Ciccone and Bernal can head to the World Championships feeling good, Landa misses out on last chance: "Sometimes it's quite sad"

UAE Team Emirates-XRG pushed hard all day, knowing that their leader, João Almeida, wanted to try something on the steep final climb. And yet Soudal-Quick Step, Lidl-Trek, and INEOS Grenadiers all had the same goal: to help their leader win the day. Mikel Landa, Giulio Ciccone, and Egan Bernal were the ones to watch.

Although the breakaway group was large, it was clear that it was mainly about the trio of climbers. And Landa, Ciccone, and Bernal were the last ones left, together with the brave EF Dutchman Jardi van der Lee. “We knew it was going to be a tough day, with little chance for the breakaway,” Landa sighed to Eurosport.

“We had a plan to be in the breakaway group, and we succeeded,” said Bernal, who had Bob Jungels with him as a pacemaker. “In the last kilometers, it was all about the legs. It was fun and I enjoyed the race. We tried, and I think we weren't even that far from victory.”

That was also Landa's conclusion: "It was my only option to win the stage, but the final climb was too much for me. I felt empty, so it was difficult to finish. I was quite optimistic because I heard that the group behind us was small. I'm happy, even though I was quite sad at times during this Vuelta. My legs were good, but my back wasn't good enough."