Yates seals the overall victory
The Michelton-Scott pro could celebrate the biggest win of his career by posing for photos with his team mates on the road to the Spanish capital. He got the chance to relax, as all he had to do was finish in the main bunch.
“Throughout the race, I really stayed calm. I controlled my effort when I needed to and it made a really big difference in the final. Relieved? Extremely. I think it’s still sinking in, just an incredible day really,” Yates said before setting off for Madrid.
It was the sprinters all fans focused on, with Peter Sagan trying to claim a final victory in the rainbow jersey. The Quick-Step Floors team had ideas of their own, however, and Elia Viviani emerged in the front once again. The Italian beat the World Champ into second place and won his third stage of this year’s La Vuelta.
Stage 21 – Alcorcón to Madrid (100.9km)
1 Elia Viviani (Quick-Step Floors) 2:21:28
2 Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe)
3 Giacomo Nizzolo (Trek-Segafredo)
4 Danny van Poppel (LottoNL-Jumbo)
5 Marc Sarreau (Groupama-FDJ)
6 Jon Aberasturi Izaga (Euskadi Basque Country-Murias)
7 Simone Consonni (UAE Team Emirates)
8 Matteo Trentin (Mitchelton-Scott)
9 Tom Van Asbroeck (EF Education First-Drapac)
10 Ryan Gibbons (Dimension Data)
2018 Vuelta a España overall classification
1 Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) 82:05:58
2 Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) + 1:46
3 Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) + 2:04
4 Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) + 2:54
5 Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team) + 4:28
6 Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) + 5:57
7 Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) + 6:07
8 Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team) + 6:51
9 Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) + 11:09
10 Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) + 11:11
