Eddie Dunbar flew to victory on stage 11 of the Vuelta a España, attacking inside the final kilometre to take his maiden Grand Tour stage on Wednesday.
As the Jayco-AlUla rider sprung out of the lead group, no-one could follow, and despite the Irishman's slight stature, he held off the punchier riders from the day's escape. Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finished second, with Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL) in third.
The break was decisive, with the winner coming out of a 39-strong move, but there was also general classification action, with Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) taking tens of seconds back on race leader Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).
Around 14 survivors of the day's big breakaway came together just outside the flamme rouge, with riders like Jhonatan Narvaéz (Ineos Grenadiers), Ion Izagirre (Cofidis) and Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates) among them. However, it was Dunbar who attacked with 600m to go, catching the group by surprise and taking the win.
Meanwhile, on the final climb of the day, the Puerto Cruxeiras, Red Bull-Bora-Hangrohe wound up an attack for Roglič, who initially just took Enric Mas (Movistar) with him. While other general classification riders recovered, O'Connor could not follow, losing 37 seconds.
The day, however, belonged to Dunbar.
"It’s weird how it goes sometimes," he said on TV post-race. "I had a really bad start to the race, I lost a lot of time, I came here to ride GC, and I learned pretty quickly that I didn’t have the legs to do that. My preparation was really good here. It was time to reassess and go for a stage, and today was an opportunity. I didn’t expect it, because I tried hard at the start to get in the break and I thought that my legs were gone. All of a sudden a big break went. Me and Pippo [Filippo Zana] rode very well, we were really smart, and here we are. I actually can’t believe it.
"It’s been a while since I’ve been in a scenario like this. I decided to use my experience . I was suffering a bit on that steep climb then I realised everyone else was. I had Pippo up the road, so that let me take a back seat. I played my cards, I gambled and backed my finish. I know on a finish like this, after a hard race I can sprint, but I knew I had to go long. Going with 600m to go was probably a bit long, but that’s what I had to do to win."
"I suffered," O'Connor told Eurosport. "It was actually super hard. It was hard at the start, and the finish climb was really solid. Maybe I could have managed it better. Still in the red jersey, another day ticked off.
"I’m excited to get into the mountains again, it’s hilly here but the punchy finishes are super hard. If I’m not at my best it can be difficult. Hopefully, once we get to the big mountains I can get back to how I was in Granada.
"I’m not happy, but I can’t really do much about it, I need to be a better rider and improve, and be better the next day."
How it happened
Stage 11 of the Vuelta was essentially a circuit race on a grand scale, with a big loop - 166.5km long - around the hills of Galicia from one part of Padrón to the other, via four classified climbs.
It would ordinarily be a day for the breakaway, but with the chaos of the general classification at this race so far, anything could happen.
The day began with multiple attacks as riders attempted to get away, including an early dig from Julius van den Berg (dsm-firmenich PostNL), but they came to little.
A large group tried to escape with 142km to go, including Giro d’Italia stage winner Jhonatan Narváez (Ineos Grenadiers), but this was reeled back in 4km later.
Narváez was keen to get away, attacking again with 129km to go, but was tagged once more.
At the top of the first classified climb of the day, the Puerto San Xusto, Marco Frigo took the maximum three points on the third-category peak.
It was at the foot of the San Xusto, the day’s break began to form with a flurry of attacks, with Narvaéz involved once again.
Once everything was settled, after a series of escapees, there was a break of 39 up the road, who had over six minutes on the peloton for much of the day.
