LARRA-BELAGUA, Spain (AP) — Remco Evenepoel won a mountainous 14th stage of the Spanish Vuelta a day after his bid to retain his title suffered a devastating blow, while American Sepp Kuss held the overall lead of the three-week race on Saturday.
Evenepoel wept after crossing the finish line of the 156.5-kilometer (97-mile) ride, which began in France at Sauveterre-de-Béarn and ended in Spain at Larra-Belagua after three big climbs.
Evenepoel had cracked on Friday during arguably the most demanding stage of this edition, when riders crossed the Pyrenees to scale the Col du Tourmalet. He had started one minute behind Kuss but finished nearly 28 minutes back.
“Yesterday was a very difficult day,” the 23-year-old Evenepoel said. “I told myself ‘just go for it, make the best of it’.”
“I can be very proud with this answer from yesterday,” he said while also crediting Romain Bardet for collaborating on their breakaway before Evenepoel, who also won Stage 3, shed him on the final ascent.
Bardet finished just over a minute after Evenepoel. The next rider was six minutes back after a gruelling ride.
Kuss will wear the red jersey for a sixth straight day in Sunday’s 15th stage, a 158.5-kilometer (98.5-mile) hilly ride from Pamplona to Lekunberri.
Kuss’s strong Jumbo-Visma outfit took control of the race on the Tourmalet, when Tour de France champion Jonas Vingegaard led a 1-2-3 win along with teammates Kuss and Primoz Roglic. Their dominant performance left them holding the first three spots in the general classification.
After Saturday’s ride back into Spain, Kuss remained 1 minute, 37 seconds ahead of Roglic and 1:44 in front of Vingegaard. The closest challenger to the Jumbo-Visma trio was Juan Ayuso of UAE Team Emirates, 2:37 behind.
Kuss is the first American to lead a Grand Tour since Chris Horner won the 2013 Vuelta. He arrived at the race as a support rider in the mountains for Vingegaard and Roglic, but he now must be considered a real contender to stand atop the podium in Madrid come Sept. 17.
Vingegaard won the Tour de France in 2023 and 2022. Roglic won three straight Vueltas from 2019-2021 and was aiming for a fourth last year until he crashed and had to withdraw.
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