Stage 18 of La Vuelta a Espana 2024 was set to be contested in the Basque Country. Race organizer Unipublic had designed stage 18 of Vuelta a Espana as a 179.5-kilometer ride from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maeztu / Parque Natural de Izki in the province of Alava. A refuge for nature lovers, the nature park is situated in mountainous terrain and is dominated by old oak trees in forest territory, which hosts unique biodiversity in a calm sanctuary. Today it would also host the cyclists of La Vuelta. 

While the stage route would feature a Category Two climb mid-stage, the stage route would also feature a challenging Category One climb approximately fifty kilometers from the finish line. Spectators lining up along the roads were hoping the Category One climb would invite the remaining General Classification favorites in the Vuelta peloton to animate the stage action with attacks.

Team PremierTech’s Corbin Strong was no longer so strong and would not appear at the start of stage 18. What a tough fate to be forced to abandon this year’s Vuelta a Espana so shortly before its finish in Madrid on Sunday.

Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R) was still spearheading the general classification of this year’s Vuelta a Espana before today’s stage 18. The Australian rider now had had only a miniscule five second advantage over Primoz Roglic of Team Red Bull – Bora – Hansgrohe, who has won the Vuelta a Espana on three previous occasions. Enric Mas was third in the general classification, 01:25 minutes behind O’Connor, while Richard Carapaz was fourth with a 01:46 minute deficit. Mikel Landa was fifth, David Gaudu sixth, Carlos Rodriguez seventh, and Mattias Skjelmose eighth for Lidl-Trek.

The action in stage 18 of La Vuelta a Espana started from the very beginning, when fearless and adventurous riders launched attacks, hoping to form a viable breakaway. After twenty kilometers, however, no breakaway group had yet managed to deliver a lasting attempt.

Despite repeated breakaway attempts, the peloton was still united when 140 kilometers of the stage remained.

A split occurred in the peloton when approximately 135 kilometers remained. At this point the riders had completed fifty kilometers of the race, and some riders were showing signs of depleted energy reserves. The race was getting closer to the first categorized climb of the day.

More than forty riders were present in the breakaway group, and it appeared to hold sufficient strength and talent to be able to form a viable advantage over the main peloton, which was headed by riders from Decathlon-AG2R in support of the team’s race leader Ben O’Connor.

During the stage it was announced Wout van Aert (Team Visma-Lease a Bike), who was forced to abandon this year’s Vuelta following a crash a few days ago, is suffering from a serious knee injury, which will put a stop to his racing season and prevent him from taking part in this year’s World Championships.

Euskaltel-Euskadi took the lead in the main peloton as the Basque team had disappointingly not managed to join the breakaway despite riding on home turf in the Basque Country. The rolling oranges would be in for reprimands and critique at tonight’s team dinner. 

When one hundred kilometers of the stage remained, the riders were climbing the Alto de Rivas de Tereso. At this point the front group had an advantage of approximately 01:30 minutes, while riders from Euskaltel-Euskadi were working hard at the front of the main peloton to reel in the breakaway and avoid additional criticism from their sport directors.

Mikel Bizkarra and Gotzon Martin from Euskaltel-Euskadi launched an attack from the main peloton while on the climb, hoping to bridge the gap to the front group. Groupama-FDJ’s Quentin Pacher joined the ride. 

Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) was the first rider to reach the top of the category Two climb.

While the Euskaltel-Euskadi duo was still fighting hard to join the large breakaway group, three riders broke away from the large breakaway group. The riders were Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ), and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-Alula). The trio created a lead of thirty seconds.

When seventy kilometers remained of today’s stage, the front trio had an advantage of one minute over a 37-man chase group. The Euskaltel-Euskadi duo was still chasing four minutes behind along with other riders, while the main peloton was almost eight minutes behind.

The front trio was slowly approaching the Puerto de Herrera climb (Category One), which was expected to have some influence on the stage result. Meanwhile, riders from Soudal-QuickStep had moved to the front of the main peloton, hoping to reduce the advantage of the riders in the breakaway. 

