Stage 19
Pinot wins, Yates seizes control
- Friday 14 September 2018
- 154 km
- 3,181 m climbed
- Won by Thibaut Pinot
The road
How it was won
- 34 km to go
Movistar attack on the flat
Sensing a chance, Movistar attack on an exposed road 34km out, breaking the quiet before the storm of the Coll de la Rabassa.
- 13 km to go
Quintana surges
Quintana surges away 13km from the summit hunting the stage; Kruijswijk and then Pinot bridge across to make the move dangerous.
- 9 km to go
Yates attacks alone
Throwing caution to the wind, Simon Yates attacks alone in the big chainring. Valverde simply cannot respond, and the red jersey rides clear at altitude — the decisive blow of the Vuelta.
- 6 km to go
Quintana's flat exposes Valverde
Ordered back to pace Valverde, Quintana flats with 6km to go, changes bikes and is dropped — leaving Valverde exposed and haemorrhaging time.
- At the line
Pinot wins, Yates seizes control
Thibaut Pinot takes the stage atop the Rabassa, but the day belongs to Yates, who stretches his overall lead to 1:38 over Valverde.
The result
| Rank | Rider | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thibaut Pinot | Groupama - FDJ | 3:42:05 |
| 2 | Simon Yates | Mitchelton-Scott | +0:05 |
| 3 | Steven Kruijswijk | Team LottoNL-Jumbo | +0:13 |
The route on real terrain, every moment pinned to the kilometre it happened on — and the GPX to ride it yourself.