NAVA, Spain (AFP) – Remco Evenepoel dropped his main challengers on the grueling final ascent in Les Praeres to increase his overall lead in the Spanish Vuelta on Sunday.
South African Louis Meintjes won the ninth stage, crossing the line more than a minute ahead of Samuele Battistella, Edoardo Zambanini and Evenepoel.
Evenepoel launched his attack about 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) from the summit to overpower his rivals and extend his lead ahead of Monday’s rest day and Tuesday’s time trial in Alicante.
The Belgian rider from team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl increased the gap to Enric Mas from 28 seconds to 72 seconds overall. His advantage over defending champion Primoz Roglic went up by more than 50 seconds and was at nearly two minutes.
Roglic, seeking an unprecedented fourth straight Vuelta title, was only 10th in Sunday’s stage, crossing the line 2:26 behind Meintjes.
Evenepoel got the help he needed from his team despite the surprise absence of Pieter Serry, who had to withdraw before the stage after testing positive for the coronavirus.
Meintjes became the second South African stage winner in the Vuelta since Robbie Hunter in 1999 and 2001.
Meintjes moved to 16th in the general classification, nearly seven minutes off the lead.