Bastien Tronchon produced a perfectly timed finish to claim a dramatic victory on Stage 10 of the Vuelta a España, while Enric Mas maintained his grip on the race leader’s red jersey.
The French rider of Groupama-FDJ United emerged victorious from a tightly contested bunch sprint at the end of the 184.7km ride from Alcaraz to Elche de la Sierra.
Tronchon held off Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen and Belgium’s Thibau Nys in a photo finish, with Wout van Aert narrowly missing out on a podium place.
The stage appeared to be heading towards a sprint finish until Astana’s Yevgeni Fedorov and Xabier Azparren of Q36.5 launched a late attack with just one kilometre remaining.
Their attempt to steal victory from the sprinters ultimately failed as the peloton closed them down before the finish.
Tronchon then produced his decisive burst at exactly the right moment to secure the biggest victory of his Vuelta campaign.
“I launched my sprint and I just finished it on the line, but I wasn’t sure if there were some guys in front or not,” Tronchon said.
The Frenchman admitted the victory came as a surprise after struggling during the previous two stages.
“The last two days were really hard for me and today I was good,” he added. “I said to Guillaume [Martin], go full gas until you die and I take the win, so it’s crazy.”
While Tronchon celebrated his breakthrough victory, Mas successfully protected his overall lead.
The Movistar rider remains at the top of the general classification with a lead of one minute and 18 seconds over Slovenia’s Primoz Roglic of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe.
Felix Gall is third at one minute and 39 seconds, while British rider Oscar Onley occupies fourth, two minutes and 20 seconds behind Mas.
Richard Carapaz, Mattias Skjelmose and Sepp Kuss complete the next three positions in the overall standings.
Attention now turns to Stage 11, with riders facing a 153.8km largely flat route from Cartagena to Lorca.
Although the route includes a Category Three climb at Morrón de Totana, its relatively flat profile is expected to provide another opportunity for the sprinters to battle for victory.
