Landa experiences afternoon of horror in own region, Berrade completes Vuelta party for Equipo Kern Pharma

🚴🇪🇸 | We zijn live bij etappe 18 in het Baskenland. Maar liefst 42 man zijn los van het peloton, maar uitgerekend de thuisploeg Euskaltel-Euskadi ontbreekt. 🤦 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

Then the 40-strong (!) breakaway group broke free and attacked frequently: Carapaz unleashed race in the peloton, home rider Landa is biggest casualty

While Marc Soler took the full prize in mountain points on the first climb of the day, not much later, it was a trio attack. Mathias Vacek (Lidl-Trek), Küng, and Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) took off with the three of them and quickly grabbed a one-minute lead over the nearly 40 men behind. That lead remained somewhat constant, but on Puerto Herrera, the second and last categorized climb of the day, that lead quickly dwindled. In no time, the breakaway was as one again!

The breakaway also split not much later on the slopes of the Puerto Herrera. Due to accelerations back and forth, a real battlefield ensued, with logically several groups. Soler came out first and secured the polka dot jersey, which he would take over from UAE Team Emirates teammate Jay Vine. Even in the peloton, where nothing seemed to be happening, things suddenly got interesting on the climb! Specialist Richard Carapaz (EF Educaiton-EasyPost) stepped up to the pedals on the steepest parts and went ballistic!

Read more below the video!

🚴🇪🇸 | Landa en Kuss zaten niet op te letten en Carapaz heeft serieuze plannen. Wat gebeurt hier allemaal? #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

Horror day for home rider Landa, who lost minutes

Did the Ecuadorian's attack make any difference? Yes, because Mikel Landa (Soudal Quick-Step) wasn't paying attention, was sitting at the back, and had to pass! Also, red jersey wearer O'Connor - not very many GC riders left - had to pass for a while but eventually found his way back.

In the end, only Basque Landa wasn't with them and probably lost minutes: his gap kept increasing, and it took a super long time for Casper Pedersen to drop out of the breakaway as a teammate and join his Spanish leader.

Read more below the video!

🚴🇪🇸 | Kijk eens naar het virtuele klassement. Mikel Landa krijgt vandaag een mokerslag te verwerken en zakt richting plek 9. ⏱️ #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max

Landa (as the only top-ten rider) increasingly in trouble, Berrade grabs his first pro victory brilliantly

So what happened in the breakaway, which still consisted of 13 riders? Not much, because the collaboration was excellent! There was good rotation in a group composed mainly of individuals. Only Equipo Kern Pharma was "overrepresented," with Pau Miquel, Castrillo, and Berrade.

Striking fact: it was only twelve kilometers from the finish that Mattia Cattaneo had to let himself drop out of the breakaway to help Landa, who had been riding at three minutes in the meantime. A strange tactic from the team management, because wasn't this a bit late....? We saw (justified) anger from the Italian, who was denied a possible stage win.

So Cattaneo would not win, who among the dozen leaders was? On the final climb, about seven kilometers from the finish, Kruijswijk took off at the front! Berrade went with him and even went over the killer bee. Was that the decisive move? It seemed like it, as his lead grew ever so slightly, all the more so because of finishing work by his two teammates. At the finish line, Berrade had just enough left to secure the win. What a way to win your first race! Schmid finished second, while Miquel completed the EKP party in third place.

Landa could not even keep up with his group at times. The Spaniard did not look fit; what could be wrong with him? He ended up losing more than three minutes! To be continued...

🚴🇪🇸 | Het is Urko Berrade die het afmaakt. Wat een Vuelta voor Kern Pharma! 🥇🥇🥇 #LaVuelta24 📺 Stream koers op HBO Max