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That climb will in all probability be the final probability for these GC riders nonetheless in rivalry to interrupt Jumbo-Visma’s stranglehold on the race. As of September 12, Sepp Kuss leads the race for the crimson jersey by 1’ 37” over teammate Primož Roglič, with a 3rd Jumbo-Visma rider, the two-time Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard, at 1’ 44”.
Six riders – Juan Ayuso (UAE Staff Emirates), Enric Mas, (Movistar), Marc Soler (UAE Staff Emirates), Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious), Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) – nonetheless have a theoretical probability of upsetting the Jumbo-Visma juggernaut, as they path Kuss by between 2’ 37” and 5’ 30”. Nonetheless, realistically talking, and contemplating the standard of the Jumbo-Visma climbers, the most effective they will in all probability hope for is that one of many “killer bees” cracks on the Angliru to allow them to snatch a spot on the rostrum.
So, the Angliru could make you or break you. The good Alberto Contador, who has gained the Vuelta thrice and the Angliru stage twice, calls it “probably the most troublesome move in all of Spain and a benchmark in biking.” He additionally says it’s “a dream stage…. It was a fourth dream that I didn’t know I had. One was to be an expert bike owner, one other was to race within the Tour and the opposite was to win it. [He has won the Tour twice.] What I didn’t know was that I had a fourth dream: to retire like I did on the Angliru.” In August 2017, Contador rode within the Vuelta as his closing race as an expert, ending fifth within the GC, profitable the combativity award and taking his closing mountain stage atop the Angliru, 17 seconds forward of Wout Poels and eventual Vuelta winner Chris Froome.
“The Angliru is particular as a result of it’s a legendary climb,” the now 40-year-old Contador says. “Cyclists dream about placing their title to it.” The climb was first included within the Vuelta in 1999, on stage eight, and was gained by a Spaniard, José María Jiménez.” Since then, six riders have gained the Angliru stage, with Contador the one rider to win it twice. Along with 2017, he additionally gained it in 2008. “My emotions and my ideas in 2008 had been {that a} dream had come true,” he says. “The Angliru has had an vital influence on my profession for 2 causes: one, as a result of it made me a frontrunner in 2008, in my first Vuelta a España, and in addition as a result of it was the final chapter in my e book in 2017. I retired with the sound of that victory on the height.”
There have been, after all, different notable victories on the Angliru over time, two of them by cyclists driving on this yr’s Vuelta: Wout Poels (Bahrain Victorious) in 2011, and Hugh Carthy (EF Schooling-EasyPost) in 2020, his solely Grand Tour stage victory. They each rank low within the GC and so can be allowed to race away on a breakaway in the event that they wished to recapture previous Angliru glory. And there was Chris Horner’s inspiring win in 2013, which cemented his Vuelta GC victory over Vincenzo Nibali and made him, at age 41, the oldest rider to win a stage on a Grand Tour and the oldest ever Grand Tour winner. He’s additionally the final American rider to win a Grand Tour. Kuss is the primary US rider since then to steer a Grand Tour, and will develop into the subsequent American to win a Grand Tour – if he makes it up the mighty Angliru.
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