La Vuelta 2022 – Stage 19 [FULL STAGE]

September 9, 2022

La Vuelta 2022 – Stage 19 – Talavera de la Reina – Talavera de la Reina : 138,3 km

As the final Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España is seen by many as a last chance saloon for those riders who have failed to hit their seasonal objectives. In reality the race is much more than that, often surpassing the other two three-week races in terms of action and edge-of-your-seat entertainment. This is a race with the steepest summit finishes in professional cycling, the anything-can-happen transitional stages, the unlikeliest breakaway victories and the most fiercely fought GC battles seen anywhere on the racing calendar. While the last three editions of La Vuelta may have been dominated by a single rider, the racing is almost always dramatic and the battle for the red jersey regularly rages until the last few days of the race. The main reason for this is the race’s route, with its truly unpredictable parcours and its anything-can-happen transitional stages. The overall standings are ever-changing, largely due to the fact that the organisers throw in mountainous stages and steep summit finishes throughout the race, rather than solely in the final week.

Mads Pedersen sped to his third stage victory of the Vuelta a España, peerlessly sprinting to the win on stage 19 in Talavera de la Reina.

The Dane took advantage of a sublime two-man lead-out train to launch himself around the final corner to comfortably take the stage win ahead of Fred Wright (Bahrain Victorious) and Gianni Vermeersch (Alpecin-Deceuninck) in a reduced bunch sprint.

The Dane’s Trek-Segafredo squad had been in control of the race for much of the stage, which took in two second-category climbs before a long descent and flat run-in to the finish. Having helped bring back the day’s break with 50km to, they came to the fore once again in the final to deliver Pedersen to the win.

The team had control of the 55-man peloton heading into the final kilometre, though Miles Scottson (Groupama-FDJ) threatened to upset with a late solo attack. That was no problem for Pedersen, though, who launched at 175 metres to go and never looked back.

Wright, who had picked the right wheel to follow, managed to get into the wind and looked to come alongside Pedersen in the closing metres. However, he never had enough to pull alongside fully or nudge past. Vermeersch took third but was never in the picture for the stage victory, while Ben Turner (Ineos Grenadiers) and Mike Teunissen (Jumbo-Visma) took third and fourth further back.

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