Vuelta 2022: Evenepoel extends his lead on stage 9 - Meintjes takes the stage win

On the final climb of stage 9 to Les Praeres, Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) once again outpaced his rivals in the battle for the red jersey.

• Result of the stage & the current standings in the overall standings

The Belgian took 34 seconds off the Spanish top talent Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Enric Mas (Movistar) took 44 seconds and defending champion Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) was beaten by Evenepoel by 52 seconds.

The stage win was decided by a breakaway group. Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) was able to secure a solo victory ahead of the Italians Samuele Battistella (Astana Qazaqstan) and Edoardo Zambanini (Bahrain-Victorious).

The second rest day of the Vuelta is scheduled for Monday, before the individual time trial continues on Tuesday.

Profile & climbs: That was stage 9

The stages of the Vuelta in detail

• Stage 1
• Stage 2
• Stage 3
• Stage 4
• Stage 5
• Stage 6
• Stage 7
• Stage 8
• Stage 10
• Stage 11
• Stage 12
• Stage 13
• Stage 14
• Stage 15
• Stage 16
• Stage 17
• Stage 18
• Stage 19
• Stage 20
• Stage 21

Unlike in the Tour de France, the leader's jersey in the Vuelta is not yellow, but red. We have summarised which other leader's jerseys and special classifications there are in the Tour of Spain in our text on the rules.

• To the regulations

Numerous top cycling stars will be at the start of the 2022 Vuelta. TOUR has compiled an overview of the line-ups of the 23 teams.

• To the Vuelta start list

Tour of Spain for women

In addition to the men's race, there will also be another Vuelta for women in 2022, the Ceratizit Challenge by La Vuelta. It will take place from 7 to 11 September with a total of five stages.

The first stage starts in Marina de Cudeyo in Cantabria, with the final section finishing four days later in the Spanish capital Madrid.

History of the Vuelta

The men's Vuelta a Espana is back after the Giro d'Italia and the Tour de France the third of the three major national tours (Grand Tours), which will be held in 2022. The Tour of Spain was held for the first time in 1935 and is therefore younger than its Italian and French counterparts.

Until the 1990s, the Vuelta traditionally took place in spring. The date was then moved to August or September. There was one exception in 2020, when the Vuelta was moved to October and November due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The record winner is the Spaniard Roberto Heras with four titles. Three Germans have won the race so far: Rudi Altig (1962), Rolf Wolfshohl (1965) and Jan Ullrich (1999).