OFFICIAL Stage 18 Results

[Laurens De Jong]

Hello, Vuelta a España Gamers!

 

STAGE Grade: C-

 

I rate today’s stage  C-. An F would also be appropriate. The shortened route is an insult to the sport, inevitable as it was. Much is written about ten! seconds! taken out of Jonas Vingegaard’s lead, but it is meaningless. João Almeida’s only hope is to crack Vingegaard on the Bola del Mundo. And if Vingegaard cracks there, it will be by more than ten seconds.

 

So I don’t think much of today’s stage. But you already knew that, it’s a time trial.

 

Route: 1/5         GC: 1/5             Tactics: 1/5       Sprint: 1/5         Surprises: 1/5

 

 

I’m sure that if you track my predictions, I don’t do much better than 30%. But this time I was 100% right. Filippo Ganna, back from his concussion injury, won the stage. But I was almost 100% wrong: he beat Jay Vine by less than a second.

 

Jay Vine, I only now realize, is a good time trial rider. And he’s here to win stages. None of this “let’s take it easy in the time trial so I can help Almeida on Saturday” business. Death or flowers, that was Jay’s motto today. I just didn’t see it coming because he never actually wins a time trial, and he should be tired from all those mountain stages. To be fair, he did slow down in the final four kilometers. He had been ahead on Ganna by nine seconds and faded in the end. But to be fair again, Ganna was averaging over 39 miles per hour in those four kilometers. That’s a bit quick, isn’t it.

 

But okay, once again UAE Team Emirates – XRG can spend energy left and right and still have a decent result. I don’t get it.

 

I do get that João Almeida was much faster today than Jonas Vingegaard. That was always going to happen, this was 100% a power time trial. Vingegaard rode a solid time trial, no doubt matching exactly what the team had calculated for him. We can play a lot of what-if games (what if the original race distance had been kept, would he have lost 30 seconds?), but the truth is Vingegaard should be happy with this result, and Almeida worried.

 

Daan Hoole is our only-one-team-picked-him focus rider today. Of course! He’s on Team Wes, not sure why but I’m okay with it. So far he has scored 7 points, and 16 more today.

 

Hoole is the 2024 and 2025 Dutch Individual Time Trial Champion. He’s also the most Dutch-looking person in the entire peloton. With those apple red cheeks and tall appearance, you’d be hard pressed to single him out in a crowd of a thousand people in Amsterdam.

 

He also won second time trial in this year’s Giro d’Italia. And those are exactly his three wins as a pro cyclist. The rest of the time he reminds us of Tim Declercq. Stoically leading the peloton into the wind for as many hours as his sports director tells him.

 

Today he finished tenth. He was in the hot seat (holding the fastest time) until Ganna dethroned him. He said something about misjudging a roundabout, but I have not seen it myself. He was the fifth rider to start, Spanish TV wasn’t ready yet.

 

Watch the official La Vuelta highlights HERE.

Watch the extended NBC Sports highlights HERE.

Read the TNT Sports report HERE.

 

Stefan Küng and Bruno Armirail are both strong time trial riders, and they helped Team Samuel and Team Josh, respectively, to the podium today. In the end it was Ethan Vernon’s 15^th place that gave Team Samuel the win, and Team Josh had to settle for second place. Team Josh still had the most points from the stage, and earned a tie for most riders in the Top-25 (ten). But Team Samuel had the most points overall, and also ten riders in the Top-25. They improve to seventh and fifth, respectively.

 

Team Ansel and Team Sam shared third place today. Team Ansel had ten riders in the Top-25 and take the overall lead back. Team Sam improve to tenth.

 

Fifth place, a little distance behind, were Team Tadej. They drop back down to sixth. In Sixth were Team Charles, who go back to second in the standings.

 

The next gaggle was led by Team Will in seventh, dropping to eleventh overall; Team Dominic in eighth, most points from classifications and they remain third. Team Liz were ninth, no change in the standings at twelfth, and Team Hugo tenth, remaining fourth. Team Sylvia in eleventh place remain thirteenth, Team Grace in twelfth drop to eighth overall, and Team Amalia in thirteenth place are still ninth.

 

This is now official a very close game. Team Ansel and Team Charles are sixteen points apart. But counting the Final Standings points, Team Charles would win by three points if the Vuelta ended today. (Which it could, but let’s not talk about that.)

Team Ansel’s hopes lie with Mikel Landa, Harold Tejada, and Jay Vine. They could all do well in the climb on Saturday. But Team Charles counters that with Bryan Coquard, who will take points on Friday and again on Sunday in the sprints. And they’ll get points from Eddie Dunbar and Giulio Pellizzari as well.

 

In our very first AAVC Grand Tour game, which we played with just four (!) juniors, Team Ansel lost to Team Charlie on the very last day of racing. Now it’s Team Ansel’s final year as a junior. Will history repeat itself?

 

This is what the game is designed to do. All of us tracking Landa, Tejada, Vine, Dunbar, and Pellizzari on the climb. Vingegaard and Almeida may be in an epic battle, but we’re looking down the mountain, for our favorites. This is how we are supposed to enjoy our beautiful sport of cycling. I am looking forward to this!

 

No categorized climbs on Friday’s stage, as we’re all getting ready for that showdown to Madrid’s ski resort, Bola del Mundo. There is a possibility of crosswinds, especially once we’re past Fuentesaúco. But the wind is only 10 mph, I don’t think that’s really enough. If it does stay together then the sprint trains have the race to themselves: the final three kilometers are without turns. It does go uphill, though: 3.4% in the final two kilometers. That could give an advantage to Mads Pedersen. But the favorite is of course Jasper Philipsen and his Alpecin-Deceuninck team.

