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09/05 13:16 CDT Mas boosts Spanish Vuelta lead as organizers shorten next stage
due to heat
Mas boosts Spanish Vuelta lead as organizers shorten next stage due to heat
SIERRA DE LA PANDERA, Spain (AP) --- Enric Mas added to his lead of the Spanish
Vuelta on a mountainous 14th stage won by Marco Brenner amid continued hot
weather in southern Spain on Saturday.
Mas tacked some 25 seconds onto his advantage over Primo? Roglic after dropping
the four-time former winner on the final climb and linking up with Ral Garca
from his Movistar team.
"It was a perfect strategy from the team," Mas said. "He (Garca) saw that
Primoz was dropping, so we went full to the finish."
Flix Gall crossed with Mas and moved into second place ahead of Roglic in the
general classification. Gall is 2 minutes, 6 seconds behind Mas, with Roglic
falling to 2:10 behind the leader.
Brenner won the grueling 151.9-kilometer (94.4-mile) stage after he overcame
his fellow breakaway riders and edged Santiago Buitrago at the finish. Brenner
had time to zip up his Tudor team suit just as he crossed the line in 4 hours,
15 minutes, 9 seconds. It was the 24-year-old German rider's first win at a
Grand Tour.
"I think it's the best day of my cycling life, but I cannot really believe it
yet," Brenner said. "There's not many cyclists who achieve a stage win in a
Grand Tour, and to add this to my palmares (triumphs) is really amazing."
The stage was held in an area just north of Granada that was under a heat
warning with highs forecast for 38 degrees Celsius (100 Fahrenheit) in Jaen,
where the day's racing started. Riders tackled a pair of category-two climbs as
they rode through a landscape of sunbaked olive groves before a final ascent to
the category-one Sierra de la Pandera.
Riders were regularly grabbing water bottles from team helpers and promptly
pouring them over their heads or squirting them on teammates.
Sunday's stage shortened because of heat Race organizers announced they were shortening Sunday's 15th stage with "the aim of protecting the health of the riders and ensuring the best possible conditions for the competition." The hilly stage ending in the city of Cordoba will be shortened from 189 to 110 kilometers (117 to 68 miles). The start will also be delayed until later in the afternoon. The province of Cordoba is under a level 2 heat warning on Sunday with highs expected of 40C (104F). The Tour de France also had a stage shortened because of a heatwave in France in July. This year's Vuelta is based in southern Spain and without any of its classic mountain finishes in the country's greener north.
Mas is one week away from elusive title Mas has led the race since Tour champion Tadej Pogacar withdrew following a crash the previous weekend that has ended his season. Now he has one week of racing left at the Vuelta, where he has finished runner-up on three occasions, in 2018, 2021 and 2022. Mas is trying to become the first Spanish rider to win the home race since Alberto Contador in 2014. The key to Mas finally coming out on top will likely rest on him having a big enough lead to withstand Roglic during a time trial on Stage 18. ___ See full AP coverage of European sports here
Sunday's stage shortened because of heat Race organizers announced they were shortening Sunday's 15th stage with "the aim of protecting the health of the riders and ensuring the best possible conditions for the competition." The hilly stage ending in the city of Cordoba will be shortened from 189 to 110 kilometers (117 to 68 miles). The start will also be delayed until later in the afternoon. The province of Cordoba is under a level 2 heat warning on Sunday with highs expected of 40C (104F). The Tour de France also had a stage shortened because of a heatwave in France in July. This year's Vuelta is based in southern Spain and without any of its classic mountain finishes in the country's greener north.
Mas is one week away from elusive title Mas has led the race since Tour champion Tadej Pogacar withdrew following a crash the previous weekend that has ended his season. Now he has one week of racing left at the Vuelta, where he has finished runner-up on three occasions, in 2018, 2021 and 2022. Mas is trying to become the first Spanish rider to win the home race since Alberto Contador in 2014. The key to Mas finally coming out on top will likely rest on him having a big enough lead to withstand Roglic during a time trial on Stage 18. ___ See full AP coverage of European sports here
