OFFICIAL Stage 13 Results: Ben O'Connor ABANDONS!
Laurens De Jong
Hello, Vuelta a España Gamers!
STAGE Grade: A
I rate today’s stage an A. A magnificent stage. L’Angliru in the sun!
Route: 5/5 GC: 3/5 Tactics: 3/5 Sprint: 4/5 Surprises: 4/5
Il suo nome è L’Angliru. Its name is Alto de L’Angliru. The Beast of Asturias. If there has ever been a cycling col of the Apocalypse, this is it. The climb is so steep that sometimes the motorcycles, or even the team cars, don’t make it up the road. In 2002, some riders had to climb on punctured tires because there were no support cars available.
Vicente Belda: "What do they want? Blood? They ask us to stay clean and avoid doping and then they make the riders tackle this kind of barbarity." Nine times L’Angliru has been the finish of a Vuelta stage. Seven times the winner is known to have used doping.
“My grand tour is harder than yours” But when is hard too hard? In 2002, the height of EPO doping, Roberto Heras took 43:55 to finish the climb. In 2023, the riders said to be clean, eight riders beat that time. The barbarity of L’Angliru. The Beast of Asturias.
Asturias. Here, the ghost of the Spanish Civil War breathes heavy. A conflict often forgotten in this country. It came at the height of a century of civic unrest in Spain. Bookended by the Glorious Revolution of 1868 and the end of Francoist Spain in 1975, it crippled Spain and much of Europe from 1936 until 1939.
The beginning of the end of the Civil War happened here in Asturias. From Llanes, 42 kilometers into the race today, a road leads to El Mazucu (8.7 kilometers at 5.2%, but never raced in a grand tour). It is there that humanity invented carpet bombing, executed by the Germans and Italians who were on the Nationalists’ side. The Republicans’ defeat here sealed the fate of Asturias.
Near L’Angliru is the Puerto de Pajares mountain pass (19.5 kilometers at 5.1%, last seen in the 2005 Vuelta). The Nationalists came through here to trap the Republicans in Oviedo. By October 1937 the Republicans had lost Asturias. Over 1,000 of them were executed by Franco’s men, and 100,000 were sent to labor camps.
There’s something to be said for peace.
Asturias. L’Angliru. Often the entire climb is shrouded in mist and fog, but today they let the sun shine in. And it was glorious. You can be for it or against it, the climb delivers excitement. And something else: there are no tactics on this climb. It is really just physical.
Four riders came together at the front: João Almeida, Jonas Vingegaard, Jai Hindley, and Sepp Kuss. I thought: this is a foregone conclusion. Vingegaard will beat Almeida, Kuss will beat Hindley. Because the two Team Visma | Lease-a-Bike riders can eat the other guys’ lunches before they start on their own.
But I was wrong about Almeida. I watched his face the entire climb and the amount of determination I saw equaled the power from a nuclear energy plant. Just out of this world. For 4.5 kilometers, Almeida accepted Vingegaard’s blackmail.
He had no choice. Vingegaard is leading the general classification, there is no reason for him to pull Almeida. Almeida didn’t even question it. The entire way up, he was at or near the limit. And he didn’t crack. A glorious race for him.
L’Angliru is so steep and then the final 400 meters are downhill. Very odd. It means that if you want to win the stage, you really have to get in front before the downhill starts. Vingegaard didn’t, wouldn’t, or couldn’t do that today. Bravo, Almeida. Wins the stage, only his second grand tour stage win. And that also means we don’t know if Vingegaard will win the 2025 Vuelta a España.
Great rides behind Almeida: Tom Pidcock, who I said would not win today. I was right, but he fought back after being dropped by Giulio Pellizzari and Matthew Riccitello. Completely dropped, which on L’Angliru means thirty seconds or more. A few meters is a lot of seconds on the 24% gradients. He came back from that. He caught Riccitello, and was just five seconds short of catching Pellizzari. He salvaged a podium place, for now.
And Ivo Oliveira. The original breakaway formed early and Oliveira was not in it. Together with seven other riders, for many kilometers, they tried to bridge to that breakaway. Couldn’t. Three riders gave up, now they were four to bridge the gap. And couldn’t. Two more riders gave up, now it was just Oliveira and Chris Hamilton, attempting to bridge the gap. And couldn’t.
