In the last, 18th stage of the race, cyclists had to measure 139.6 kilometers with a finish in Madrid on a relatively smooth terrain.
In the final stage, the victory was celebrated by the German Pascal Akerman (“Bora – hansgrohe”), for whom it was the 30th success of this season. Second place went to Irishman Sam Bennett (“Deceuninck – Quick Step”), but another German Max Kanter (“Sunweb”) took the lower step on the podium.
As usual in the final stages of the big tour, the riders measured almost the entire distance together in a large group, but fought for the victory in the stage in the finish spurt. 81 athletes finished at the same time, including Liepiņš.
Liepiņš finished the Spanish tour with 12th place, which is the best performance in his career. Earlier in the ninth stage, he ranked lower, even though he was close to his first podium in one of the big tours. In the overall test, Liepiņš ranked 124th and Rogličs lost more than four hours.
Overall leader Roglič (“Jumbo-Visma”) managed to dominate his closest followers, Ecuadorian Caracas (“Ineos Grenadiers”), in a difficult mountain section the day before and reached 39th place on Sunday, which did not prevent him from winning the “Vuelta a” for the second year in a row. Espana “.
He was 24 seconds ahead of Karapas and escaped a previous fiasco on a French tour, when he lost the lead on the penultimate day, winning his compatriot Tadic Pogachar.
The third place in “Vuelta a Espana” was won by the British Hugh Card (“Education First”), who was 47 seconds behind the Slovenian driver.
Roglich is only the sixth cyclist to have won a tour of Spain for two years in a row. It was also the first time in the history of cycling that in one season, the winners of all three major tours were less than a minute ahead of their closest followers.
The biggest advantage in the “grand tours” this year was for Pogachar, who was ahead of his compatriot Roglič by 59 seconds in the “Tour de France”.
“Movistar” triumphed in the team test, Guyia Marten from France (“Cofidis, Solutions Credits”) was crowned King of the Mountains, while the Spaniard Enrik Mass (“Movistar”) won the laurels in the youth test.
The first six days of the race overlapped with this year’s Giro d’Italia.
This year, the first three stages of “Vuelta a Espana” were planned in the Netherlands, but due to a national pandemic, the prestigious cycling competition was refused. As a result, Vuelta a Espana had only 18 stages this year, instead of 21.
For Liepiņš, this was his debut in one of the big tours. The main goal of “Trek – Segafredo” in this Spanish tour was to fight for victories in certain stages. Despite the fact that the tour was shortened to 18 stages, there were quite a few challenges in the categorized climbs and several mountain finishes. The sprinters had the opportunity to compete for at least four stages, including the last stage with a finish in Madrid.
Mateo Mosketi was mentioned as the main contender for the team’s victories in the sprint, but he withdrew from the tour last week. It was at the beginning of the season that the Dobel player made his debut for the Trek – Segafredo team and helped Mosket win two cycling races in Spain and finished in the top ten.
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