Cycling: The Orica-BikeExchange team announced before the race that they will no longer work to win a stage, but want to concentrate fully on the overall ranking. Nevertheless, sprinter Magnus Cort Nielsen was successful today. With Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) another German driver finished second.
Five escapees try their luck
The drivers had to cover just over 200 kilometers from Requena to Gandía today at the Vuelta a Espana. However, after many tough mountain stages and ahead of tomorrow's time trial, this was a flat stage. Only one mountain of the 2nd category had to be conquered in the first third of the race. Nevertheless, some drivers hoped for a chance to win the stage by trying to escape. Fumiyuki Beppu (Trek-Segafredo), Quentin Jauregui (Ag2r), Louis Vervaeke (Lotto Soudal), Pierre Rolland (Cannondale) and Mattia Cattaneo (Lampre-Merida) formed the leading group of the day. Since they were left out for more than seven minutes, they could actually calculate their chances of winning the day for a short time. The only mountain classification of the day was won by Beppu ahead of Rolland and Jauregui, but this intermediate classification was not really of interest to the drivers involved. Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) continues to lead with 56 points, just 3 points ahead of Omar Fraile (Dimension Data).
Magnus Cort Nielsen celebrates his first major victory
Especially the teams Etixx-Quick Step for Gianni Meersman, Giant-Alpecin for Nikias Arndt and Bora-Argon 18 for Rüdiger Selig participated in the tracking work. But the closer the goal came, the more teams lined up at the front. IAM and Dimension Data were also featured. Ultimately, the breakaways had no realistic chances of getting through. The gap was even reduced much too early, so that the group could be caught ten kilometers before the finish line. But the respective teams kept the pace so high that no driver could really dash away from the finish line with any promise of success. While Jan Bakelants (Ag2r) tried once again at this Vuelta a Espana, he was never really missed more than five seconds. This led to the expected mass sprint, in which neither team was able to really take control. Giant-Alpecin pulled up the sprint exemplary for Nikias Arndt nonetheless, but Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-BikeExchange) slipped past the train and won the sprint from the front.
Vuelta a Espana Stage #18 – The daily standings:
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Magnus Cort Nielsen | Denmark | Orica Bike Exchange | 4:54:31 |
| 2. | Nickias Arndt | Germany | Giant-Alpecin | st |
| 3. | Jean Pierre Drucker | Luxembourg | BMC | st |
| 4. | Daniele bennati | Italian | Tinkoff | st |
| 5. | Jonas Van Genechten | Belgium | I AM | st |
| 6. | Kiel Rejnen | USA | Trek-Segafredo | st |
| 7. | Michael Schwarzman | Germany | Bora Argon 18 | st |
| 8. | Gianni Meersman | Belgium | Etixx Quick Step | st |
| 9. | Kristian Sbaragli | Italian | Dimension Data | st |
| 10. | Lorrenzo Manzin | France | FDJ | st |
Vuelta a Espana Stage #18 – Overall standings:
| PLATZ | Driver | Country | Team | Time |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Nairo Quintana | Colombia | Movistar | 74:30:03 |
| 2. | Chris Froome | Great Britain | Sky | + 3: 37 |
| 3. | Stephen Chaves | Colombia | Orica Bike Exchange | + 3: 57 |
| 4. | Alberto counter | Spain | Tinkoff | + 4: 02 |
| 5. | Simon yates | Great Britain | Orica Bike Exchange | + 6: 03 |
| 6. | Andrew Talansky | USA | Cannondale | + 7: 34 |
| 7. | Samuel Sanchez | Spain | BMC | + 8: 12 |
| 8. | Davide formolo | Italian | Cannondale | + 8: 13 |
| 9. | Michele Scarponi | Italian | Astana | + 8: 28 |
| 10. | David De La Cruz | Spain | Etixx Quick Step | + 8: 52 |