2024 Vuelta a España

79th edition: Aug 17 - Sep 8, 2024
Stage 20, September 7

Back to 2024 Vuelta a España

Saturday, September 7: Stage 20, Villarcayo - Picón Blanco, 172 km

Stage 20 map & profiles | Stage 20 photos

Eddie Dunbar take a brilliant solo win at the end of a brutal stage.

David L. Stanley's masterful telling of his bout with skin cancer Melanoma: It Started with a Freckle is available in print, Kindle eBook and audiobook versions. To get your copy, just click on the Amazon link on the right.

Rated ascents:

• Km 34.2: Las Estacas de Trueba, 9.2 km @ 3.1%. Cat. 3
• Km 55: Puerto de La Braguía, 5.8 km @ 5.9%. Cat. 3
• Km 74: Alto del Caracol, 10.8 km @ 5.4%. Cat. 2
• Km 93: Portillo de Lunada, 14 km @ 6.1%. Cat. 1
• Km 111.4: Portillo de La Sia, 7.2 km @ 6.1%. Cat. 2
• Km 146.4: Puerto de Los Tornos, 11.3 km @ 6%. Cat. 1
• Km 172: Picón Blanco, 7.9 km @ 9.1%. Cat 1

Weather at the city of Noceco, on the route, 15 kms from the finish, at 1:30 PM, local time: 18C (64F), partly cloudy, with the wind from the southwest at 18 km/hr (11 mph). There is a 3% chance of rain.

The race: Here's the race organizer's stage 20 report.

The stage:
Stage 20 of La Vuelta 24 was packed with ascents and with attacks, until Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) made the decisive move on the slopes of Picon Blanco to take his second stage win, ten days after his success in Padron. The Irishman resisted the return of Enric Mas (Movistar), who increases the pressure on Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), still second in the overall standings ahead of the closing ITT in Madrid. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finished 3rd on the day to retain La Roja with significant gaps on the eve of a potential fourth triumph for the Slovenian star.

On the start line at Villarcayo

It’s time for the final mountain showdown of La Vuelta 24: 4,730m of elevation with seven categorized climbs from Villarcayo to Picon Blanco (172km), on the eve of the final ITT in Madrid.

Soler and Vine over the summits
Kasper Asgreen (T-Rex Quick-Step) is the first attacker of the day, not the last. Ten riders lead the way into the first climb of the day (not the last…): Marc Soler, Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Clément Berthet (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), Marco Frigo (Israel Premier Tech), Sylvain Moniquet (Lotto Dstny), Carlos Canal (Movistar) Jack Haig (Bahrain Victorious), Thomas Champion (Cofidis), Harold Tejada and Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma).

The attacks started early.

Vine goes first atop the first three climbs of the day, Las Estacas de Trueba (cat. 3, km 34.2), Puerto de la Braguia (cat. 3, km 55) and Alto del Caracol (cat. 2, km 74), to take the lead of the provisional KOM standings. But Soler - who appears to be willing to help the Australian take the polka dots - attacks, again and again, and goes first atop the Portillo de Lunada (cat. 1, km 93) and the Portillo de la Sia (cat. 2, km 111.4).

The two UAE Team Emirates riders are level on points (76 each) but the Spaniard has the advantage thanks to his victory at Lagos de Covagonda (categoria especial).

Sivakov opens a gap, Dunbar takes over
Meanwhile, Ineos Grenadiers and T-Rex Quick-Step up the ante in the bunch. The gap was up to 6 minutes at km 55 but the attackers are reeled in on the sixth ascent of the day, Puerto de los Tornos (cat. 1, km 146.4). Meanwhile, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) loses three teammates, forced to abandon: Nico Denz, Patrick Gamper and Dani Martinez.

Pavel Sivakov (UAE Team Emirates) attacks 4.5km away from the summit, with 30km to go to the finish. He opens a gap of 20’’ at the summit, where Vine also takes 2 KOM points, and 1 minute towards the final ascent of the day, Picon Blanco.

Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) attacks with 5km to go and gets back to Sivakov. The Irishman goes solo with 2.5km to go but the likes of Roglic, David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Enric Mas (Movistar) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) try to hunt him… Still, Dunbar powers to his second La Vuelta 24 stage win, 7’’ ahead of Mas and 10’’ ahead of Roglic.

Eddie Dunbar wins stage 20.

Complete results:

Stage 20 photos

172 kilometers raced at an average speed of 37.040 km/hr

1	Eddie Dunbar	Jayco-AlUla	4hr 38min 37sec
2	Enric Mas	Movistar	@ 7sec
3	Primoz Roglic	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	0:10
4	Richard Carapaz	EF Education-EasyPost	0:12
5	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	0:14
6	Ben O'Connor	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	s.t.
7	David Gaudu	Groupama-FDJ	0:21
8	Mikel Landa	Soudal Quick-Step	0:23
9	Florian Lipowitz	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	0:37
10	Mattias Skjelmose	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
11	Felix Gall	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	0:39
12	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	1:23
13	Adam Yates	UAE Team Emirates	2:28
14	Cristian Rodriguez	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	2:34
15	Einer Rubio	Movistar	s.t.
16	Guillaume Martin	Cofidis	4:16
17	Clément Berthet	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	4:51
18	Roger Adrià	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	5:22
19	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	5:42
20	Isaac del Toro	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
21	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	5:53
22	Jay Vine	UAE Team Emirates	6:00
23	Carlos Verona	Lidl-Trek	6:34
24	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	6:47
25	Sepp Kuss	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	7:04
26	Nairo Quintana	Movistar	8:04
27	William Junior Lecerf	Soudal Quick-Step	8:07
28	Attila Valter	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	8:30
29	Steven Kruijswijk	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
30	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
31	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	10:22
32	Mattia Cattaneo	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
33	Reuben Thompson	Groupama-FDJ	11:58
34	Joan Bou	Euskaltel-Euskadi	12:19
35	Lorenzo Fortunato	Astana Qazaqstan	13:59
36	Gianmarco Garofoli	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
37	Óscar Rodríguez	INEOS Grenadiers	16:59
38	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
39	Harry Sweeny	EF Education-EasyPost	18:36
40	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
41	Robert Gesink	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	19:00
42	George Bennett	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
43	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar	19:17
44	Marco Frigo	Israel-Premier Tech	19:26
45	Jorge Gutiérrez	Equipo Kern Pharma	20:26
46	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Dstny	21:04
47	Eduardo Sepulveda	Lotto Dstny	21:56
48	Geoffrey Bouchard	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	22:08
49	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	s.t.
50	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
51	Sylvain Moniquet	Lotto Dstny	22:46
52	Carlos Canal	Movistar	s.t.
53	Filippo Zana	Jayco-AlUla	24:24
54	Luis Angel Mate	Euskaltel-Euskadi	24:35
55	Sam Oomen	Lidl-Trek	25:20
56	Chris Hamilton	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
57	Antonio Soto	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
58	James Shaw	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
59	Gotzon Martín	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
60	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
61	Sven Erik Bystrøm	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
62	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
63	Vito Braet	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
