As expected, the 6th stage of the Vuelta 2022 saw the first major clash between the favourites for overall victory, in which Remco Evenepoel put down a big marker.
The 22-year-old Belgian outsprinted almost the entire competition on the final climb to Pico Jano in miserable weather - only the Spaniard Enric Mas (Movistar) was able to follow the Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl pro.
Stage win for Alpecin-Deceuninck
The stage win went to Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck). The Australian broke away from the peloton at the start of the final climb. Behind him, the battle of the favourites broke out. Simon Yates was the first to attack, but was caught again. Evenepoel then moved to the front of the group and held off one top rider after the other. The Belgian finished 15 seconds behind the day's winner Vine, just ahead of Enric Mas (+0:16).
Roglic cannot follow Evenepoel
Evenepoel thus takes over the red jersey from Rudy Molard, who had only won it the day before. The Frenchman from Groupama-FDJ is now second, 21 seconds behind Mas (+0:28).
Top favourite Primoz Roglic was unable to keep up with Evenepoel on the climb to Pico Jano, was isolated early on and reached the finish in a chasing group that included Bora-Hansgrohe riders Jai Hindley and Wilco Kelderman, 1:37 minutes behind the day's winner Vine.
Profile & climbs: This was stage 6 of the 2022 Vuelta
The stages of the Vuelta in detail
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.
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.
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).
