Controversy over the organization's choice to neutralize the times of the last 2 km due to bad weather
Another uphill finish in the ninth stage of the Vuelta: 184.5 km with departure from Cartagena and arrival in Collado de la Cruz de Caravaca.
Due to the bad weather conditions and the mud on the road, the jury decided to neutralize the times for the general classification of the last 2 km, despite the fact that there were no particular adversities in the final.
First part of the race characterized by fans that split the group several times then, around 50 km from the end, the situation calmed down and a breakaway of 8 runners started: Kamna , Caicedo , Sobrero , Fernandez , Hamilton , Navarro , Barrenetxea and Ghebreigzabhier . The red jersey group gives ample margin to the attackers who go to battle for the stage victory on the irregular final climb.
The most active are Kamna and Sobrero with the German who manages to leave alone with 4 km to go. The Bora rider Hansgrohe manages to keep the Italian at a distance and finds the stage victory in all three grand tours , while Sobrero finishes second and Hamilton third.
Among the big names, Almeida and Vlasov try and manage to gnaw a few seconds off the other men in the standings before neutralization.
ARRIVAL ORDER:
1 KÄMNA Lennard BORA - hansgrohe
2 SOBRERO Matteo Team Jayco AlUla
3 HAMILTON Chris Team dsm - firmenich
4 GHEBREIGZABHIER Amanuel Lidl - Trek
5 BARRENETXEA Jon Caja Rural - Seguros RGA
Photo: Sprint Cycling Agency