64	Ion Izagirre	Cofidis	s.t.
65	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	s.t.
66	Simon Guglielmi	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
67	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	25:37
68	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	25:41
69	Mauri Vansevenant	Soudal Quick-Step	25:45
70	Jorge Arcas	Movistar	s.t.
71	Jhonnatan Narvaez	INEOS Grenadiers	27:26
72	Alexander Cepeda	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
73	Tao Geoghegan Hart	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
74	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
75	Dylan Teuns	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
76	Lorenzo Germani	Groupama-FDJ	s.t.
77	Jonas Gregaard	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
78	Torstein Træen	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
79	Laurens Huys	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	27:37
80	Nadav Raisberg	Israel-Premier Tech	27:44
81	Stefan Küng	Groupama-FDJ	27:47
82	Marc Soler	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
83	Pablo Castrillo	Equipo Kern Pharma	s.t.
84	Oier Lazkano	Movistar	27:54
85	Quinten Hermans	Alpecin-Deceuninck	27:56
86	Xandro Meurisse	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
87	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
88	Juri Hollmann	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
89	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
90	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
91	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	s.t.
92	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
93	James Knox	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
94	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	s.t.
95	Fran Miholjevic	Bahrain Victorious	s.t.
96	Max Poole	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	29:54
97	Enzo Leijnse	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
98	Bruno Armirail	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	30:00
99	Victor Lafay	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	30:01
100	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty	s.t.
101	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	30:25
102	Harold Tejada	Astana Qazaqstan	31:07
103	Maurice Ballerstedt	Alpecin-Deceuninck	31:10
104	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	31:29
105	Matthew Riccitello	Israel-Premier Tech	s.t.
106	Santiago Umba	Astana Qazaqstan	s.t.
107	Brandon Rivera	INEOS Grenadiers	31:38
108	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	32:28
109	Alessandro De Marchi	Jayco-AlUla	32:32
110	Arne Marit	Intermarché-Wanty	32:55
111	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	33:41
112	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	33:55
113	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	34:20
114	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	34:22
115	Edoardo Affini	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	s.t.
116	Mathis Le Berre	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	s.t.
117	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	s.t.
118	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	s.t.
119	Louis Vervaeke	Soudal Quick-Step	34:35
120	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	s.t.
121	Felix Engelhardt	Jayco-AlUla	34:38
122	Mauro Schmid	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
123	Valentin Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	34:54
124	Tim Naberman	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
125	Pavel Bittner	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	35:34
126	Martijn Tusveld	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
127	Julius van den Berg	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
128	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	s.t.
129	Arjen Livyns	Lotto Dstny	s.t.
130	Nicolas Vinokurov	Astana Qazaqstan	35:42
131	Ide Schelling	Astana Qazaqstan	37:19
132	Kasper Asgreen	Soudal Quick-Step	37:32
133	Casper Pedersen	Soudal Quick-Step	s.t.
134	Victor Campenaerts	Lotto Dstny	37:52