 

Standings after stage 18:

 

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Ansel*	3238	2	1
2	Team Charles*	3222	1	-1
3	Team Dominic*	3163	3	0
4	Team Hugo*	3084	4	0
5	Team Josh*	3042	6	1
6	Team Tadej*	3016	5	-1
7	Team Samuel*	2972	8	1
8	Team Grace*	2911	7	-1
9	Team Amalia*	2881	9	0
10	Team Sam*	2456	11	1
11	Team Will*	2425	10	-1
12	Team Liz*	2169	12	0
13	Team Sylvia*	2136	13	0

 

Standings after stage 18 (including adults):

 

Rank	Name	Points	WAS	MOVES
1	Team Kari	3505	1	0
2	Team Kent	3439	2	0
3	Team Craig	3386	3	0
4	Team Ansel*	3238	5	1
5	Team Charles*	3222	4	-1
6	Team Mitchinson	3183	6	0
7	Team Chuck	3175	10	3
8	Team Dominic*	3163	8	0
9	Team Feng	3140	7	-2
10	Team Adam	3105	9	-1
11	Team Corsa	3098	11	0
12	Team Hugo*	3084	12	0
13	Team Josh*	3042	14	1
14	Team Tadej*	3016	13	-1
15	Team Amelia	2975	16	1
16	Team Samuel*	2972	18	2
17	Team Corey	2954	15	-2
18	Team Grace*	2911	17	-1
19	Team Amalia*	2881	19	0
20	Team Laurens	2862	20	0
21	Team Rob	2731	21	0
22	Team Julie	2722	24	2
23	Team Joe	2696	22	-1
24	Team Jonwaine	2687	23	-1
25	Team Wes	2600	26	1
26	Team John	2576	25	-1
27	Team Sam*	2456	28	1
28	Team Will*	2425	27	-1
29	Team JB	2234	29	0
30	Team Liz*	2169	31	1
31	Team Sylvia*	2136	32	1
32	Team Doug	2134	30	-2
33	Team Kate	976	33	0

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 18:

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	RED JERSEY	GREEN JERSEY	POLKA DOT JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Amalia*	96	38	9	7	5	59	155	2726	2881
Team Ansel*	157	39	14	11	0	64	221	3017	3238
Team Charles*	121	45	14	6	5	70	191	3031	3222
Team Dominic*	107	47	14	6	5	72	179	2984	3163
Team Grace*	104	42	9	11	0	62	166	2745	2911
Team Hugo*	116	35	14	11	0	60	176	2908	3084
Team Josh*	175	35	14	11	0	60	235	2807	3042
Team Liz*	130	26	11	11	0	48	178	1991	2169
Team Sam*	168	31	11	11	0	53	221	2235	2456
Team Samuel*	172	42	12	11	0	65	237	2735	2972
Team Sylvia*	121	33	6	12	0	51	172	1964	2136
Team Tadej*	125	42	14	6	9	71	196	2820	3016
Team Will*	129	42	6	6	0	54	183	2242	2425

 

Complete breakdown of points from stage 18 (including adults):

 

Name	STAGE RESULTS	RED JERSEY	GREEN JERSEY	POLKA DOT JERSEY	WHITE JERSEY	POINTS/CLASS	TOTAL	PREVIOUS	CUM. TOTAL
Team Adam	60	44	9	7	5	65	125	2980	3105
Team Amalia*	96	38	9	7	5	59	155	2726	2881
Team Amelia	144	30	14	11	5	60	204	2771	2975
Team Ansel*	157	39	14	11	0	64	221	3017	3238
Team Charles*	121	45	14	6	5	70	191	3031	3222
Team Chuck	151	44	11	11	5	71	222	2953	3175
Team Corey	118	38	9	12	0	59	177	2777	2954
Team Corsa	121	42	14	7	0	63	184	2914	3098
Team Craig	134	46	14	7	9	76	210	3176	3386
Team Dominic*	107	47	14	6	5	72	179	2984	3163
Team Doug	67	26	9	5	0	40	107	2027	2134
Team Feng	86	42	14	6	0	62	148	2992	3140
Team Grace*	104	42	9	11	0	62	166	2745	2911
Team Hugo*	116	35	14	11	0	60	176	2908	3084
Team JB	64	38	9	7	0	54	118	2116	2234
Team Joe	134	27	14	12	0	53	187	2509	2696
Team John	129	31	12	6	0	49	178	2398	2576
Team Jonwaine	145	33	9	9	0	51	196	2491	2687
Team Josh*	175	35	14	11	0	60	235	2807	3042
Team Julie	173	34	12	11	3	60	233	2489	2722
Team Kari	86	53	14	6	9	82	168	3337	3505
Team Kate	56	16	0	0	0	16	72	904	976
Team Kent	102	49	14	11	9	83	185	3254	3439
Team Laurens	79	33	14	6	5	58	137	2725	2862
Team Liz*	130	26	11	11	0	48	178	1991	2169
Team Mitchinson	118	42	14	12	0	68	186	2997	3183
Team Rob	79	32	14	6	4	56	135	2596	2731
Team Sam*	168	31	11	11	0	53	221	2235	2456
Team Samuel*	172	42	12	11	0	65	237	2735	2972
Team Sylvia*	121	33	6	12	0	51	172	1964	2136
Team Tadej*	125	42	14	6	9	71	196	2820	3016
Team Wes	161	31	9	11	0	51	212	2388	2600
Team Will*	129	42	6	6	0	54	183	2242	2425

 

¡Viva la Vuelta!

 

-Laurens.