The situation was getting desperate for Oliveira. I assume he was told by the team to get into the breakaway. To be a satellite rider there, ready to help Almeida on the final climb. I can’t think of any other reason why he would keep trying.
Hamilton gave up and now Oliveira was alone. He had been trying for twenty kilometers already! Trying to bridge that gap. And Oliveira, it’s incredible, could. After twenty kilometers in ever-dwindling groups and another seven by himself, he joined the breakaway. Twenty-seven kilometers to try to bridge to the breakaway! Hats off.
He sat in that breakaway for 140 kilometers until the group with Almeida and Vingegaard caught him. And then he rode himself into oblivion, pulling that group, maybe it was just one kilometer but he did it. Handed Jay Vine one bottle, Almeida the other, and then pulled the plug. Cycling is a team sport, he was hugging Almeida after the line when he finally finished, nineteen minutes down.
And Mads Pedersen! He fought and fought and fought to stay in the wheel of the climbers on the Alto la Mozqueta, and he made it back to group 1 on the descent. Maximum points for him in the intermediate sprint. And because Vingegaard did not win the stage, Pedersen extended his lead in the points competition by three points. My kind of racer.
Rémi Cavagna is the only weak link in Team Craig’s chain. He is our only-one-team-picked-him spotlight rider today. He’s scored 0 points in our game and that is in line with expectations. His last pro cycling win was in 2023, and his lone win in a grand tour was stage 19 of the 2019 Vuelta a España.
Today he was in that 25-rider breakaway that Oliveira managed to join. Cavagna rode anonymously in that group. He couldn’t follow the pace of the seven riders who rode away from that group. The group Vingegaard caught him halfway up the penultimate climb, and we never saw him again. He finished 76th, 25 minutes behind Almeida.
Watch the final kilometer HERE.
Watch the official La Vuelta highlights HERE.
Watch the extended NBC Sports highlights HERE.
Read the TNT Sports report HERE.
Ben O'Connor's abandon affects almost everyone. Team Sylvia and Team Will were the only two teams who had not picked him. He had only scored 38 points in our game and after his fall, not much more was going to follow.
Spoiler alert: the top five in the standings were shuffled around today. From sixth place down it’s all the same and I won’t mention their respective standings.
Team Dominic returned and took most points from the stage, most points from classifications, and most points overall. They improve to fifth. Behind them, Team Charles secured third today and second overall. Team Ansel were third, tied for most riders in the Top-25 (ten), and they moved into the overall lead.
Fourth place was for Team Grace and next were Team Tadej. Team Will were in seventh place, and also had ten riders in the Top-25. Team Hugo were all the way down in eight today and they tumble out of the overall lead and into third overall.
Team Amalia were ninth. Team Josh were tenth, they’re now fifth overall. Team Sylvia were eleventh and Team Liz and Team Sam tied for twelfth.
Let’s go racing, boys! With the 2025 Vuelta a España undecided, stage 14 on Saturday is going to be more meaningful than I had expected. For the general classification riders who still have some legs left over, this is the time to pounce. I would think Jonas Vingegaard is going to want to win this stage. The final climb to the finish is 18.5 kilometers at 5.8%, the last six kilometers a steady 8.9%. It’s no L’Angliru but Vingegaard should be able to eliminate everyone here with the exception of João Almeida. The question is: does he want to eliminate Almeida, too?
I don’t know. For us it would be fun if the Vuelta is decided the day before they ride into Madrid, on the final climb of the race, the Bola del Mundo. Besides L’Angliru, it’s the only categoría especial. For us, it would be more fun if Tom Pidcock won on Saturday, and Vingegaard and Almeida do nothing.
And he could, especially Vingegaard, do nothing. Today it was clear that Team Visma | Lease-a-Bike rode all-out for a Vingegaard stage win. He wanted this one. But tomorrow? They should just go back to energy-saving mode. Eat UAE Team Emirates – XRG’s lunch first. If Visma does that, then even Juan Ayuso could win another stage.
Or Marco Frigo. Yes.
