Deceuninck – Quick-Step celebrate 95th Grand Tour stage victory since the squad’s inception.
At the end of an eventful 165.2km-long day, the “TGV of Clermont-Ferrand” reached Toledo ahead of schedule, and an entire peloton for that matter, claiming his first Grand Tour stage victory and the team’s fourth in three weeks at the Spanish race, thus prolonging Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s fiesta.
Triskaidekaphobia? Not for Rémi Cavagna, who was the first to attack on Friday 13, drawing a response from ten other riders, together with whom he built a three-minute maximum gap which the teams tempted by a potential stage victory in the town of Federico Bahamontes – the first ever Spaniard to triumph at the Tour de France – controlled and pulled back to a mere 1:30 with 70 kilometers remaining, when the race exploded.
A massive crash took down several riders – including Maximiliano Richeze and James Knox – splintering the bunch, and forcing a wild chase for half an hour, before the race settled. Once this was out of the way, the field focused on bringing back the escapees, who looked to be an easy prey for the chasers, going into the last 25 kilometers of stage 19.
That was when Rémi decided to make his move, jumping clear of the others and instantly putting some daylight between himself and his breakaway companions. Not only that he maintained a handsome lead over the red jersey group, but he also increased it to nearly two minutes as the kilometers ticked down and he got closer to Toledo, a stage finish for the first time in nine years.
Dosing his effort carefully over the up and down roads, the 24-year-old Frenchman kept the advantage, despite the nagging headwind, over the 30-second mark until going under the red kite, where an uphill final kilometer spiced up by cobblestones and technical corners threatened to play into the peloton’s advantage, who was making up ground at a frantic speed.
Amazing willpower and determination kept Cavagna pushing on the 8% gradients, fending off the efforts of the chasers in Friday’s gripping finale and taking a well-deserved win, Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s 95th in Grand Tours. To achieve the biggest victory of his career, Rémi rode his Specialized S-Works Venge, Evade helmet, and Roval CLX 50 wheels. Zdenek Stybar and Philippe Gilbert followed him home in third and fourth, both riding S-Works Tarmac Disc, Evade helmets and CLX 50 wheels.
“I always try and give everything, and today wasn’t any different. I am so, so happy, because this is my first stage victory in a Grand Tour and it feels great! We’ve had a lot of beautiful moments here in the past weeks and today’s result comes as a really nice reward, another one, for the Wolfpack, who has worked a lot and showed their dedication every single time.”
“We’ve had so much success with Specialized at this Vuelta. I’m so happy to be a part of it! My Venge felt amazing today, it was so fast, even on the steep cobblestone climb in Toledo! It wasn’t easy in the final, I suffered with the headwind and the road that continued to rise, but I believed in myself and kept going on my bike which allowed me to go full gas until the line”, concluded Cavagna – who was congratulated for his superb feat by none other than the legendary Bahamontes – after netting Deceunink – Quick-Step’s 61st UCI win of the season.
Photo credit: ©Justin Setterfield/ Getty Images