The strong chase group was closing in on the front trio on the Puerto de Herrera. With the main peloton now more than ten minutes behind the front men, the riders were now eyeing a fabulous stage win for the history books.

The front trio was caught by chasers and a larger group featuring Mattia Cattaneo (Soudal-QuickStep), Vacek, Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Küng, Schmid, Max Poole (DSM-Firmenich), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma), and Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) was formed. Marc Soler bridged. These riders were now chasing the stage victory. Meanwhile, Decathlon-AG2R riders had moved to the front of the main peloton for general classification leader Ben O’Connor.

While Mark Soler secured the points for the Best Climber Classification, riders from EF Education-EasyPost moved to the front of the main peloton in support of Richard Carapaz, while trying to crack O’Connor on the climb.

Richard Carapaz launched an attack on the climb. The Ecuadorian rider always possessed a great and admirable fighting spirit. Some general classification favorites joined him, while others were struggling to hang on. Mikel Landa got dropped.

The general classification favorites battled on the climb. A small group of eight to ten GC riders formed a group that reached the top of the climb in almost united fashion.

The riders entered the fast and dangerous descent. O’Connor had been dropped. Carapaz led a group of other GC favorites, which fought hard to keep O’Connor at a distance on the descent.

The chasing O’Connor group caught the Carapaz group on a somewhat flat stretch. A larger group of favorites pressed on at top speed, because Landa was still chasing further back with a deficit of approximately 01:30 minutes. Defending Vuelta Champion Sepp Kuss (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) had also been dropped. Landa and Kuss were now dropping down the GC.

Twenty-five kilometers remained of stage 18 and a thirteen-man front group was chasing the stage victory, while a group of GC riders was more than eight minutes behind. Landa, Oscar Rodriguez, Adam Yates and other riders were chasing one and a half minutes behind the GC group.

When twelve kilometers were left of the stage, twelve riders were in the front group. The GC favorites were chasing in a group seven minutes behind, while Landa and other GC favorites who had been dropped were chasing ten minutes behind the front men. The riders were in hilly, but fast, terrain.

Urko Berrade attacked from the front group. The Kern Pharma rider was chasing an additional stage victory for his team in this year’s Vuelta. Steven Kruijswijk was chasing the Spanish rider. Berrade was still solo in front when three kilometers remained.

No other rider was able to chase down Urko Berrade and he was the first rider across the finish line in solo fashion. What a marvelous performance by the Spanish rider from Team Kern Pharma. Mauro Schmid (Jayco-Alula) was the next rider across the finish line, while Pau Miquel completed the stage podium for Kern Pharma.

While the stage victory had been decided, the general classification favorites were yet to reach the finish line. The speed was intense in the main GC group as some GC riders, including Mikel Landa, had been dropped and were chasing behind.

Most of the general classification favorites reached the finish line 06:40 minutes behind stage winner Berrade. While Ben O’Connor managed to defend his race lead by sticking with the other GC favorites when Richard Carapaz daringly attacked, Mikel Landa dropped out of contention and is now unlikely to finish on the final Vuelta podium in Madrid on Sunday.

Mikel Landa, Sepp Kuss, Oscar Rodriguez and other riders finished exactly ten minutes after the stage winner.

In the general classification Ben O’Connor leads the race with a narrow advantage of five seconds over Primoz Roglic in second place, while Enric Mas is third. Richard Carapaz is fourth, while David Gaudu is now fifth. Carlos Rodriguez is in sixth place, and Mattias Skjelmose is now seventh.

Friday’s stage 19 of La Vuelta a Espana 2024 will be a 173.5-kilometer ride from Logrono to Alto de Moncalvillo. The stage will feature the Puerto de Pradilla (Category Three; 5.3 km; 4.9%) mid-stage and conclude with a challenging stage finale on the Alto de Moncalvillo (Category One; 8.6 km; 8.9%), which will take the riders to the finish line. 

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for continuous coverage from Vuelta a Espana 2024.

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