Spanish professional Ángel Madrazo climbed to victory in the mountainous stage five of the Vuelta a España which finished at Alto de Javalembre today.
His teammate Jetse Bol took second, 11 seconds behind. Jose Herrada Lopez (Cofidis Solutions Credits) was third.
“I didn’t expect to win, I want to dedicate this victory to my wife. It’s a dream come true,” said Madrazo.
“We have suffered throughout the season, the team deserved it. I could not follow the rhythm of Herrada, I had to go slower not to wear myself out.
“I wanted to help Jetse, who has waited for me. In the sprint I am fast. The team has told me to save for tomorrow, but when I caught them I saw that they were weak and I attacked.”
This three-man group led for most of the 170.7km stage that started in L’Eliana. They established a break soon after the start and had a maximum gap of 11 minutes to the peloton.
Madrazo could not keep up with Herrada and Bol as they climbed the Alto de Javalambre, which featured in the race for the first time, leaving the duo to push on by themselves with 7km left to race.
However, he made his way back to them with 5.5km remaining. At this point the peloton was five minutes and 20 seconds behind.
Madrazo was dropped again, leaving Herrada and Bol to push on, but he made his way back to the leaders with just under a kilometre to go.
This time he stayed with them and was able to sprint to victory.
Nicolas Roche (Team Sunweb) lost the red jersey to Miguel Ángel López (Astana).
View the results below.
Stage five results
1. Angel Madrazo (Spa) Burgos-BH 4:58:31
2. Jetse Bol (Ned) Burgos-BH +0:00:10
3. Jose Herrada (Spa) Cofidis Solutions Credits +0:00:22
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team +0:00:47
5. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +0:00:59
6. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
7. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +0:01:29
8. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +0:01:41
9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Jumbo-Visma
10. Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott +0:01:46
*Selected
34. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data +0:03:34
53. Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data +0:07:09
87. Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin +0:11:47
114. Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data +0:15:42
General classification
1. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 18:55:21
2. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma +0:00:14
3. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +0:00:23
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +0:00:28
5. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sunweb +0:00:57
6. Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First +0:00:59
7. Esteban Chaves (Col) Mitchelton-Scott +0:01:17
8. Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe +0:01:18
9. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +0:01:49
10. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb +0:01:50
*Selected
38. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data +0:08:31
43. Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data +0:09:49
126. Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin +0:29:06
149. Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data +0:36:19
