Rohan Dennis wins Time Trial and Simon Yates Extends Lead
BMC Racing's Rohan Dennis set the fastest time as Simon Yates put in top performance to extend his lead
After the calm of the rest day, it was straight back into the racing, with a hard and fast Individual Time Trial. The 32km course was more or less flat from start to finish, with a few humps along the way, but nothing that would test the riders too much with their re-energised legs. Starting in Santillana del Mar, the route would head west before working its way back towards Torrelevega in the east. There would be a few twists and turns along the way, but the most technical section would be in the run in to the finish, where some tight turns and switchbacks would bring riders almost to a standstill. After a day spinning their legs, this technical section could well see riders lose time if they weren’t prepared. A few seconds could make all the difference.
The first stage after a rest day is always an uncertain time. After two weeks of hard racing, the riders will only know how well they’re performing when their tires hit the road. Today, on this Individual Time Trial, it was all down to the riders themselves. While on the road stages, the team can band around their team leader to support and protect them, on a stage like today it was all down to the individual riders.
Kasper Asgreen (Quick-Step Floors) set the first fastest time 39m 07s and Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky) went faster in a time of 38m 47s.
But it was Rohan Dennis who set the fastest time of 37m 57s that just couldn't be beaten.
In the GC favorites, 4th best time for Kruijswijk, just 51 seconds down on Rohan Dennis while Quintana lost 1m 19s to Kruijswijk, and fell from third to fourth place overall.
VIDEO: 2018 La Vuelta Stage 16 ITT Highlights
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2018 La Vuelta Stage 16 ITT Top 10
1 Rohan Dennis (Aus) BMC Racing Team 0:37:57
2 Joey Rosskopf (USA) BMC Racing Team 0:00:50
3 Jonathan Castroviejo (Spa) Team Sky
4 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:51
5 Michal Kwiatkowski (Pol) Team Sky
6 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:03
7 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Movistar Team 0:01:05
8 Laurens De Plus (Bel) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:07
9 Simon Geschke (Ger) Team Sunweb 0:01:10
10 Kasper Asgreen (Den) Quick-Step Floors
2018 La Vuelta GC after Stage 16
1 Simon Yates (GBr) Mitchelton-Scott 64:52:58
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:33
3 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo 0:00:52
4 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team 0:01:15
5 Enric Mas (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 0:01:30
6 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 0:01:34
7 Thibaut Pinot (Fra) Groupama-FDJ 0:02:53
8 Ion Izagirre (Spa) Bahrain-Merida 0:03:04
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 0:03:15
10 Tony Gallopin (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:04:43