 

GC after stage 20:

• GC leader: Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe)
• Mountains classification leadser: Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates)
• Points classification leader: Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck)
• Best young rider: Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek)
• Teams classification leader: UAE Team Emirates

3,264.3 kilometers raced so far at an average speed of 40.116 km/hr

1	Primoz Roglic	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	81hr 22min 19sec
2	Ben O'Connor	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	@ 2min 2sec
3	Enric Mas	Movistar	2:11
4	Richard Carapaz	EF Education-EasyPost	3:00
5	David Gaudu	Groupama-FDJ	4:48
6	Mattias Skjelmose	Lidl-Trek	5:18
7	Florian Lipowitz	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	6:26
8	Mikel Landa	Soudal Quick-Step	6:57
9	Pavel Sivakov	UAE Team Emirates	8:50
10	Carlos Rodriguez	INEOS Grenadiers	10:31
11	Eddie Dunbar	Jayco-AlUla	13:15
12	Adam Yates	UAE Team Emirates	14:06
13	Sepp Kuss	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	17:49
14	Cristian Rodriguez	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	18:24
15	Guillaume Martin	Cofidis	28:50
16	Lorenzo Fortunato	Astana Qazaqstan	37:28
17	José Félix Parra	Equipo Kern Pharma	48:14
18	Aleksandr Vlasov	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	53:22
19	Steven Kruijswijk	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	59:39
20	Clément Berthet	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	1:01:57
21	Quentin Pacher	Groupama-FDJ	1:07:10
22	Jack Haig	Bahrain Victorious	1:10:03
23	Mattia Cattaneo	Soudal Quick-Step	1:13:17
24	Óscar Rodríguez	INEOS Grenadiers	1:14:09
25	Attila Valter	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	1:20:16
26	Mikel Bizkarra	Euskaltel-Euskadi	1:35:17
27	Einer Rubio	Movistar	1:36:28
28	Louis Meintjes	Intermarché-Wanty	1:37:16
29	Felix Gall	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	1:38:13
30	Matthew Riccitello	Israel-Premier Tech	1:44:17
31	Nairo Quintana	Movistar	1:46:18
32	Carlos Verona	Lidl-Trek	1:48:16
33	Sam Oomen	Lidl-Trek	1:49:16
34	George Bennett	Israel-Premier Tech	1:50:59
35	Max Poole	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	1:54:59
36	Ion Izagirre	Cofidis	1:56:41
37	Isaac del Toro	UAE Team Emirates	1:56:46
38	Giovanni Aleotti	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	1:57:32
39	Stefan Küng	Groupama-FDJ	2:01:58
40	Harold Tejada	Astana Qazaqstan	2:08:14
41	Marc Soler	UAE Team Emirates	2:08:38
42	Urko Berrade	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:09:24
43	Roger Adrià	Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe	2:11:40
44	William Junior Lecerf	Soudal Quick-Step	2:12:56
45	Valentin Paret-Peintre	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	2:13:27
46	Alexander Cepeda	EF Education-EasyPost	2:18:11
47	Simon Guglielmi	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	2:18:54
48	Gianmarco Garofoli	Astana Qazaqstan	2:20:21
49	Mauri Vansevenant	Soudal Quick-Step	2:21:17
50	Jhonnatan Narvaez	INEOS Grenadiers	2:24:14
51	Gotzon Martín	Euskaltel-Euskadi	2:24:28
52	Robert Gesink	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	2:32:45
53	Brandon McNulty	UAE Team Emirates	2:34:23
54	Marco Frigo	Israel-Premier Tech	2:35:39
55	Xandro Meurisse	Alpecin-Deceuninck	2:36:20
56	Filippo Zana	Jayco-AlUla	2:37:43
57	Jay Vine	UAE Team Emirates	2:40:35
58	Pau Miquel Delgado	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:42:18
59	Louis Vervaeke	Soudal Quick-Step	2:44:09
60	Torstein Træen	Bahrain Victorious	2:49:17
61	Tao Geoghegan Hart	Lidl-Trek	2:50:09
62	Martijn Tusveld	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	2:51:10
63	Mathias Vacek	Lidl-Trek	2:51:15
64	Pablo Castrillo	Equipo Kern Pharma	2:58:49
65	Luis Angel Mate	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:00:17
66	James Knox	Soudal Quick-Step	3:04:06
67	Chris Hamilton	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	3:05:21
68	Filippo Baroncini	UAE Team Emirates	3:06:08
69	Carlos Canal	Movistar	3:06:16
70	Joan Bou	Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:08:19
71	Bruno Armirail	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	3:08:31
