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Eddie Dunbar took his second stage win of this year’s Vuelta a España Saturday, driving clear on the final climb and resisting strongly as the GC riders scrapped it out behind.
Overnight race leader Primož Roglič fended off all attacks from his rivals despite what appeared to be an illness within his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team. Aleksandr Vlasov, Dani Martínez, Nico Denz and Patrick Gamper all got into difficulty, with the latter three retiring from the race.
Roglič remained calm amid surges from various riders, crossing the line three seconds behind Enric Mas (Movistar Team), who in turn was seven seconds off Dunbar.
The Irishman had made his move with 5km remaining, catching and passing lone leader Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) and fending off the chasing efforts of riders such as David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) and Mikel Landa (T-Rex Quick-Step).
“This is one is a bit sweeter,” he said of his win, nine stages after his first grand tour success. “I just felt good and paced myself.”
Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost), Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma) and Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondale) took fourth through sixth.
The result sees Roglič head towards Sunday’s final time trial a likely Vuelta-winning 2:02 in front of O’Connor and 2:11 ahead of Mas.
Carapaz is at three minutes, leaving him a lot of work to do if he is to finish on the podium. Gaudu was one of the most aggressive on the climb but was eventually seventh. He stays fifth overall with Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) sixth.
Dunbar will savor the victory, particularly after all the misfortune he has had in recent years.
“I knew this climb, and I rode the steep parts really hard and saved some for the end,” he said.
“I’m super happy I could hang on. I’ve had good and bad times, this is part of the process. Moments like this don’t come around too often. I’m looking forward to celebrating them with friends and family.”
A rollercoaster of emotions to end the queen stage… relive the LAST KM thanks to @CarrefourES
Una lluvia de emociones en el final de la etapa reina… Revive el ÚLTIMO KM gracias a @CarrefourES. #LaVuelta24 #CarrefourConLaVuelta pic.twitter.com/JjyqJ4UIQF
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 7, 2024
More to follow soon …
