Vuelta a España: Magnus Cort hangs on to narrow win on stage 6

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Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) claimed a breakaway victory on stage 6 of the Vuelta a España, holding off Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) in a thrilling finale atop the Alto de la Montaña de Cullera. 

It took 50km for the day’s five man break to form, and it looked like it was curtains as the pre-race favourites stormed up the short, steep final climb, but Cort timed his efforts to perfection. 

Roglič kicked clear of his rivals for the overall title in the final couple of hundred metres of the 1.9km climb, which had a gradient of 9.4 per cent, but he couldn’t quite catch Cort and crossed the line in the Dane’s slipstream. Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck-QuickStep) finished a couple of seconds down to take the final place on the podium.

Alexander Vlasov (Astana-PremierTech) and Enric Mas (Movistar) were Roglič’s closest GC challengers, while Michael Matthews, whose Team BikeExchange teammates had worked for much of the day, had to settle for sixth place after launching a bid for victory in the final few hundred metres. 

"I looked back with 150 metres to go and I could see him coming,” Cort said of the advancing Roglič. “I sprinted with everything I had and I luckily could keep him behind.

"This one is special for me in a very different way. The stages I win are always in sprints and I'm very happy to show I can also do it in other terrains and finish off a breakaway like this today."

There was no stage win for the Roglič but there was consolation in the form of the overall lead, as Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) was dropped on the final climb and was forced to hand over the red jersey. There was also the more important matter of time gains over his rivals for the overall title. 

Crosswinds had already struck and split the race into echelons on an exposed loop just inland from Spain’s eastern coast, but a full peloton regrouped for the finishing kick up to the castle above Cullera. Still, the near-double-digit gradients were enough to do some significant damage. 

Ineos Grenadiers exploded the bunch on the lower slopes through Jhonatan Narvaez, and Egan Bernal went on to cross the line in seventh place, eight seconds down on Roglič but conceding a further six through bonus seconds. Adam Yates, dropped briefly in the crosswinds finished 25 seconds adrift, while Richard Carapaz crossed the line at 27 seconds. 

Alejandro Valverde and Miguel Angel Lopez joined their teammate Mas in finishing within nine seconds of Roglič on a day when Movistar played a prominent role, while Felix Grossschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) rounded out the top 10 on the day. 

David De la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) and Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) finished with Yates, while Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) had a disappointing day and finished alongside Carapaz and Fabio Aru (Qhubeka-NextHash) at 27 seconds. 

The biggest loser from a GC perspective was Hugh Carthy, which made it a bittersweet day for EF Education-Nippo. The British rider had already been ominously dropped in the crosswinds and struggled up the final climb, finishing 2:50 in arrears.

Roglič now leads the Vuelta over a Movistar trio, with Mas second at 25 seconds, Lopez third at 36 seconds, and Valverde fourth at 41 seconds, tied on time with fifth-placed Bernal. Vlasov and Ciccone follow while Landa, Aru and Yates are all now more than a minute in arrears. 

“I’m not at all disappointed. Magnus was just stronger, he had really good legs and definitely deserved the win,” Roglič said. “For myself, it wasn’t so much about the win. I was first of all trying to stay safe and then trying to enjoy it. In the end, I had good legs so did a little sprint.”

How it unfolded

It was a fast start from Requena on largely downhill roads, which saw a constant volley of accelerations and breakaway attempts. It wasn’t until the 50-kilometre mark, approaching the flatter terrain that made up much of the stage, that a group did manage to go clear. 

Joan Bou (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ryan Gibbons (UAE Team Emirates) were the first to attack and they were joined by Jetse Bol (Burgos-BH), Magnus Cort (EF Education-Nippo) and Bert Jan Lindeman (Qhubeka NextHash) to create a five-man escape. Guy Niv (Israel Start-Up Nation) wanted to be a part of it but missed the boat and left his counter-attack too late, having to drift back to the bunch after several kilometres in no-man’s land. 

Meanwhile, the five riders up front quickly built a lead of seven minutes, at which point BikeExchange decided to hit the front of the peloton and raise the pace, after Trek-Segafredo had been controlling to keep the gap sensible up to that point. The Australian team’s concerted effort steadily chipped into the breakaway’s advantage.

By the intermediate sprint in Pinedo with 50km to go, where Bol claimed maximum points, the gap was down to just over three minutes. From there, the race headed down Spain’s east coast towards the finish town, with an extra lap of an inland loop ahead of the short final climb. That part of the course turned out to be more exposed to the stiff wind that was blowing in from the sea, and the tension began to ramp up, with a high pace and a number of small crashes. 

Things really kicked off with 33km to go, as Ineos Grenadiers hit the front and made a big push to create an echelon. Egan Bernal and Richard Carapaz were both up there getting involved and they helped to send a 30-man group clear, with Movistar and Jumbo-Visma both particularly prominent. 

However, Adam Yates missed the boat, and Ineos then appeared to settle into more of a watching brief, with Movistar taking the reins. Elissonde missed the split and was forced into a larger chase group, where his teammates gave chase. 

After a few kilometres, things calmed down up front, with the Yates group making contact with the lead group, and the Elissonde peloton gaining ground too. Many riders tried to accelerate across the shortening gap - including Elissonde himself at one point - but the race did come together again with 25km to go.

There was a lull in the action as they went past the foot of the final climb and headed north up that coastal road, with the breakaway re-finding a foothold at 90 seconds, but things heated up again with 17km to go as they prepared to turn back into that exposed crosswind section. 

Movistar were still bossing the front of the bunch and there was trouble for Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo) when he was tailed off in a small split towards the back of the bunch with 15km to go.

The British rider used his teammates to get within touching distance of the back of the bunch, but couldn’t quite make contact by the time they went out onto the exposed section, where the pace exploded once more. 

Florian Senechal hit the front for Deceuninck-QuickStep and quickly Carthy found himself 20 seconds adrift. However, there wasn’t as much damage up front this time around and the pace calmed down somewhat on the latter section of the loop, which was more sheltered. That allowed Carthy and his teammates to claw their way back with 8km to go. 

With the echelon danger apparently over, it was now a case of trying to set up a stage win, with the breakaway still together and still a minute clear. Movistar continued their efforts and reduced it to 50 seconds with 5km to go. 

Just 1,500 metres later, with the gap still at 40 seconds, Ineos hit the front through Dylan van Baarle. By the foot of the climb, with 1.9km to go, the five escapees had just 20 seconds in hand. 

On the short rise through town before the start of the climb proper, Bou accelerated but it was soon in vain as behind, Van Baarle pulled aside and Narvaez made a huge push with Carapaz in the wheel. Elissonde was soon unable to follow and slipped out of the red jersey.

With 1.4km from the top, Cort made a push from what was left of the breakaway, and Lindeman clawed his way across to him. The favourites were close at hand, but Lopez took it up and the pace eased slightly. 

That gave new hope to Cort, who dropped Lindeman and led by several seconds going into the final 500 metres. Matthews had no option but to hit out behind and went on the attack, which opened up the GC group. 

Vlasov got onto his wheel before Roglič came through as the group began to split. Roglic made a sustained push out of the saddle and it looked like a robbery was on the cards in sight of the line but Cort made use of his own fast kick and Roglič was forced to sit down and settle for second, although in the context of the race as a whole it was as morale-boosting as they come.