Nordhagen unable to crack overall winner Yates in Spain, final stage goes to Pinarello

Before the race, there was plenty of talk about a duel between Visma | Lease a Bike and UAE Team Emirates-XRG, and O Gran Camiño delivered exactly that. The Emirati team struck first in the opening time trial, but it was Jørgen Nordhagen who took over the leader’s jersey on Thursday. Friday, however, belonged to Adam Yates. The Brit grabbed the day's victory in a true mountain stage, taking a shot at the overall win.

Still, Yates had to survive the final stage, and that was no gentle farewell. Along Spain’s north-western coast, the riders faced two laps featuring the tricky Alto da Vaiga, before the finish on Monte de Santa Trega. A stunning ancient ruin, with an even more impressive view: it made for a fitting finale to a beautiful race.

In the flat opening phase, seven riders went clear, with Rafael Reis the most familiar name among them. The Portuguese rider had taken the leader’s jersey after the second stage, only to lose it again on Thursday. The seven-man break built a gap of around two minutes, but the peloton kept the pace fairly high behind. The first climb appeared on the horizon, although the race remained calm there. Would things change on the penultimate ascent?

Absolutely. George Bennett of NSN Cycling was the first to accelerate, and he immediately opened a small gap before being joined by Jan Castellón of Caja Rural - Seguros RGA. Race leader Yates had little support left around him and was forced to do a lot of work himself early on. Yet Visma | Lease a Bike quickly offered something of a helping hand through Tijmen Graat. That was slightly surprising, as it allowed the yellow jersey to save some energy.

Castellón later went solo, but the peloton, still containing around 25 riders, was never far behind. The young Spaniard began the final climb with a lead of 25 seconds, but that advantage quickly vanished. The question was whether Nordhagen could still take time out of his rival, but it was Yates himself who made the first move.

The Briton had been sovereign on Friday, and he again looked strong in the final stage. Only Nordhagen, Iván Romeo of Movistar and Alessandro Pinarello of NSN Cycling were able to follow. Yates could not shake off the youngsters, however, and the four riders entered the final kilometre together. There, the road kicked up to 16 percent on cobbles. On that wild stretch, Pinarello proved the strongest and won the sprint ahead of Nordhagen and Yates. For Yates, third place was more than enough to seal the overall victory.