Vuelta 2023: Evenepoel takes 18th stage with monster solo, Vingegaard protects kiss

The Belgian completed 29 of the 179 kilometres up to the Puerto de la Cruz de Linares as a soloist. On the first crossing of the final climb Puerto de la Cruz de Linares, he shook off the young Brit Max Poole (Team dsm-firmenich) and veteran Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious). The Italian finished 4:46 minutes behind Evenepoel (Soudal - Quick Step) finished second, with Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) third.

The favourites crossed the finish line more than nine minutes behind. And in contrast to the last few days, the red jersey of Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) ahead of his team-mates Primoz Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard. The Danish Tour winner in particular put himself at the service of the American this time, closing gaps and even making up a few seconds at the end, so that he is now 17 seconds behind Kuss in second place again.

>> All results of the Vuelta 2023

"We protected Sepp today. It's nice to be able to give something back," said Vingegaard. "Also on Saturday," he added. The penultimate stage, the longest of the tour, which also involves another 4,400 metres of climbing, poses the final threat to the overall standings.

The top 10 of the 18th stage

1. Remco Evenepoel (Soudal - QuickStep) 4:47:37
2. Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) +4:44
3. Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny) +5:10
4. Max Poole (Team dsm-firmenich) +5:12
5. Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) +5:17
6. Julien Bernard (Lidl-Trek) +6:11
7. Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) +7:01
8. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +9:29
9. Enric Mas (Movistar) +9:29
10. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) +9:29

Even if the Bora-Although the Spanish duo of Cian Uijtdebroeks and Alexandr Vlasov were unable to keep up with the best and lost almost a minute on Kuss and Co, nothing changed in the top 10 of the overall standings, as Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) also lost a lot of time. The Spanish three-way battle between Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and Enric Mas (Movistar) behind the jumbo podium ended in a stalemate.

The top 10 of the Vuelta overall standings

1. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) 65:31:27
2. Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +0:17
3. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1:08
4. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +4:00
5. Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) +4:19
6. Enric Mas (Movistar) +4:30
7. Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) +7:37
8. Alexandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) +8:35
9. Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) +10:20
10. Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) +12:20

There were still no changes to the classification jerseys. Kuss in red, Ayuso in white and Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in green only have to worry about their jerseys to a limited extent. Evenepoel, on the other hand, already has the mountain classification in the bag if he makes it to Madrid. His lead is unassailable.

This was the 18th stage of the Vuelta 2023

It didn't take long for a breakaway group to break away, which this time also got a free ride from Jumbo-Visma. There were 14 riders in the breakaway, including Evenepoel again. Caruso, Nico Denz (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) were among the leaders. The group pulled out the biggest lead seen in this Vuelta - more than ten minutes.

On the longest climb of the day, the Puerto de San Lorenzo (1st category), which was reached 100 kilometres before the finish, the first breakaway riders ran into difficulties. Evenepoel, on the other hand, secured ten more points for the mountain jersey at the summit - he won all five classifications of the day. Meanwhile, the lead over the peloton had barely melted.

>> All stages of the Vuelta at a glance

On the Alto de Tenebredo (3rd category) 60 kilometres before the finish, Evenepoel then dropped out. Only Caruso, Bernal, Poole, Kron and Paul Ourselin (TotalEnergies) were able to follow him, the lead over the peloton grew to more than eleven minutes.

Kron went full throttle into the first crossing of the Puerto de la Cruz de Linares (1st category), but he quickly regretted it. Evenepoel kept up the pace, with only Caruso and Poole staying with him. By the time he reached the summit, the Belgian had already taken 1:20 minutes off the young Brit's closest rival.

It was the usual picture in the group of GC riders. Bahrain Victorious worked until all the helpers were used up. Then the captains were among themselves. And then Jumbo-Visma worked for Kuss. Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic stretched out in front of the red jersey and kept the pace high enough for their colleagues to follow. The Tour winner was able to parry attacks from Landa, Ayuso and Mas in such a way that Kuss was able to follow without any problems.