Standings after stage 13:
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Ansel* |
2269 |
2 |
1 |
|
2 |
Team Charles* |
2249 |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
Team Hugo* |
2237 |
1 |
-2 |
|
4 |
Team Dominic* |
2184 |
5 |
1 |
|
5 |
Team Josh* |
2151 |
4 |
-1 |
|
6 |
Team Tadej* |
2107 |
6 |
0 |
|
7 |
Team Grace* |
2090 |
7 |
0 |
|
8 |
Team Amalia* |
2024 |
8 |
0 |
|
9 |
Team Samuel* |
2012 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Sam* |
1639 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Will* |
1561 |
11 |
0 |
|
12 |
Team Liz* |
1464 |
12 |
0 |
|
13 |
Team Sylvia* |
1418 |
13 |
0 |
Standings after stage 13 (including adults):
|
Rank |
Name |
Points |
WAS |
MOVES |
|
1 |
Team Kari |
2423 |
1 |
0 |
|
2 |
Team Kent |
2377 |
3 |
1 |
|
3 |
Team Craig |
2349 |
2 |
-1 |
|
4 |
Team Ansel* |
2269 |
5 |
1 |
|
5 |
Team Mitchinson |
2262 |
6 |
1 |
|
6 |
Team Charles* |
2249 |
7 |
1 |
|
7 |
Team Feng |
2238 |
8 |
1 |
|
8 |
Team Hugo* |
2237 |
4 |
-4 |
|
9 |
Team Adam |
2224 |
9 |
0 |
|
10 |
Team Corsa |
2210 |
10 |
0 |
|
11 |
Team Dominic* |
2184 |
14 |
3 |
|
12 |
Team Chuck |
2160 |
13 |
1 |
|
13 |
Team Josh* |
2151 |
11 |
-2 |
|
14 |
Team Amelia |
2129 |
12 |
-2 |
|
15 |
Team Tadej* |
2107 |
15 |
0 |
|
16 |
Team Grace* |
2090 |
16 |
0 |
|
17 |
Team Laurens |
2043 |
17 |
0 |
|
18 |
Team Amalia* |
2024 |
18 |
0 |
|
19 |
Team Samuel* |
2012 |
19 |
0 |
|
20 |
Team Corey |
1996 |
20 |
0 |
|
21 |
Team Rob |
1959 |
21 |
0 |
|
22 |
Team Joe |
1886 |
22 |
0 |
|
23 |
Team Wes |
1852 |
23 |
0 |
|
24 |
Team Julie |
1823 |
26 |
2 |
|
25 |
Team Jonwaine |
1798 |
24 |
-1 |
|
26 |
Team John |
1771 |
25 |
-1 |
|
27 |
Team Sam* |
1639 |
27 |
0 |
|
28 |
Team Will* |
1561 |
28 |
0 |
|
29 |
Team JB |
1531 |
29 |
0 |
|
30 |
Team Liz* |
1464 |
30 |
0 |
|
31 |
Team Doug |
1425 |
31 |
0 |
|
32 |
Team Sylvia* |
1418 |
32 |
0 |
|
33 |
Team Kate |
666 |
33 |
0 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 13:
|
Name |
STAGE RESULTS |
PINK JERSEY |
PURPLE JERSEY |
BLUE JERSEY |
WHITE JERSEY |
POINTS/CLASS |
TOTAL |
PREVIOUS |
CUM. TOTAL |
|
Team Amalia* |
162 |
41 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
59 |
221 |
1803 |
2024 |
|
Team Ansel* |
191 |
43 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
69 |
260 |
2009 |
2269 |
|
Team Charles* |
188 |
48 |
12 |
9 |
5 |
74 |
262 |
1987 |
2249 |
|
Team Dominic* |
203 |
49 |
12 |
9 |
5 |
75 |
278 |
1906 |
2184 |
|
Team Grace* |
190 |
44 |
7 |
14 |
0 |
65 |
255 |
1835 |
2090 |
|
Team Hugo* |
159 |
37 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
65 |
224 |
2013 |
2237 |
|
Team Josh* |
154 |
37 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
63 |
217 |
1934 |
2151 |
|
Team Liz* |
129 |
26 |
9 |
14 |
0 |
49 |
178 |
1286 |
1464 |
|
Team Sam* |
125 |
28 |
11 |
14 |
0 |
53 |
178 |
