Stage 19

The road

At the start

Into Galicia, a day for the break

Two days in Asturias have shaped the race: Roglič leads Mas by 2:30 and López by 2:53, Bernal is fifth at 4:43, and Michael Storer has the mountains jersey. Carlos Verona and Dylan van Baarle did not start yesterday. Today crosses into Galicia with three climbs in the opening sixty kilometres — and nobody left with a reason to chase.

How it was won

1. 1130 km to go

   The green jersey is dropped

   Three categorised climbs inside the opening sixty kilometres, ridden hard, and Jakobsen is out the back and five minutes down. Any hope of a fourth stage win is gone before the day is properly underway.

2. 243 km to go

   Meintjes crashes out of tenth

   Forty-three kilometres from the line a crash in the peloton ends the South African's Vuelta from tenth overall, with Izagirre caught in a separate fall moments later.

3. 327 km to go

   Simmons splinters the break

   The American attacks again with 35km to go and takes Oliveira with him, shattering the group. Cort, Bagioli, Craddock, Roux and Kron chase across, and seven men are left to fight over the stage.

4. 4At the line

   Monforte de Lemos

   With BikeExchange closing hard behind, the seven hold on by eighteen seconds. Nobody strikes for the line until 200 metres, and in a straight sprint there was only ever going to be one winner — Cort's third stage of this Vuelta and his sixth in the race's history.

The result