MADRID, Aug. 27 (Xinhua) -- Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) won the 10th stage of the Vuelta a Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race on Tuesday, after forming part of a breakaway.
The Belgian rider showed he is back to his very best after his early season was ruined by injury in March, and easily beat Quentin Pacher (Groupama) along the final straight in Baiona (north-west Spain).
The Vuelta had traveled north on Monday's rest day from the burning heat of Andalusia in the south of Spain, to the north-west region of Galicia, and although the sun was shining, the temperatures were much easier for the riders to deal with.
Following a day off their bikes, the racing was aggressive from the start, with continual attacks in the first 70 kilometers looking for a breakaway, although the peloton worked hard to stop anyone getting further than a minute ahead.
A five-man group containing Van Aert, Pacher and Marc Soler (UAE-Team Emirates) finally got away after around 70 kilometers and quickly opened a lead of over six and a half minutes, with Soler putting in a lot of work on the climbs.
Maybe Soler worked too hard early in the break as Van Aert and Pacher left their companions behind on the climb of the Alto de Mougas and led by almost two minutes, with Van Aert taking the sprint with ease to claim his third stage win of the Vuelta.
Although the EF Education-East Post team looked briefly if they were going to launch a chase to try and help Richard Carapaz, the peloton were happy to let the escape have their day, with the group of favorites finishing 5 and a half minutes behind.
That means Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AGR2-La Mondiale) retains his overall lead of 3 minutes and 53 seconds over Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe), with Carapaz a further 39 seconds behind. ■
