The 10th stage after the first rest day at the Vuelta a Espana 2024 was a spoil for the breakaway. Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) secured victory in a two-man sprint against Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ). Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) crossed the finish line in the first chasing group behind Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and William Junior Lecerf (Soudal - Quick Step) in fifth place.
It was van Aert's third stage win at the Tour of Spain 2024, having already won stage 3 and stage 7. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) confidently defended the overall leader's red jersey. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) remains sixth overall in the white jersey of the best young pro.
Vuelta a Espana 2024 - Results: the top 10 of stage 10
- Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike) 3:50:47
- Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ) +0:03
- Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +2:01
- William Junior Lecerf (Soudal - Quick Step) +2:01
- Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +2:01
- Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +5:13
- Jhonatan Narvaez (Ineos Grenadiers) +5:31
- Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ) +5:31
- George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech) +5:31
- Harold Tejada (Astana Qazaqstan Team) +5:31
The overall standings
- Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) 40:05:54
- Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +3:53
- Richard Carapaz (EF Education EasyPost) +4:32
- Enric Mas (Movistar) +4:35
- Mikel Landa (Soudal - Quick Step) +5:17
- Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) +5:29
- Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +5:30
- Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) +5:30
- Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers) +6:00
- David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +6:32
How the 10th stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2024 went
On the rest day, the bunch of the Tour of Spain travelled from Granada in southern Spain to Ponteareas in the north-west. This meant cooler temperatures for the riders. The 10th stage was held at around 20° C. Three riders did not resume the race after the rest day: Laurens De Plus (Ineos Grenadiers), Harold Martin Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan Team) - both Covid-19 and Kobe Gossens (Intermarche-Wanty) as a result of a crash on stage six. Giulio Ciccone (Lidl-Trek/knee problems) also abandoned on the way.
There was an attack right from the start. However, a group was initially unable to break away on the Alto de Fonfria (2nd category), the first climb of the day. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) also tried to get into the breakaway group, but was not allowed to ride.
Five breakaways with van Aert and Hollmann
It wasn't until around an hour into the race that some order was restored. Five men formed a leading group: Quentin Pacher (Groupama-FDJ), William Junior Lecerf (Soudal - Quick Step), Wout van Aert (Visma | Lease a Bike), Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) and Juri Hollmann (Alpecin-Deceuninck). One rider, Alessandro De Marchi (Team Jayco-AlUla), was still in pursuit for a long time. However, the Italian had to realise after a few kilometres that his attempt was doomed to failure. Meanwhile in the peloton, Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale got a grip on the situation and controlled the action.
Van Aert makes the preliminary decision
The peloton let the breakaway get away by around six and a half minutes. With 31 kilometres to go, the unity at the front was over. Wout van Aert used the intermediate sprint as a launch pad to put his companions into the wind. Only Quentin Pacher was able to follow the leader in the points classification. The new leading duo went into the Alto de Mougas (1st category), the last categorised climb of the day, with a lead of around 20 seconds over the chasing trio.
Marc Soler set the pace for the three chasers. Shortly after the start of the Alto de Mougas, Juri Hollmann was no longer able to keep up before Junior Lecerf temporarily dropped Soler three kilometres below the summit, but the Spaniard came back.
Attack by EF Education EasyPost without effect
EF Education EasyPost took command of the peloton. However, the men around Richard Carapaz were unable to put any of the best in the classification in trouble. Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale then set the pace again and calmed the race down.
With van Aert and Pacher in pursuit, Hollmann came back on the descent from the Alto de Mougas, while van Aert and Pacher battled for victory at the front. As expected, the Frenchman had no chance against the Belgian in the final sprint. Behind him, Hollmann started the sprint for third place far too early and was caught by Soler and Junior Lecerf.
The peloton, from which Txomin Juaristi (Euskaltel-Euskadi) had broken away just before the Alto de Mougas climb, crossed the finish line five and a half minutes behind.
