Pablo Castrillo does it again, second victory for Kern Pharma's rider in La Vuelta 2024

We said a few days ago that for a ProTeam it was tremendously difficult to achieve victories against WorldTour teams, well, Pablo Castrillo seems determined to break all the rules and surprises everyone with a victory of authentic agony in another of the queen stages of La Vuelta 2024, the first of the Asturian stages with a finish on the terrible slopes of Cuitu Negru, the highest altitude summit of the race. War also among the favorites but, as usual on these impossible slopes, small differences that allow Ben O'Connor to resist one more day at the top of the general classification.

Ben O'Connor manages to keep the red jersey after the ascent to Cuitu Negru

First assault on Asturian lands, the queen stage of the two that are disputed in these lands, separated by tomorrow's rest day. A short stage, of just 143 km linking the town of Infiesto with the top of Cuitu Negro or, in other words, climbing the Pajares pass, one of the historic climbs of La Vuelta and a traditional communication point between the principality and the plateau. From there, the route continues climbing towards the Valgrande Pajares ski resort where La Vuelta stages have also finished.

However, in La Vuelta 2012 a more radical option was premiered, a service track that leads to the highest part of the resort, to Cuitu Negru, which was paved at that time to host the arrival of the race and becomes an extreme finish with ramps that reach up to 24% incline.

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Along the way, typical Asturian terrain, that is, almost without a flat meter and ascents to Colladiella, Santo Emiliano and again Colladiella before facing the final ascent.

Following the trend of La Vuelta 2024, the race started very fast with continuous attacks although, this time, after just a dozen kilometers, a group of 8 units was formed although they did not manage to get away too much as the attacks continued from behind. In fact, the arrival at the first ascent to Colladiella did not result in the consolidation of the breakaway but rather the pace accelerated from behind, leaving the group of favorites with barely twenty riders and the breakaway practically caught at the summit. It wouldn't be here but at the end of the technical descent when the reduced group of favorites caught up with the leaders. Back to square one.

New movements were made between climbs and a breakaway with Marc Soler, Pablo Castrillo, or Louis Meintjjes as the most relevant cyclists was successful, and as they passed through Mieres, practically at the foot of the second climb, Santo Emiliano, Pavel Sivakov launched a good attack, being 6 and a half minutes behind in the general classification.

An interesting race situation as Valentin Paret-Peintre was inserted into the group, so Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale was relieved of pulling. Then an ambitious TRex-QuickStep took the lead of the race, with the collaboration of Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe, who kept the race fast but allowed the breakaway to gain some advantage.

A breakaway that was selected during this climb and the subsequent one to Colladiella to be reduced to a group of just 8 units. A group that would be further reduced as they reached the first ramps of Pajares, with Pavel Sivakov, Aleksandr Vlasov, and once again, the sensational Pablo Castrillo, breaking away to chase the stage victory.

Meanwhile, the peloton was controlled by TRex-QuickStep, and as they approached the beginning of Pajares, a curious situation occurred with Primoz Roglic changing bikes to opt for one with SRAM Red XPLR monoplate, from the previous 12-speed version as his Tarmac SL8 was not compatible with the new 13-speed groupset, and a 10-44 cassette, in order to have enough gearing for the impossible ramps of Cuitu Negru.

The Belgian team's work barely cut into the lead of the breakaway as they ran out of units. Just a couple of kilometers from the top of Pajares, Cattaneo, Mikel Landa's last domestique, dropped back, so the Basque rider took the lead, although more out of will than strength as his attacks barely made a dent.

 

 

 

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They thus reached the top of Pajares, something that the breakaway had done just under 2 minutes earlier, which still gave them hope of fighting for the stage. A moment to try to recover legs in the three steep kilometers between the top of Pajares and the Valgrande ski resort before facing the last three infernal kilometers towards Cuitu Negru. And, as they reached the turn towards the final stretch, just before the road steepened to infinity, Pablo Castrillo launched an attack that, in his usual grimace, gave the feeling of pure agony throughout the climb to Pajares. A surprise attack that left the Russian and the Frenchman of Russian origin dumbfounded.

The Huesca rider opened a gap of a dozen seconds, but he looked back and they were right there because, in distance, on such inhuman ramps, where time seems to stand still with each meter translating into extra seconds. Three kilometers of agony that reached their climax when, at 1.5 km, Vlasov dropped Sivakov to go after Castrillo.

He was getting closer meter by meter until he managed to catch up with him, but at a cost that was too high, evident in a face also showing pure agony. And, based on what was seen, no one can beat Pablo Castrillo in suffering, as he continued to keep his head despite having Vlasov on his wheel, he did not get nervous and even allowed himself to launch an attack in the small respite, 800 m from the finish, before the final infernal ramp where the maximum 24% incline is reached, enough to make the Russian surrender and win with ease one of the queen stages of La Vuelta 2024, no half measures, in a big way.

Meanwhile, the group of favorites reached the beginning of Cuitu Negru with Lipowitz setting a strong pace for the attack of his leader Primoz Roglic in what was supposed to be the definitive assault on the leadership of the race. And it seemed that way when the two of them went off alone in what seemed to be the sentence for La Vuelta 2024.

Lipowitz dropped back and Roglic accelerated but, as happens on these impossible ramps, the differences were measured in meters. Behind, a few seconds later, a select group with Carapaz, Enric Mas, who were gradually dropping back with O'Connor and Mikel Landa as the main victims. And the surprise came when Enric Mas began to open a gap, at his own pace, and approached Primoz Roglic, and not content with that, he overtook him and continued until he left the Slovenian behind.

However, as it happened in Ancares, the climb was too long for Enric Mas and Roglic managed to catch up with him practically at the finish line. Behind them, an indefatigable Richard Carapaz finished just 9 seconds later. Sepp Kuss was the next to cross the line, 17'' behind. Mikel Landa arrived 23'' later, and the leader, Ben O'Connor, conceded 36 seconds, allowing him to start the third week still wearing the red jersey.

Stage 15 Classification

1. Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) 3h45'51''
2. Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +12''
3. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) +31''
4. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +1'04''
5. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1'04''
6. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +1'09''
7. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +1'13''
8. Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike) +1'22''
9. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +1'27''
10. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +1'37''

General Classification

1. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) 60h19'22''
2. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +43''
3. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +2'23''
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +2'44''
5. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +3'05''
6. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +4'33''
7. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +4'39''
8. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +4'40''
9. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) +4'51''
10. Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) +5'12''