Stage 6

The road

At the start

Pico Jano, the first summit finish

The breakaway took the race off Jumbo-Visma in Bilbao and Rudy Molard rides in red, four minutes clear of Primož Roglič — who is still 26 seconds up on the general classification riders who matter. Today climbs above a thousand metres for the first time: 4,100 metres of ascent from Bilbao into Cantabria, ending on Pico Jano, whose last four kilometres were paved especially for this visit.

How it was won

1. 145 km to go

   A sharp corner in the wet

   A treacherous bend on a shallow descent takes down Cataldo out of the break, then about five riders from the peloton, Hagen worst of all. The crash splits the bunch on the approach to the Collada de Brenes.

2. 236 km to go

   Alaphilippe takes over

   The world champion moves onto the front with Evenepoel on his wheel and the break's chances evaporate — except for Padun, who refuses to give up and drops everyone, cresting a minute clear of Fernández. In heavy rain, Alaphilippe then descends faster still.

3. 320 km to go

   Molard fights for red

   Dropped on the Brenes, the race leader scrambles back on with his teammate's help just in time for the foot of the first summit finish of the Vuelta. Padun starts it with barely a minute.

4. 410 km to go

   Yates opens hostilities

   Ten kilometres from the top of Pico Jano, Simon Yates throws the first punch of the GC battle. Molard is among those immediately shelled.

5. 59 km to go

   Evenepoel reshapes the race

   A kilometre after Yates, the 22-year-old Belgian goes — and only Enric Mas can go with him. It is the acceleration that will define the next fortnight: Roglič and the rest are simply left to ride their own tempo up a mountain that suddenly belongs to somebody else.

6. 6At the line

   Vine survives, Evenepoel takes red

   Jay Vine attacked the peloton on the early slopes and somehow held on through all of it, taking a startling first Grand Tour win. Evenepoel comes home fifteen seconds later — and into the red jersey he will not give up.

The result