Urko Berrade (Equipo Kern Pharma) wins the eighteenth stage of the Vuelta from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maestu-Parque Natural de Izki (179.5km).

In the first part of the race a large breakaway of 40 riders formed, with the red jersey group giving a wide margin.

On Puerto Herrera, a climb with a brow 45 km from the finish, the attacks of Cattaneo and Berrade break the group of attackers: thirteen men remain in command. Among the men in the general classification, Landa and Kuss give up on the attack of Carapaz.

The breakaway 5 km from the end is decisive with a new attack by Berrade who manages to create a gap. From behind, no one manages to react and the Spaniard flies towards the first victory of his career. Behind him, Schmid wins the sprint for second place place, while Castrillo finished third.

Landa continues to lose ground on the other men in the standings, even in the final flat stretch and pays 3'20" from the other big names. The Basque slips to tenth position, Gaudu climbs to fifth place, while O'Connor remains in the red always with 5" on Roglic.

ORDER OF ARRIVAL:

1 BERRADE Urko Equipo Kern Pharma 4:00:52

2 SCHMID Mauro Team Jayco AlUla 0:04

3 MIQUEL Pau Equipo Kern Pharma ,,

4 POOLE Max Team dsm-firmenich PostNL ,,

5 VLASOV Aleksandr Red Bull - BORA - hansgrohe ,,

6 LAZKANO Oier Movistar Team ,,

7 IZAGIRRE Ion Cofidis ,,

8 VACEK Mathias Lidl - Trek ,,

9 CASTRILLO Pablo Equipo Kern Pharma ,,

10 KRUIJSWIJK Steven Team Visma | Lease a Bike 0:11

Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency