Decisive sprint with 11km to go; Pidcock and Almeida close behind
Jonas Vingegaard (Team Visma | Lease a bike) wins the ninth stage of the Vuelta a España, from Alfaro to Estación de Esquí de Valdezcaray (195.5km).
After a few dozen kilometers, a breakaway of just five men, consisting of Ryan, Hessmann, Kwiatkowski, Vermaerke, and Slock, was able to break away. The group, unlike the other stages, kept the attackers under control and didn't give them much of a lead.
Lidl-Trek rejoins the breakaway at the start of the final climb. Visma immediately takes control, and Vingegaard makes a strong start with 11 km to go, followed by Ciccone. The Dane picks up the pace and drops Ciccone , while the red jersey's Traeen immediately struggles.
Almeida and Pidcock try to resist from behind, but they fail to close the gap on Vingegaard, who triumphs alone.
At 25" Pidcock arrives 2nd with Almeida 3rd .
4th Gall at 1'02", then the red jersey group of Traeen with Ciccone, Pellizzari, Hindley, Bernal and the other GC men almost 2 minutes behind. Traeen keeps the red jersey .