Magnus Cort wins stage 16 as Roglic extends lead – Vuelta a Espana

The 2013 world champion Costa took third place – although he was later relegated to 32nd for his deviation – in the reduced sprint ahead of New Zealand’s Dion Smith (Mitchelton-Scott) and Alejandro Valverde of Movistar after the Spanish veteran struck out early on the home straight in search of a thirteenth stage win in the Vuelta – and a first success in over 14 months.

As Valverde faded towards the line, the drama played out as Cort weaved his way through the bodies to give his EF team its third triumph on the race following earlier wins by Michael Woods and Hugh Carthy.

Carthy, the British climber whose win on the Alto de l’Angliru put him in the picture for a podium finish, retained his third place in the general classification but is now 53 seconds down on Roglic ahead of tomorrow’s penultimate stage, which concludes with the famous climb of the Alto de la Covadilla, where the destiny of the red jersey will be decided.

With blustery winds of up to 30kph forecast for the opening hour of the race on the exposed roads heading south out of Salamanca, the teams of the favourites were on red alert for any potential splits or opportunities to exploit.

The Spanish pro-continental team were clearly motivated to make an impression for there was soon another rider in purple on the front of the race after Jesus Ezquerra bridged over with Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) and Kobe Goossens (Lotto Soudal), the trio having latched on to a counter attack from Frenchman Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step).

If that wasn’t enough, a fourth Burgos-BH rider, the South African Willie Smit, rode clear of the pack with Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) – but although the duo almost managed to make the connection, they sat up after realising their task was a bridge too far.

By now, as the riders dropped off the exposed plateau to some rolling roads ahead of the first of two climbs, the gap had stretched out to over five minutes for the six escapees – with the UAE Team Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohe teammates of Thursday’s top two, Jasper Philipsen and Pascal Ackermann, leading the chase.

Osorio was first to be dropped on the Puerto el Portillo with 80km remaining, with the Australian Stannard leading the break over the top with a lead of just under five minutes.

Ineos Grenadiers took up the chase on the long twisting descent as Dutchman Dylan van Baarle came to the front to set tempo, string out the pack, and slash the break’s lead by half.

Ezquerra was the next man to falter, leaving just one Burgos-BH rider in the break on the first-category climb of El Robledo. And soon there were none: Madrazo’s earlier efforts catching up for him, last year’s Stage 5 winner dropping like a stone once Cavagna kicked clear on the steep double-digit section of the climb.

With the peloton closing in, Stannard shook off Goossens and joined the Frenchman on the front, doubling up over the summit of the second test. Behind, Movistar came to the front to pile on the pressure and Stannard was first to fall, the young Australian tailed off on some rolling roads with 17km remaining.

Despite his slim advantage, Cavagna pressed on over two small ridges and retained a 20-second lead after a long, sweeping descent towards Ciudad Rodrigo. But the 25-year-old, a stage winner in his debut Vuelta last year, suffered the same fate as his Quick-Step teammate Mattia Cattaneo 24 hours earlier, the peloton cruelly swallowing him up with just 2km remaining.

Another Frenchman, Bruno Armirail of Groupama-FDJ, countered almost immediately but was brought to heel just inside the flamme rouge. And so it was that a small pack of around 40 riders hit the home straight to contest the win.

With the majority of the fast men distanced on those two climbs, Cort, a former stage winner on the Vuelta and in the Tour de France, was the clear danger man. But when Valverde rolled back the years and kicked clear in the messy sprint, it looked for a moment that the 40-year-old former world champion was going to raise his arms for the first time since last year’s Vuelta.

But it was not to be. As Old Father Time caught up with Valverde fading legs, Roglic rallied, then Costa swerved a little, cutting off the Slovenian and forcing the man in red – who was being shadowed by Carapaz in green – to reboot his effort.

During this hijinks, Cort powered up the right-hand side of the straight before cutting to the centre to take a third career stage win on the Vuelta, with Roglic doing enough to reel in Costa (who was, in any case, eventually demoted) but not take his fifth win in 16 days.

While Roglic was annoyed enough to curse an expletive on crossing the line, six extra bonus seconds extends his lead ahead of tomorrow’s defining Stage 17 from Sequeros to the Alto de Covatilla. Time will tell whether that’s enough for the defending champion to retain his crown.