Aged 24, Marco Brenner is coming of age, and Sierra de la Pandera proved the perfect setting for the young German to show his worth and bring Tudor their first Grand Tour stage win. Touted as a wonderkid since he turned professional at 20 years old, Brenner took his fourth professional victory. Two of those have come in recent weeks: the overall title at the Tour de Pologne in early August, and now a maiden Grand Tour stage win ahead of the elite climbers from the 44-man breakaway that formed after a fierce battle starting in Jaén. Polka-dot jersey wearer Santiago Buitrago (Bahrain Victorious) had to settle for second on the day, a couple of days after finishing third at Calar Alto. Cristian Rodriguez (XDS Astana) took third place and moved into the eighth position in the overall standings. Enric Mas (Movistar) further tightened his grip on La Roja as he matched the pace set by Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) in the finale while Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) lost half a minute.
Another mountain showdown is on the cards today with relentless ups and downs from Jaén all the way to the summit finish at Sierra de la Pandera: 154.5 km of racing, 4,338 metres of elevation gain! Who will succeed Richard Carapaz, the winner here in 2022?
Another impressive breakaway
After Jakob Omrzel and Wout van Aert’s victories at Calar Alto and Loja, many riders see another opportunity to shine in the breakaway. After a series of attacks and counter-attacks, twelve riders set off at km 21. They are rapidly joined by 32 more riders to establish a 44-man breakaway.
The polka dot jersey wearer Santiago Buitrago is up there again, with his Bahrain Victorious teammate Pello Bilbao. Second on stage 13, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) has also made the breakaway again. So did Clément Berthet (Groupama-FDJ United) and Cristian Rodriguez (XDS Astana), who are respectively 10th (+11’06’’) and 11th (+11’10’’) in the overall standings after they raced at the front enrolee to Loja.
As for Ivo Oliveira (UAE Emirates XRG), he celebrates his birthday with a breakaway, just like he did a year ago en route to L’Angliru. The winner that day was his compatriot and teammate Joao Almeida… who’s also in the breakaway en route to Sierra de la Pandera.
Vermaerke anticipates
On rolling terrain, they open a gap of five minutes en route to the first categorised ascent of the day, the Puerto de los Villares (cat. 2, summit at km 92.8). Buitrago leads the way to the summit while Movistar set the pace in the bunch.
Kevin Vermaerke (UAE Emirates XRG) accelerates on the downhill and keeps pushing up the Puerto de Locution (cat. 2, km 133.2). He opens a gap of up to 1’30’’ before Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost) bridges the gap to him up the wall of Valdepeñas de Jaén (15 km to go). The German youngster tackles the final climb (11.9 km at 7.2% with gradients up to 17%).
All-out at La Pandera
Guillaume Martin-Guyonnet (Groupama-FDJ United) joins Steinhauser at the front with 9 km to go. More climbers return and Mario Aparicio (Burgos Burpellet BH) attacks into the final 5 kilometres. Buitrago reacts, catches andirons the Spaniard with 3.5 kilometres to go. He is joined a kilometre further up the road by Marco Brenner (Tudor). Then Ivan Sosa (Kern Pharma) and Cristian Rodriguez make it a 4-man lead group just before the final kilometre.
Buitrago attacks under the 1-km-to-go banner. Brenner is quick to reactant eventually dominate the two-man sprint.
In the GC group, Enric Mas (Movistar) attacks five kilometres from the summit. After a series of counter-attacks, Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) sets off. Only Mas can follow him. The duo gain 25 seconds on Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) and 31 on Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost). Gall is now second overall, 2’06’’ behind Mas and 4’’ ahead of Roglic.