72	Dylan Teuns	Israel-Premier Tech	3:10:09
73	Darren Rafferty	EF Education-EasyPost	3:10:26
74	Mauro Schmid	Jayco-AlUla	s.t.
75	Nelson Oliveira	Movistar	3:10:53
76	Mathis Le Berre	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	3:20:03
77	Laurens Huys	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	3:23:42
78	Jonas Gregaard	Lotto Dstny	3:24:08
79	Quinten Hermans	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:24:58
80	Harry Sweeny	EF Education-EasyPost	3:26:40
81	Vito Braet	Intermarché-Wanty	3:31:05
82	Thomas Champion	Cofidis	3:32:36
83	Unai Iribar	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:34:05
84	Gijs Leemreize	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	3:35:18
85	Jesus Herrada	Cofidis	3:36:15
86	Eduardo Sepulveda	Lotto Dstny	3:37:25
87	Fran Miholjevic	Bahrain Victorious	3:40:35
88	Lukasz Owsian	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	3:42:53
89	Simone Petilli	Intermarché-Wanty	3:43:26
90	Thomas De Gendt	Lotto Dstny	3:44:14
91	Arjen Livyns	Lotto Dstny	3:49:09
92	Otto Vergaerde	Lidl-Trek	3:50:08
93	Oier Lazkano	Movistar	3:50:12
94	Reuben Thompson	Groupama-FDJ	3:51:00
95	Brandon Rivera	INEOS Grenadiers	3:53:15
96	Juri Hollmann	Alpecin-Deceuninck	3:56:31
97	Lorenzo Germani	Groupama-FDJ	3:56:38
98	James Shaw	EF Education-EasyPost	3:58:00
99	Jorge Gutiérrez	Equipo Kern Pharma	3:58:13
100	Kaden Groves	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:03:27
101	Ibon Ruiz	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:03:46
102	Xabier Berasategi	Euskaltel-Euskadi	4:05:37
103	Felix Engelhardt	Jayco-AlUla	4:05:45
104	Xabier Isasa	Euskaltel-Euskadi	4:06:37
105	Luca Vergallito	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:06:56
106	Santiago Umba	Astana Qazaqstan	4:07:46
107	Kim Heiduk	INEOS Grenadiers	4:09:56
108	Victor Lafay	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	4:10:56
109	Geoffrey Bouchard	Decathlon Ag2r La Mondiale	4:11:57
110	Sylvain Moniquet	Lotto Dstny	4:14:47
111	Victor Campenaerts	Lotto Dstny	4:18:45
112	Jorge Arcas	Movistar	4:19:01
113	Nadav Raisberg	Israel-Premier Tech	4:22:59
114	Antonio Soto	Equipo Kern Pharma	4:25:59
115	Pavel Bittner	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	4:28:12
116	Edward Planckaert	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:28:45
117	Sven Erik Bystrøm	Groupama-FDJ	4:32:05
118	Owain Doull	EF Education-EasyPost	4:33:05
119	Edoardo Affini	Team Visma | Lease a Bike	4:36:18
120	Kasper Asgreen	Soudal Quick-Step	4:38:55
121	Arne Marit	Intermarché-Wanty	4:40:02
122	Riley Sheehan	Israel-Premier Tech	4:42:16
123	Gleb Brussenskiy	Astana Qazaqstan	4:43:45
124	Alessandro De Marchi	Jayco-AlUla	4:50:16
125	Maurice Ballerstedt	Alpecin-Deceuninck	4:50:28
126	Casper Pedersen	Soudal Quick-Step	4:58:51
127	Nicolas Vinokurov	Astana Qazaqstan	4:59:15
128	Oscar Riesebeek	Alpecin-Deceuninck	5:00:50
129	Enzo Leijnse	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	5:01:07
130	Julius van den Berg	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	5:01:08
131	Thibault Guernalec	Arkéa-B&B Hotels	5:04:04
132	Kamil Gradek	Bahrain Victorious	5:12:14
133	Ide Schelling	Astana Qazaqstan	5:16:31
134	Tim Naberman	Team dsm-firmenich PostNL	5:17:13

 

Stage 20 map & profiles:

Vuelta stage 20 map

Stage 20 profile

Profile of the Portillo de Lunada

Profile of the Puerto de Los Tornos

Profile of the Picón Blanco climb to the finish

Stage 20 photos by Fotoreporter Sirotti:

GC leader Primoz Roglic after his team was presented during the starting ceremonies.

Roglic gets his bike

Former GC leader Ben O'Connor before the stage start.

Richard Carapaz does some signing.

Classification leaders on the start line.

Stage winner Eddie Dunbar leading on the Picón Blanco finishing climb

And here's Dunbar at camera level on his way to winning the stage.

Enric Mas with Primoz Roglic on his wheel as he climbs the Picón Blanco finishing climb.

Primoz Roglic with Richard Carapaz right behind him.

Eddie Dunbar wins the stage.

Primoz Roglic finishes third and remains the GC leader.

Richard Carapaz finishes fourth.

Stage winner Eddie Dunbar

Primoz Roglic has only Sunday's time trial between him and another Grand Tour win.