Youth keeps ruling in the Vuelta with the stylish stage victory of 23-year-old Jasper Stuyven (Trek Factory) in Murcia at the end of a 182.5-km 9th stage ridden with crashes and incidents. The promising Belgian overpowered Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) and Kevin Reza (FDJ) in a sprint which took place without some of the leading favorites caught in the day's trappings. A massive crash 50 km from the line forced Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), Tejay Van Garderen (BMC), Nacer Bouhanni (Cofidis) and Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal) out of the race. And arch-favourite Peter Sagan was hit by a motorbike 10 km from the line, crossing the line with his jersey in tatters.
Colombia's Esteban Chaves (Orica-Greenedge) survived the ordeal to retain his race leader's red jersey.
The start was given at 13:11 to 189 riders. After a nervous start, it took 35 km for six riders to part company with the bunch. Iljo Keisse (Etixx-Quick Step) and Jimmy Engoulvent (Europcar), already involved in long breaks since the start of this Vuelta, were joined by Alex Howes (Cannondale-Garmin), Tom Van Asbroeck (LottoNL-Jumbo), Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida) and Angel Madrazo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA). Their lead topped at 4:30 after 60 km.
A major pile-up took place 50 km from the finish line in the first passage through Murcia, involving nearly 30 riders and some of the peloton's big names like Dan Martin (Cannondale-Garmin), third overall at the start, BMC leader Tejay Van Garderen, or French sprinter Nacer Bouhann (Cofidis)i. The more seriously hurt was Belgium's Kris Boeckmans (Lotto-Soudal), who was taken to hospital and was conscious.
The crash split the peloton trapping the top two riders in the GC, race leader Esteban Chaves and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), who found themselves some 20 seconds behind the first part of the bunch but quickly made it back in the pack.
In the first ascent of the Alto de la Cresta del Gallo, the leading group lost half of its members and only Howes, Catteano and Madrazo insisted. Howes then went solo but he crashed in the descent. The race remained extremely nervous with countless attempts, notably led by local heroes Alejandro Valverde and Luis-Leon Sanchez.
With 12 km to go, France's Kenny Elissonde tried his luck, quickly joined by Alberto Losada (Katusha) and Jose Goncalves (Caja Rural). The three worked well but were finally reeled in with 3 km to go as the stage was set for the final sprint. It took place without Peter Sagan (Cannondale-Garmin), who crashed at the 10-km mark after being hit by a motorbike. The green jersey holder still made it to the finish line.
In the final stretch, after a solitary surge by Adam Hansen (Lotto-Soudal) and as most of the strongest sprinters were out of contention, Jasper Stuyven jumped in the wheel of Giovanni Visconti (Movistar) and led for most of the last 250 metres to win ahead of Pello Bilbao (Caja Rural) and Kevin Reza (FDJ).