1461 |
1639 |
|
Team Samuel* |
173 |
41 |
14 |
11 |
0 |
66 |
239 |
1773 |
2012 |
|
Team Sylvia* |
146 |
33 |
4 |
14 |
0 |
51 |
197 |
1221 |
1418 |
|
Team Tadej* |
177 |
44 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
74 |
251 |
1856 |
2107 |
|
Team Will* |
181 |
41 |
4 |
9 |
0 |
56 |
237 |
1324 |
1561 |
Complete breakdown of points from stage 13 (including adults):
|
179 |
48 |
7 |
9 |
5 |
69 |
248 |
1976 |
2224 |
|
|
Team Amalia* |
162 |
41 |
7 |
6 |
5 |
59 |
221 |
1803 |
2024 |
|
Team Amelia |
151 |
33 |
12 |
14 |
5 |
64 |
215 |
1914 |
2129 |
|
Team Ansel* |
191 |
43 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
69 |
260 |
2009 |
2269 |
|
Team Charles* |
188 |
48 |
12 |
9 |
5 |
74 |
262 |
1987 |
2249 |
|
Team Chuck |
181 |
40 |
11 |
14 |
5 |
70 |
251 |
1909 |
2160 |
|
Team Corey |
193 |
38 |
5 |
14 |
0 |
57 |
250 |
1746 |
1996 |
|
Team Corsa |
182 |
44 |
12 |
9 |
0 |
65 |
247 |
1963 |
2210 |
|
Team Craig |
184 |
46 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
76 |
260 |
2089 |
2349 |
|
Team Dominic* |
203 |
49 |
12 |
9 |
5 |
75 |
278 |
1906 |
2184 |
|
Team Doug |
115 |
25 |
11 |
4 |
0 |
40 |
155 |
1270 |
1425 |
|
Team Feng |
192 |
44 |
12 |
9 |
0 |
65 |
257 |
1981 |
2238 |
|
Team Grace* |
190 |
44 |
7 |
14 |
0 |
65 |
255 |
1835 |
2090 |
|
Team Hugo* |
159 |
37 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
65 |
224 |
2013 |
2237 |
|
Team JB |
166 |
38 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
51 |
217 |
1314 |
1531 |
|
Team Joe |
148 |
29 |
12 |
11 |
0 |
52 |
200 |
1686 |
1886 |
|
Team John |
133 |
28 |
14 |
9 |
0 |
53 |
186 |
1585 |
1771 |
|
Team Jonwaine |
148 |
32 |
11 |
12 |
0 |
55 |
203 |
1595 |
1798 |
|
Team Josh* |
154 |
37 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
63 |
217 |
1934 |
2151 |
|
Team Julie |
181 |
33 |
14 |
11 |
4 |
62 |
243 |
1580 |
1823 |
|
Team Kari |
230 |
53 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
83 |
313 |
2110 |
2423 |
|
Team Kate |
54 |
15 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
15 |
69 |
597 |
666 |
|
Team Kent |
205 |
52 |
12 |
14 |
9 |
87 |
292 |
2085 |
2377 |
|
Team Laurens |
167 |
34 |
12 |
9 |
5 |
60 |
227 |
1816 |
2043 |
|
Team Liz* |
129 |
26 |
9 |
14 |
0 |
49 |
178 |
1286 |
1464 |
|
Team Mitchinson |
190 |
44 |
12 |
14 |
0 |
70 |
260 |
2002 |
2262 |
|
Team Rob |
165 |
33 |
12 |
9 |
4 |
58 |
223 |
1736 |
1959 |
|
Team Sam* |
125 |
28 |
11 |
14 |
0 |
53 |
178 |
1461 |
1639 |
|
Team Samuel* |
173 |
41 |
14 |
11 |
0 |
66 |
239 |
1773 |
2012 |
|
Team Sylvia* |
146 |
33 |
4 |
14 |
0 |
51 |
197 |
1221 |
1418 |
|
Team Tadej* |
177 |
44 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
74 |
251 |
1856 |
2107 |
|
Team Wes |
152 |
31 |
7 |
14 |
0 |
52 |
204 |
1648 |
1852 |
|
Team Will* |
181 |
41 |
4 |
9 |
0 |
56 |
237 |
1324 |
1561 |
-Laurens.