloton, and despite several attacks, the situation remained relatively constant.
At the Puerto de la Morcuera the race was further defined, with Richard Carapaz, Sergio Higuita and Louis Meintjes going clear from the breakaway. The trio went over the summit with just under two minutes of lead over the GC group where Enric Mas attacked the race, as did Miguel ´Ángel López and Juan Ayuso, but all attacks were followed by Remco Evenepoel. As Quick-Step did in the opening climb of the day, at Morcuera Evenepoel kept the race under control.
The trio entered the final ascent to Puerto de Cotos alone, with Meintjes eventually dropped, and Richard Carapaz going solo near the summit of the ascent as the GC group was just around the corner. López and Mas again tried to move in the GC group but with no success, closing much of the gap but seeing little gaps between the Top10 riders, as UAE also looked to keep the group compact to save Juan Ayuso's third place.
Carapaz got a gap of around 25 seconds to the GC group, that then started coming down as Thymen Arensman attacked with three kilometers to go, but the Ecuadorian managed to sustain the gap to take another impressive victory. Arensman survived to second place, with Juan Ayuso sprinting for third place in the main GC group where Remco Evenepoel arrived, and sealed the overall win of the Vuelta.
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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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🏁Etapa 2⃣0⃣ | Stage 2⃣0⃣ 🏆 🇪🇨@RichardCarapazM - @INEOSGrenadiers 🚂¡Ecuador 𝒅𝒐𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒂 la montaña! 🚂 #LaVuelta22
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