Vuelta a España: Rui Costa outsprints breakaway to win stage 15

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Rui Costa (Intermarché-Circus-Wanty) won stage 15 to Lekunberri at the Vuelta a España, using every possible race tactic and then a final kick to beat Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe) and Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious).

Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep) finished fourth on the stage, just two seconds back, after another day of aggression on the roads of Spain. He made early attacks and then forced the decisive move but eventually paid for his 48 hours on the final climb.

Sepp Kuss and his Jumbo-Visma controlled the breakaway and even responded to attacks from UAE Team Emirates to finish 2:52 behind and so keep the red jersey for Monday’s second rest day.

Primož Roglič is second overall at 1:37, with Jonas Vingegaard third at 1:44 as Jumbo-Visma continue their domination of the Vuelta a España.

36-year-old Costa last won a Grand Tour stage a decade ago, at the Tour de France the same year he won the world title in Florence, Italy. After six years at UAE Team Emirates, he joined Intermarché-Circus-Wanty and began to win again.

"This team has believed in me from the first moment. I started this season in good condition, and now one victory at the Vuelta a España, for me, is very important, and for the team. I'm so happy," Costa said.

How it unfolded

After two dramatic and emotional days in the Pyrenees, stage 15 in the northern Navarre region was expected to be a quieter affair, with a breakaway expected. However, we have learnt to expect the unexpected at the Vuelta, especially this year, and Evenepeol attacked as soon as the flag dropped to rip up the usual Grand Tour playbook.

When he was chased and caught, he went again and again. There were other attacks for the opening 50km, with Ganna and Bernal also joining moves and the average speed at a painful 47.4 km/h.

The race changed when the gradual but 19km Puerto de Lizarraga climb began with 100km to race. Evenepoel attacked again and was joined by Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious), Juan Pedro López (Lidl-Trek), and then 20 or so others.

UAE Team Emirates were also aggressive, with Marc Soler attacking and Jonas Vingegaard going across with him to Evenepoel’s attack to defend Jumbo-Visma’s interests as the GC battle suddenly came alive.

The speed was high, and Cian Uijtdebroeks (Bora-Hansgrohe) was missing in a moment of panic amongst the overall contenders. Aleksandr Vlasov (Bora-Hansgrohe) was with Evenepoel, too, and his and Soler’s presence proved too dangerous for Jumbo-Visma, who shut the attack down.

A 40-rider group formed at the front, but Evenepoel still wasn’t happy and attacked again, going after Cristián Rodríguez (Arkéa Samsic). Others joined them near the summit of the Puerto de Lizarraga after 80km of pure racing.

A 15-rider eventually formed, with Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step), Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain-Victorious), Kenny Elissonde (Lidl-Trek), Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ), Nico Denz and Lennard Kämna (Bora-Hansgrohe), Andreas Kron (Lotto Dstny), Jimmy Janssens (Alpecin-Deceuninck),  Jonathan Caicedo (EF Education), Geoffrey Bouchard and Andrea Vendrame (AG2R Citroën), Rui Costa (Intermarché), Einer Rubio (Movistar), Chris Hamilton (DSM Firmenich) and Cristian Rodriguez (Arkea Samsic) all there.

The peloton eased up as Jumbo-Visma eased the pace. Evenepoel took the mountain points at the summit as the gap opened to 2:30. The break was gone, but who would win the stage?

Evenepoel started the stage 19:12 down on Kuss, but Jumbo-Visma could not let him go, and so started a concerted chase. The gap was pegged at 3:00 with 60km to go.

The 6.3km Puerto de Zuarrarrate climb started with 38km to race, and so did the attacks to hurt Evenepoel. Hamilton tried two attacks, and then so did Buitrago. However, Evenepoel responded every time.

He decided to set the pace to the summit, and he again took the mountain points. His speed also hurt Elissonde, Caicedo, Molard and others, with only nine riders left in the front group. He continued to set a high pace on the descent and valley road to Lekunberri before the second climb of the Puerto de Zuarrarrate came with just 8.5km to go.

Suddenly, Geraint Thomas (Ineos Grenadiers) was distanced from the GC group after a crash on the descent, as his bad luck in the Vuelta continued.

Up front, the final climb of Puerto de Zuarrarrate proved to be selective. Buitrago was especially aggressive and got away with Costa. Evenepoel was dropped 1.5km from the summit, with 10km to go, his batteries finally running out after 24 hours and two full stages on the attack.

Costa knew he was the weaker climber and so sat on Buitrago, much to the Colombian climber’s anger. Kämna joined them, but the drama continued. The German rider crashed while leading on the descent, allowing Buitrago and Costa to go clear.

Costa continued to play mind games with Buitrago, and the two looked at each other, allowing Kämna to get back on and the Evenepoel to come very close.

It came down to a three-rider sprint. Kämna led it out, but Costa came late to win and prove he had followed the best race tactics on the day.

Kuss and his Jumbo-Visma teammates could happily fist pump to celebrate another day in the race lead. The American keeps the red jersey going into week three, with just six days of racing until Madrid and possible overall victory.

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