They were: Corbin Strong, Matthew Riccitello, Marco Frigo, George Bennett (Israel-Premier Tech), Jesus Herrada, Guillaume Martin, Ion Izagirre (Cofidis), Reuben Thompson, Lorenzo Germani, Sven Erik Bystrøm (Groupama-FDJ), Eduardo Sepúlveda, Arjen Livyns, Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Dstny), Dani Martínez, Patrick Gamper, Nico Denz (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), Gijs Leemreize, Chris Hamilton, Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL), Urko Berrade, Ibon Ruiz (Kern Pharma), Xander Meurisse, Quinten Hermans (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Carlos Canal, Pelayo Sánchez (Movistar), Narváez, Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers), Atila Valter, Steven Kruijswijk (Visma-Lease a Bike), Carlos Verona, Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek), Filippo Zana, Eddie Dunbar (Jayco-AlUla), Gianmarco Garofoli (Astana Qazaqstan), James Knox (Soudal Quick-Step), Brandon McNulty (UAE Team Emirates), Fran Miholjević (Bahrain Victorious), Xabier Isasa (Euskatel-Euskadi), and Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels).
The key man in the break in terms of the overall was Bennett of IPT, who moved up into the top five in the virtual GC thanks to his ride.
Meurisse was the first over the top of the Puerto Aguasantas, and pushed on, taking a minute on the rest of his breakaway companions. On the second time up the Aguasantas the chasing group shattered, with about 18 left in the group, including three IPT riders, who were guiding Bennett.
Atop the Aguasantas the second time, Meurisse claimed the maximum points, but the time gap began to come down as the race came within 50km to the finish.
Behind, in the peloton, Movistar started to pull, protecting Enric Mas’ fourth place on GC, and the gap between the break and the peloton descended to less than five minutes. Meurisse was caught with 35km to go.
An attack from Campenaerts ahead of the final group broke up the front group, taking less than 10 riders with him, including Rivera. Bennett was left behind in the chasing group. However, the climbers were ready to make their move on the Puerto Cruxeiras. At the front Verona, Zana and Berrade attempted to climb away, with about 24 seconds on the pursuers.
Further down the road, Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), the man in second place, sought to blow up what was left on the peloton, to take the fight to red jersey Ben O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale).
As the gradient headed upwards, Roglič escaped with Enric Mas (Movistar), and O’Connor began to rely on other GC riders to help bring the move back, but he seemed to be losing time to the Slovenian.
Up at the front of the race Max Poole (dsm-firmenich PostNL) joined the lead group, along with Berrade and Verona. The latter won the sprint atop Puerto Cruxeiras, with the trio only having a handful of seconds over the remainder of the break.
Roglič crested the Cruxeiras in the company of the majority of other GC favourites, apart from O’Connor, who was almost 30 seconds behind.
The front of the race came back together, with Narvaéz joining just before the flamme rouge was taken. The Ecuadorian was a favourite for if it came to the finish in a group.
However, a huge attack came from Dunbar of Jayco AlUla inside the final kilometre, with the slight Irishman giving everything to hang onto the finish. Behind, Hermans beat Poole to take second.
Results
La Vuelta a España 2024 Stage 11: Campus Tecnológico Cortizo Padron > Campus Tecnológico Cortizo Padron (166.5km)
1. Eddie Dunbar (Ire) Jayco AlUla, in 3:44:52
2. Quinten Hermans (Bel) Alpecin-Deceuninck, +2s
3. Max Poole (GBr) dsm-firmenich PostNL, at same time
4. Jhonatan Narvaéz (Ecu) Ineos Grenadiers, +4s
5. Urko Berrade (Esp) Kern Pharma
6. Filippo Zana (Ita) Jayco AlUla)
7. Ion Izagirre (Esp) Cofidis
8. Carlos Verona (Esp) Lidl-Trek
9. Gianmarco Garofoli (Ita) Astana Qazaqstan
10. Brandon McNulty (USA) UAE Team Emirates
General Classification after Stage 12
1. Ben O'Connor (Aus) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, in 44:54:54
2. Primož Roglič (Slo) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +3:16
3. Enric Mas (Esp) Movistar, +3:58
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu) EF Education-EasyPost, +4:10
5. Mikel Landa (Esp) Soudal Quick-Step, +4:40
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Esp) Ineos Grenadiers, +5:23
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger) Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, +5:29
8. Adam Yates (GBr) UAE Team Emirates, +5:30
9. Felix Gall (Aut) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, at same time
10. George Bennett (NZl) Israel-Premier Tech, +5:46
