Adam Yates, memorable, joins the party of La Vuelta 2024

Memorable stage on the slopes of Sierra Nevada with UAE Team Emirates unleashing hell and playing to win with Adam Yates; Richard Carapaz betting all or nothing and an unrecognizable Enric Mas launching an offensive against the weakness of Primoz Roglic while O'Connor knew how to resist and continues to cling to the red jersey.

The first queen stage of La Vuelta 2024 leaves a completely uncertain race

The day dawned in Motril with the news of Joao Almeida's abandonment. A medical test after yesterday's debacle confirmed that the Portuguese was suffering from covid, leaving UAE Team Emirates without their leader for La Vuelta 2024 just on the day when the race arrived at the first real test for the contenders for the final victory.

A stage that would lead the peloton to the city of Granada but with a previous journey through Sierra Nevada that concentrated all its toughness in the last 50 kilometers with a first climb to Purche and then a circuit through Pinos Genil, Güéjar Sierra and ascent to Hazallanas that the cyclists would have to do twice.

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After losing their leader, UAE Team Emirates launched a total offensive, seeking to blow up the race to try to get back into the fight for victory. In the madness of attacks that occurred from the start, where a group of 24 cyclists was formed with people like Wout van Aert, they managed to include in that group Marc Soler, Jay Vine and Adam Yates, positioned at 9'27'' in the general classification. A breakaway in which David Gaudu also sneaked in, placed 6'30'' behind the leader. The breakaway began to gain time and threatened to repeat the situation from a few days ago when Ben O'Connor managed to take the red jersey.

Upon reaching the ascent to Purche, Marc Soler took the lead in the leading group and selected the breakaway with a devastating pace that reduced the group to just 9 units while increasing the gap with the peloton where Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe had no choice but to start working hard, although they couldn't reduce the differences, only being able to contain the bleeding of seconds.

And that's how the race was going when, halfway up the climb, Richard Carapaz threw himself into the void without a safety net and broke away from the peloton trying to catch up with the leaders in a perfect strategy by EF Education-EasyPost that took advantage of having James Shawn and Darren Rafferty in the breakaway, who did a great job that allowed him to get closer to the front.

With the arrival of the first ascent to Hazallanas, it was Jay Vine who took over and further reduced the leading group to just Adam Yates and David Gaudu who was relishing the situation. However, he did not count on the fact that, when Vine ran out of steam, with three-quarters of the climb done, Adam Yates attacked and went solo seeking the exhibition and to once again become a contender for the general classification.

Meanwhile, Richard Carapaz was pursuing the same goal, remember that he was 6'44'' behind in the general classification at the start of the day and was steadily reducing the gap while overtaking the remnants of the morning breakaway. This continued until he caught up with Jay Vine and David Gaudu already on the descent to start a new lap of this tough loop. Behind them, Decathlon-AG2R was pulling on the flat and on the climb it was Red Bull who took over but with a more survival pace than being able to bring down Yates' lead, cresting 5'30'' behind the British rider. A gap that would still increase on the descent and subsequent approach to the second climb.

A second ascent where Carapaz distanced himself from his companions trying to reduce the gap with Adam Yates who continued to show himself extremely solid at the front of the race and practically could already count on winning the stage with complete certainty. The question now was how much of a lead he would have.

The focus then returned to the very reduced group of favorites where, once again, the situation of the first climb was repeated, this time with Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, with Vlasov and Lipowitz accelerating the pace, now seeking to do damage and managing to select the group, causing riders like Sepp Kuss, Carlos Rodríguez, or Mikel Landa to be dropped. What they didn't expect was that a few hundred meters later, Primoz Roglic suffered a crisis that took him to the back of the group. His teammates immediately eased off, and Enric Mas took advantage of that moment of weakness to finally launch an attack.

Quickly, the Mallorcan rider began to gain distance while Lipowitz had no choice but to wait and let his leader catch his breath. O'Connor, who had been holding up well, saw the pause as an opportunity for Felix Gall to rejoin the group and work hard to contain Enric's lead, and Carlos Rodriguez, Mikel Landa, and Cristian Rodriguez also managed to rejoin.

At the top of Hazallanas, Enric Mas had a 1-minute advantage, launching himself into the rapid descent towards Granada until, in a corner that closed on the exit, he touched the front brake too much and had a tremendous scare that could have ended in a serious fall. Somehow, the Movistar Team rider managed to save it, although with fear in his body, he gradually lost ground to the rest of the favorites until he was caught almost in the streets of the city.

Adam Yates arrived victorious in this ninth stage of La Vuelta 2024, a day that felt long for him towards the end. As evidence of this, the time that a formidable Richard Carapaz managed to recover, crossing the finish line 1'39'' seconds later, and 3'45'' later the small group of favorites arrived where Ben O'Connor showed authority by sprinting to get the 4 bonus seconds that were still available.

Ben O'Connor remains a solid leader, giving the impression that yesterday was just a bad day, and most importantly, new protagonists emerge in a tight general classification that promises a tremendous spectacle for the rest of La Vuelta 2024.

Stage Classification

1. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) 4h42'28''
2. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'39''
3. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +3'45''
4. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +3'45''
5. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +3'45''
6. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) +3'45''
7. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +3'45''
8. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +3'45''
9. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +3'45''
10. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +3'45''

General Classification

1. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) 36h09'36''
2. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +3'53''
3. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +4'32''
4. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +4'35''
5. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +5'17''
6. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +5'29''
7. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +5'30''
8. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +5'30''
9. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +6'00''
10. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +6'32''