UAE finally defeated: Surprise talent Etxebarria (Equipo Kern Pharma) wins Vuelta a Castilla y León

The Spanish one-day race, Vuelta a Castilla y Leon (UCI 1.1), is held annually in the Valladolid area in northern Spain. This time, there were no Basque climbs, unlike earlier this week, but a relatively flat course with a few shorter climbs. The finish in Peñafiel is tricky, though: the last mile and a half is a steep climb with maximum gradients of 8%. The finish line is located after 201.1 kilometers.

Right from the start, a breakaway group was given free rein by the peloton. The WorldTour teams Movistar, XDS-Astana, UAE Emirates-XRG, and Cofidis were not among them. However, a few smaller teams were represented. The names: Spaniard Asier Pablo Gonzalez (Illes Balears Arabay), Filipino Nichol Blanca Pareja (Victoria Sports), Russian Vyacheslav Ivanov (Pingtan), American Liam Flanagan (Team Skyline), Brit Adam Lewis (Team Skyline), and Spaniard Ivan Loaisa (Valverde Team-Ricardo Fuentes).

The six riders at the front quickly built up a four-minute lead in the first few kilometers, with UAE Team Emirates - XRG setting the pace in the peloton. On paper, that team had the strongest squad at the start. On the flat course in Spain, they were able to keep the leaders in sight: they knew it was only a matter of time before they were caught.

It was all about the final. The day was completely flat until the finish in Peñafiel. The finish was on a short but vicious climb, with little chance to make a difference before that. The leaders, from which Flanagan and Pareja had been dropped, held on for a long time: with 4 kilometers to go, they were still more than 25 seconds ahead of the pack.

Was a gigantic stunt brewing? It seemed possible, but they soon saw the castle of Peñafiel, where the finish line was located. Even before the climb, the adventure was over. UAE led the pack up the final climb, but the competitors from XDS-Astana (for Max Kanter) and Unibet Tietema Rockets (for Lukas Kubis) also made their move. A rider from Equipo Kern Pharma initiated the sprint, but Jésus Herrada countered him. However, the Cofidis leader had to settle for second place behind the surprising Haimar Etxebarria (Equipo Kern Pharma).