Pedersen Wins Sprint, Evenepoel Punctures and Roglic Crashes!

Stage 16 was full of drama in the final 3 kms after Roglic attacked on the steep slopes to the finish line as Evenepoel punctured, Pedersen won the sprint and Roglic crashed hard suffering guts and abrasions

Stage 16 was always going to be a sprinter’s stage and an extra day for the GC men to recover and prepare for the final tough mountain stages to come. That was the plan until Primoz Roglic attacked on a small steep climb in the last 3 kilometres as Remco Evenepoel punctured.

Green jersey wearer Mads Pedersen crossed the line first from a group or four riders who stayed with Roglic, including Ackermann, van Poppel and Fred Wright, before Roglic crashed at high speed.

Rumours are Roglic hit Fred Wright but pictures have emerged of a sticky substance on the road that could have caused the crash. Video below shows Roglic crashing.

Vídeo de @EcoLumina donde se puede ver más al detalle la caída de Roglic. Que parece chocar con Wright. #LaVuelta22 pic.twitter.com/C5hbMV7QP5

— Sergio Fernández Yustos (@sergioyustos_) September 6, 2022

Picture below shows sticky substance right about where Roglic crashed.

Can’t be certain but looks very much as though Roglic could have slid on this. No idea what it is - melted something, on white line 90m from finish. pic.twitter.com/vuFjgwgi0R

— Daniel Friebe (@friebos) September 6, 2022

The long and hot day through Extremadura was not a pleasant one for the peloton, two riders went up the road to give their team some exposure; Ander Okamika (Burgos-BH) and Luis Ángel Maté (Euskaltel - Euskadi).

The duo never enjoyed much of a gap, but the pace was never high throughout the day, with the average for the day sitting just below 40 kph. Trek - Segafredo and Cofidis controlled the two, who were caught with 14 kilometers to go. 

It was all to play for in Tomares, on the outskirts of Sevilla where the fight for positioning was intense into the final hilltop.

As soon as the gradient kicked in was Primz Roglic launched a scathing attack, surprising everyone, only Pascal Ackermann closely following his wheel.

Remco Evenepoel punctured in the meantime but was safe inside the final three kilometers.

Ackermann, van Poppel and Fred Wright were able to bridge up before the final sprint, Roglic crashed in the final 50 metres and looked visibly shaken with cuts and briuses to whole left side of his body.

Remco Evenepoel lost a bit of time to Roglic, but still leads the race by 1m 26s.

VIDEO:Stage 16 Highlights

Stage 16 Top 10

1 DEN Mads Pedersen Trek-Segafredo 04:45:29
2 GER Pascal Ackermann UAE Team Emirates + 00
3 NED Danny van Poppel BORA-hansgrohe + 00
4 GBR Fred Wright Bahrain Victorious + 00
5 FRA Quentin Pacher Groupama-FDJ + 08
6 ITA Samuele Battistella Astana Qazaqstan Team + 08
7 BEL Cédric Beullens Lotto Soudal + 08
8 FRA Clément Russo Team Arkéa-Samsic + 08
9 ESP Jesus Ezquerra Burgos-BH + 08
10 NED Julius van den Berg EF Education-EasyPost + 08

GC after Stage 16

01 BEL Remco Evenepoel Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl Team 61:26:26
02 SLO Primoz Roglic Jumbo-Visma + 01:26
03 ESP Enric Mas Movistar Team + 02:01
04 ESP Juan Ayuso UAE Team Emirates + 04:49
05 ESP Carlos Rodriguez INEOS Grenadiers + 05:16
06 COL Miguel Ángel López Astana Qazaqstan Team + 05:24
07 POR Joao Almeida UAE Team Emirates + 07:00
08 NED Thymen Arensman Team DSM + 07:05
09 AUS Ben O'Connor AG2R Citroën Team + 08:57
10 AUS Jai Hindley BORA-hansgrohe + 11:36