From Aranda de Duero to Guadalajara, in a stage that on paper seemed like a simple transfer before the last mountains of today and tomorrow, the Vuelta has made a move that makes the finale of this edition a little less obvious: Primoz Roglic it's always the red jersey but for the first time the Slovenian and his team, Jumbo-Visma, struggled to contain the gap from the unleashed group of 35 riders who already in the third km of the race gave life to the craziest breakaway of this Vuelta .
The wind that blew along the sides of the race, the crazy speed at over 50 km per hour with which the treads covered the 4 km of the stage in 20 hours and 220 minutes, the determination of a team, the Belgian Deuceninck-Quick Step who he had launched as many as seven of his riders on the offensive, leaving only Richeze behind: a mix of concomitant factors but to ignite and make the stage "appetizing" we needed that among the fugitives there was also a big fish that should never be underestimated. It was Nairo Quintana who, after suffering from health problems in the mountain stages slipping to sixth place in the standings over 7 and a half minutes from Roglic, managed to slip into the break hoping for the coup given that as the kilometers go by the advantage of the tread was increasing and behind the red jersey and his companions were rather in disarray unable to sustain the speed given to the race by the leaders. The situation was becoming embarrassing and dangerous for Roglic.
Luckily for him, Astana decided to lend him a hand to contain the gap which had risen to over 5 minutes. Less predictable was that the Movistars who remained in the group also took part in chasing down Quintana who was giving it his all in front helped by three companions (Erviti, Rojas and Nelson Oliveira). An inexplicable move even if by now we are accustomed to the abstruse tactics implemented by the Spanish team which evidently preferred to defend Valverde's second place rather than help the initiative of the Colombian, who was making a big leap forward in the standings. But the forcing of the pursuers failed even if it served to prevent the advantage from taking on greater dimensions.
In Guadalajara, to celebrate with all the Deuceninck-Quick Step, was Philippe Gilbert who, ahead of Sam Bennett, repeated the success in Bilbao and scored the 11th goal in his career in the three big stage races. Quintana does not participate in the sprint and is satisfied with finishing tenth, 10” behind the winner. But the Condor, even with friendly fire against his Movistar, gains 5'19” on Roglic and the other big names, an advantage sufficient to unseat Valverde by leaping behind Roglic, still leader with 2'24” on the Colombian. Another important gap to say that the games have reopened: certainly the Vuelta has awakened from the torpor of the last few days in the least predictable stage.
