Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) is poised to win La Vuelta after easing through the final day in the mountains, while Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) capped his redemptive Grand Tour with a third stage victory on Stage 20.
Barring a spectacular unravelling on Sunday’s final stage, a processional pan-flat ride to Madrid, Evenepoel will win a maiden Grand Tour. Closest rival Enric Mas (Movistar) was unable to force an opportunity to attack on Stage 20, and ultimately resigned himself to another second spot on the podium.
With its five categorised climbs, which began almost from kilometre zero, the stage to Navacerrada was always likely to be chaotic. The battle for the break was hard-fought, with Robert Stannard (Alpecin-Deceuninck) the most eager to make it away. Though Stannard’s first attempt to escape, in the company of Luis Angel Mate (Euskaltel-Euskadi), was short-lived, his second was more successful.
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Seven riders in all, including Stannard’s team-mate Xandro Meurisse, were able to snap the elastic from the bunch.
Though the group was able to make it up and over the first category climb, with Stannard claiming a valuable 10 mountains points, a larger, stronger group - including the polka dot jersey of Carapaz - were no less eager to contest the stage and alter the course of events. Meanwhile Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) made a solo dart for the top and soon joined up with Stannard and company.
Quick-Step were just as eager to calm things down and allow the race to proceed in a predictable fashion. While the Carapaz group steadily gained ground on the front of the race, the team of the red jersey allowed the early breakaway to grow their lead to around five minutes.
With the knowledge that Carapaz was closing, Stannard knew he could not hang around to have a hope of taking the jersey. On the stage’s second climb, the Puerto de Navafria, he and Soler joined forces and made for the summit. Soler was happy to allow Stannard to collect the maximum five points in return for his continued cooperation. That put Stannard within 14 of the lead in the mountains competition.
He would not get any closer.

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After a solid ride through the valley, and onto the third climb of the day, the chasing group was flagging and in danger of being caught by the peloton. Carapaz decided to take matters into his own hands and bring the two groups together on his own.
Having done just that, he steered around a strong Rohan Dennis (Jumbo Visma) and claimed the 10 mountains points needed to ensure his score could not be beaten.
The Ineos man wanted more from the day, however.
On the penultimate climb of the entire race, the Puerto de la Morcuera, a 9.2km hill with an average gradient of 6.8%, Carapaz again made a break for it, taking with him Louis Meintjes (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert) and Sergio Higuita (Bora-Hansgrohe).
In the peloton, to which Alejandro Valverde had dropped back, Movistar were increasing the pace and putting weaker riders, such as Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers), in trouble.
With 39km to go, the group of favourites had been reduced to seven: Mas and Evenepoel, Thymen Arensman (Team DSM), Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) and the three UAE Emirates riders. The likelihood of anyone forcing Evenepoel to crack was reducing by the minute.
As the red jersey group dithered, allowing dropped riders to make it back, Carapaz was completely committed.
At 15km from the finish he rode clear of Meintjes, then Higuita and made for the summit of the final climb of the race, the Puerto de Cotos.
Valverde, in what would effectively be his last act as a Grand Tour rider, upped the pace in the peloton. Evenepoel was uncrackable, but it looked at least possible they would catch Carapaz.
At least until it became clear they could not. Arensman made a last ditch effort to catch the rider from Ecuador but there was not enough road to do so.
He crested the climb solo, and time trialled his way along the 5km of plateau to a third stage victory in this race.
Mas was able to gap Evenepoel on the run-in to the line, but only by a couple of seconds, not the minutes he required to make a difference.

'I finally delivered' – Evenepoel revels in Vuelta victory

Evenepoel, who was overcome with emotion, toasted a famous victory for Belgium 44 years on from their last Grand Tour winner, Johan De Muynck at the 1978 Giro d'Italia.
"I don’t know what’s going through my head and my body right now but it’s amazing," he said.
"After all of the criticisms I’ve had, all of the bad comments since last year, I think I finally delivered and I answered everybody with my pedals. I’ve been working so hard to come here in the best possible shape and to now win this Vuelta is just amazing.
"I’m really happy to be the first guy to win a Grand Tour for [QuickStep boss] Patrick [Lefevere]," he added.
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