Mikel Landa victory breaks nine-year Grand Tour drought

Mikel Landa victory on stage 20 of the Vuelta a España ended a long Grand Tour wait. The Soudal-QuickStep rider attacked from the breakaway on the Collado del Alguacil and won alone.

The 36-year-old moved clear after joining a large escape on the penultimate day of the Spanish Grand Tour. Tobias Halland Johannessen of Uno-X Mobility and Ramses Debruyne of Alpecin-Premier Tech followed him into the decisive move.

Landa then attacked at the foot of the final climb and dropped both rivals. His ride delivered a first Grand Tour stage win in nine years.

Behind the stage fight, Enric Mas kept firm control of the general classification. The Movistar leader defended the maillot rojo and moved to the brink of overall victory before Sunday’s final stage in Granada.

Felix Gall of Decathlon-CMA CGM finished ahead of the main contenders behind the breakaway. Mas still limited the damage and held his overall lead over Primož Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.

Mas controls chaos on the Vuelta stage 20 climbs

The 186.8km stage from La Calahorra brought five climbs and constant attacks. Around 50 riders went clear during the opening phase, including helpers for several overall contenders.

Movistar took charge behind as the road began to climb. A front group of 11 riders eventually built a maximum advantage of just over 11 minutes.

The race changed on the first ascent of the Puerto de el Purche, with 96km remaining. Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost attacked from the general classification group and linked with Sepp Kuss.

The move put Mas under pressure and forced Decathlon-CMA CGM to chase. The bunch split heavily, and the main favourites reached the top with few riders left nearby.

Carapaz came back on the second ascent of the Puerto de el Purche. He still had a teammate alongside him and helped drive a reduced group containing Mas, Roglič, Gall and Kuss.

Kuss then chose his moment. The Visma-Lease a Bike rider began the day in 11th overall and launched a long-range move that reshaped the top 10.

On the Puerto de el Duque, teammates dropped back from the breakaway to assist their leaders. Kuss stretched his gap over the red jersey group toward three minutes.

Callum Thornley set pace for Roglič near the bottom of the climb. The Slovenian did not launch a major attack, while Carapaz tried repeatedly without breaking the stalemate.

Up the road, Landa, Debruyne and Johannessen separated themselves from the remaining breakaway riders. Kuss also continued gaining with help from Wout van Aert and threatened Carapaz’s fourth place overall.

The Collado del Alguacil then decided the stage. Landa attacked early on its double-digit gradients and rode clear to victory.

Gall made the key general classification move inside the final three kilometres. Mas initially followed before Gall opened a gap.

Mas crossed the line a few seconds behind Gall. The result left the overall podium unchanged, with Mas ahead of Roglič and Gall.

Kuss gained enough time to climb from 11th to fifth overall. Oscar Onley of Netcompany-Ineos, who struggled on the first major climb, slipped behind Kuss in the standings.

Landa’s win carried extra weight after recent injury setbacks. He fractured his pelvis in a crash at Itzulia Basque Country earlier this season.

After the finish, Landa called the result “really emotional” and said the stage was his “last chance.” He also said he felt happy after waiting so long to win again.

Vuelta stage 20 result

• 1. Mikel Landa (Esp), Soudal-QuickStep, 4:58:01
• 2. Tobias Halland Johannessen (Nor), Uno-X Mobility, +47s
• 3. Ramses Debruyne (Bel), Alpecin-Premier Tech, +1:27
• 4. Pau Miquel (Esp), Bahrain Victorious, +3:00
• 5. Urko Berrade (Esp), Equipo Kern Pharma, +4:12
• 6. Jan Hirt (Cze), NSN Cycling, +4:18
• 7. Jørgen Nordhagen (Nor), Visma-Lease a Bike, +4:35
• 8. Sepp Kuss (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, same time
• 9. Walter Calzoni (Ita), Pinarello-Q36.5, +4:48
• 10. Lorenzo Fortunato (Ita), XDS-Astana, +4:53

General classification after stage 20

• 1. Enric Mas (Esp), Movistar Team, 70:56:58
• 2. Primož Roglič (Slo), Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +2:15
• 3. Felix Gall (Aut), Decathlon CMA CGM, +2:44
• 4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu), EF Education-EasyPost, +6:54
• 5. Sepp Kuss (USA), Visma-Lease a Bike, +8:45
• 6. Oscar Onley (GBr), Netcompany Ineos, +9:28
• 7. Jakob Omrzel (Slo), Bahrain Victorious, +10:38
• 8. Clément Berthet (Fra), Groupama-FDJ United, +11:41
• 9. Cristián Rodríguez (Spa), XDS Astana, +11:59
• 10. Harold Tejada (Col), XDS Astana, +14:40

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