The Colombian back in the red jersey
Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) won his first-ever Grand Tour stage when he dropped Nairo Quintana in the final stretch of stage nine. However, the Colombian is far from being sad, as his finish 23 seconds down on the Slovenian secured him the red jersey.
Both Roglič and Miguel Ángel López fell during the gravel section of the stage, and while Roglič came out unscathed, López wasn’t that lucky. After clipping wheels with Sergio Higuita, he came down hard.
“It wasn’t anything special,” López insisted. “We entered the gravel section with a lead of about 30 seconds and unfortunately the bike slipped and I crashed on a corner.” In the end, he finished 38 seconds down on Quintana.
Roglič’s accident was due to a stationary motorbike in the middle of the road. Something Jumbo-Visma’s Addy Engels was very displeased about.
“It was very chaotic at one point,” Engels said after the stage. “Not only because of the gravel strip, but also because of the bad weather. Primož fell on the gravel section due to a stationary motorbike. That is not okay and should not happen. All in all, I think that, given the situation at that point, we have done a good job. We are in good shape. Although we will never know what else would have been possible without that fall.” Roglič now sits in second place, six seconds down on Nairo.
The final stage of the first week provided a stunning spectacle. With the time trial coming up on Tuesday, the race is bound to get even more interesting. Who do you favour for the GC?
Vuelta a España – stage nine
1. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) – 2:58:09
2. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) + 23s
3. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) + 48s
4. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)
5. Marc Soler (Movistar) + 57s
6. Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) + 59s
7. Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) + 1:01
8. Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb)
9. Miguel Ángel López (Astana)
10. Tao Geoghegan Hart (Ineos) + 1:38
General classification after stage nine
1. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) – 35:18:18
2. Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) + 6s
3. Miguel Ángel López (Astana) + 17s
4. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) + 20s
5. Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates) + 1:42
6. Carl Frederik Hagen (Lotto-Soudal) + 1:46
7. Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) + 2:21
8. Rafał Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) + 3:22
9. Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) + 3:53
10. Dylan Teuns (Bahrain-Merida) + 4:46
