Extended Highlights - Stage 17 - La Vuelta 2024

Name: Extended Highlights - Stage 17 - La Vuelta 2024
Uploaded: 2024-09-04T18:49:19+00:00
Duration: 7 min 42 s
Channel: La Vuelta

La Vuelta

4/9/2024

Discover the Stage 17 highlights

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00:00After a breathless and breathtaking stage 16, which saw Ben O'Connor cling onto the

00:04red jersey by just five seconds, the Australian surely headed into stage 17 confident he would

00:10keep hold of it for at least another day.

00:13It was one for the sprinters, but there was no faute finaire following his crash the day

00:16before.

00:17It forced the Belgian to abandon a miss out on what could have been a fourth stage win

00:21in this year's race.

00:22Fortunately this morning we heard everything is reasonably okay with him.

00:29That was nice news.

00:31Today obviously was going to be a big chance for him to go for a stage victory and the

00:34plan was obviously to control and make sure he could sprint.

00:39That ambition now is gone obviously and I guess we will get through today and look at

00:47the next few days for some opportunities.

00:51Caden Groves went into a Vuelta stage in the green jersey for the 20th time, even if it

00:56was a bittersweet celebration of that milestone without his big rival.

01:00It's obviously a strange feeling.

01:04We always came with the intentions to fight for the green, but in the end after a very

01:08dominant Wout Van Aert, he had a convincing lead.

01:12So it's a real shame for him and the team to crash out, but I was also fighting to remain

01:18second in the classification.

01:20No Van Aert then, but Groves had other challenges in probably the sprinter's last chance for

01:24a win.

01:25I'm really motivated actually.

01:27It's been a long time between sprint days at this Vuelta, so I think we really want

01:32to make the most of it, but also it's going to be a really hard race to control I think.

01:36The sprinters might not have it all their own way either.

01:39With two steep climbs in the middle of the stage, the punchers had an opportunity too.

01:43Yeah, I think it's good that it's a bit rainy.

01:47Always create more chaos.

01:48I hope they don't mark me too much in the team meetings to chase me down, not let me

01:54go in the breakaway, but I'm quite sure it will be a hard fight.

01:58It will not be easy to be in the breakaway, but we need to win.

02:11So a short-ish stage to Santander, which is welcoming the Vuelta for the 34th time, but

02:16the first in 20 years.

02:18The question was, would it be a sprint finish, or could a bold breakaway take the day's

02:22honors?

02:31Though the stage was relatively flat compared to the previous day, the weather wasn't much

02:35kinder on the 140km jaunt towards the coast.

02:39With some steep challenges in the middle of the stage, it wasn't going to be a free-for-all

02:43either, and the sprinters' teams were watchful.

02:47Only four riders did break clear, Jonas Gregard, Thibaut Guernelec, Javier Isassa and Thomas

02:53Champion, who'd clearly done his homework coming into the stage.

02:58For me, there's two possible scenarios, perhaps three.

03:05This stage is a bit unpredictable.

03:08It could be a breakaway that goes all the way, a controlled sprint for Groves, or attacks

03:12by the leaders in the peloton on the steep climbs.

03:21For now, it was Champion's first scenario that was playing out as the breakaway built

03:25a four-minute lead.

03:28Back down the road, the peloton were approaching the 50km mark, and the first test of the day,

03:32the Alto de la Estranjera.

03:35It was short at just 5km, but also sharp.

03:38Just ask Isassa how tough it was, as he lost touch with the leaders.

03:43The climb looked like it had claimed a second victim too, as the lead group increased its

03:47lead, Champion's bike let him down and left him stranded.

03:55But it wasn't for long, as even Isassa clawed his way back and the lead quartet sped towards

04:00the day's second climb, the Alto del Caracol.

04:05It was another short, sharp shock at 7km long and 6% gradient, which kept the peloton

04:10at bay and the lead group's advantage intact.

04:13It stood at almost four and a half minutes when the peloton started the climb, and it

04:17was the same when they reached the top, with the chasing group not yet declaring hostilities

04:22on the front four.

04:26The status quo was finally broken inside the final 50km as the peloton chewed into the

04:31lead which was now down to some three minutes, 10km further on and the peloton was stretched

04:36along the road with the pace being ratcheted up.

04:40That saw the lead melt, but not completely, and with less than 25km to go, the breakaway

04:46group still had an advantage that gave them hope they could see it through, especially

04:50with a lot of tired legs in the peloton.

04:53With the rain making conditions treacherous once again, a lead of 40 seconds and the line

04:57fast approaching, the front four were slimmed down to just three, Champion dropped off the

05:02pace as Gregard, Isassa and Gernelec maintained the momentum.

05:06That meant they'd lost just 15 seconds over the previous 5km.

05:11Were we about to see a big surprise in Santander, it certainly still looked to be on the cards

05:16heading into the final 10km.

05:21It wasn't to be though, and with 3km to go, the breakaway finally was swallowed up.

05:26That was the cue for Mauro Schmidt to make a move off the front of the peloton, followed

05:29by Victor Campenaerts and Max Puhl.

05:32But the sprinter's teams weren't going to let them get away, and a bunch sprint shaped

05:36up on the rain-soaked streets of Santander.

05:39There's the front, there's the Swiss Champion, it's Mauro Schmidt who's emptying the tank

05:42right now, he's trying to go for a stage victory in the Vuelta a Espana, they take that final

05:47left-right hand turn, 325m to go, Enzo Leinzer is there for Team DSM, Fermanick, Postonell,

05:53here comes Victor Campenaerts, he's trying to sprint, but now it's Eddie Plancard who's

05:57trying to deliver for Caden Groves, and it all comes back together, the green jersey,

06:01Caden Groves versus Pavel Bitner, and in the end, they come past and he comes to the line

06:06in Santander, stage victory number 7 for the green jersey, Caden Groves, glory for the

06:12Australian.

06:16Caden Groves proving the strongest, though Pavel Bitner pushed him hard, the Australian

06:21repeating his hat-trick of last year's stage wins, he'll be hoping he can also repeat last

06:25year's departure from Madrid with the green jersey and his luggage on Sunday.

06:29It was my last opportunity here at this race, and such a super-motivated team, they did

06:34so well at the start to control the breakaway and make sure the composition was correct,

06:39so to repay them with win number 3 is pretty special.

06:45Groves taking the spoils in Santander, ahead of Bitner and Anton Marchese at Vito Brite,

06:50Campanet's claimed 6th, he'd predicted chaos in the rain at the finish, but there wasn't

06:54too much, which meant no change in the overall classification, so O'Connor's tiny lead over

06:59Roglic remains intact for another stage.

07:04Groves' victory means he's now odds-on to win the green jersey, he's over 100 points

07:10clear of the field, and Jay Vine keeps the polka-dot jersey as Australians lead all three

07:16senior categories.

07:19The only one they don't have is the white jersey, Ineos' Spanish rider Carlos Rodriguez

07:25wears that.

07:26So just four stages left, stage 18 ventures into the Basque country, leaving from Vitoria

07:32and heading to Ischi Natural Park with a climb late in the day that could see sparks fly.

Extended Highlights - Stage 17 - La Vuelta 2024

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