Passive Vingegaard can’t finish off Visma | LaB’s hard work; Pellizzari takes first pro win on brutal Vuelta climb

After stage 16 had already ended in major anti-climax due to protests on the final climb, stage 17 brought new concerns. The strong winds atop El Morredero, the day’s summit finish, raised safety fears. Still, the riders set off as planned, hoping to finally have a “normal” finish.

Because of the ongoing protests during this year’s Vuelta, the riders held a vote before the start of Wednesday’s stage on how to proceed if another incident occurred. The outcome: they want the race to be neutralized in case of another disruption. An improvised finish like the day before, the peloton no longer wanted.

There was plenty of interest in getting into the early breakaway, so it took a while before a group finally went clear. In the end, twelve riders managed to get away, including Picnic Post-NL’s Gijs Leemreize and Timo Roosen. Strong climber Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious) was also among them.

The breakaway wasn’t allowed much freedom. The peloton, led by Visma | Lease a Bike, kept the dozen riders on a short leash, never allowing more than a two-minute gap. Meanwhile, more clarity emerged about the conditions atop the final climb. The wind seemed to ease, meaning the weather likely wouldn’t force any last-minute changes.

The day’s stage included two categorized climbs, with the riders hitting the Paso de las Traviesas about halfway through. At 7.8 kilometers long and averaging 4.1 percent, it was nothing compared to the final climb, but it did bring the peloton a little closer to the breakaway.

It was a waiting game until the final climb, though there was still some action at the intermediate sprint. Van Boven beat Roosen there in the dash for points, after which the two pushed on for a short while. But they were quickly caught by the rest of the breakaway, meaning twelve riders still led the race heading toward El Morredero.

The final climb hadn’t even officially started yet, but already it was clear this would be a real battlefield. With more than eleven kilometers still to go, the peloton was already reduced to pieces, and we saw the first GC contenders in trouble before the official start of the climb. Felix Gall (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) was among those struggling early.

As the riders hit the final climb, there was a brief scare when a motorbike crashed, narrowing the road. The group of favorites got through safely, after which Visma | Lease a Bike’s numerical advantage became clear. Vingegaard still had three teammates with him on the opening ramps, while Almeida was already isolated.

Matteo Jorgenson (Visma | Lease a Bike) then had to drop, while Gall was also distanced again. Junior Lecerf (Soudal Quick-Step) had already been lost earlier, meaning there were top-10 casualties quite early on. With just over six kilometers remaining, it was Hindley who lit the fuse.

The Australian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe attacked and was followed by Tom Pidcock (Q36.5), Matthew Riccitello (Israel-Premier Tech), and Vingegaard. Almeida, as often happens, stuck to his own pace and at first seemed unable to close the gap. Yet the Portuguese did manage to claw his way back a little later, with Pellizzari on his wheel.

So it was that the top five came together, including Riccitello, seventh in the GC. A brief truce followed, with the six riders keeping things calm. But that changed with four kilometers to go, when Pellizzari launched an acceleration. In the battle for white, Riccitello closed that gap.