La Vuelta a Espana 2020 Phase 16 – LIVE-Updates

Stage 16 live comments below

75 km to go: Osorio is stuck in the middle

The guides on this climb are on a ledge; You fall through a small stone hamlet, cross a stream over a narrow bridge, and then continue towards a larger town with a more fruity architecture (including a corrugated iron structure that can range from a sports hall to a library).

Osorio is now 1’20 “behind and his day is going to be pretty hellish here. The peloton, five minutes back, has relaxed as it passes through a feeding zone.

80 km to go: Osorio fell

Poor Juan Felipe Osorio – he fell back from the break because he suffered a bit, but he couldn’t find his team car and is now stepping onto the positions. He must have gotten hungry or something because this is one big sucker from the Colombian who has been out since shortly after today’s start after transitioning to teammate Madrazo.

Night 85 km: Puerto El Portillo

The break begins at the start of Cat.2 El Portillo, which is 14.3 km long and has an easy average of 4.4%. With an unassailable lead of 55 points in the COM standings, Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) only has to finish the race to bring the polka dot jersey to Madrid. The gap for the six front runners is now less than four minutes.

87 km to go: almost time to climb

Bora-Hansgrohe pulls at the front to keep the break on a leash. Of the six refugees only three have had success as professionals: Cavagna has five wins, Madrazo three wins (including a stage win in last year’s Vuelta) and Ezquerra one. Stannard, Goosens and Osorio want to break their collective ducks today …

92 km to go: Gap casts a shadow

Our top six – half of whom are decked out in the purple of Burgos bra – see their gap drop to 4’20 “as they continue to work together at the base of the first categorized climb. Until that test, which should spice things up a bit, let’s move on to another interview – this time with Grand Tour debutant Mark Donovan of Team Sunweb speaking to Ashley House about his racing experience so far.

105 km to go: the gap stabilizes

The drivers are on a descent in front of a few more rolling roads. That’s it for the wind first – although we hear that it could be stormy towards the end and after the last descent.

Here’s Hugh Carthy trying to answer some questions that surprise him a little. He’s clearly not the one to blow his own trumpet, the Lancashire hotpot is …

Dylan van Baarle an Ineos ‚Tag

Ineo’s grenadiers have decided not to send a man into the break and to protect her husband Richard Carapaz today. Here’s the mustached Dutchman hoping it might work out today …

Another 118 km: Pursuit hunt duo

Amezqueta and Smit sit up and are picked up again from the peloton. The race covered 40.1 km in the first hour and the gap for the six leaders is now up to 5’05 “. It looks like this will be the break of day – although there will be pack attacks on these two climbs at the top.

125 km to go: six clear, two on the hunt

So the first two groups have merged and we now have Cavagna, Stannard, Goosens, Madrazo, Ezquerra and Osorio in front of us in a 50% Burgos bra train that has 1’40 “on the two pursuers, Amezqueta and Smit. Should they join, the percentage of purple jerseys would stay at 50. The main draw is now almost five minutes behind, and the teammates of the UAE teams Emirates and Bora-Hansgrohe of yesterday’s two top players, Jasper Philipsen and Pascal Ackermann, are moving to the gap. Despite the hills, they will no doubt hope to position their swift men for victory …

132 km to go: now almost four minutes

The two front runners are 3’50 “away from the pack and still have 40” in this Cavagna hunting quartet with the next duo another 40 seconds ago. You have reached the top of an uncategorized climb on this exposed plateau and will now likely come together before descending to the rolling roads before the first climb. Of all the drivers ahead, the Belgian Goosens is the best at the GC, but he is 46 minutes behind and therefore no threat to the favorites (or anyone in the top 22).

135 km to go: the attacks are dense and fast

The Burgos bra duo of Madrazo and Osario is 2’35 “away from the main field. They have four drivers in pursuit after Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick Step) was supported by Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) and Kobe Goossens (Lotto Soudal) and Jesus Ezquerra (Burgos-BH). They are 1’40 “behind the leaders, but could soon be supported by Julen Amezqueta (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and Willie Smit (Burgos-BH). Blimey, when it all comes together, that would mean a break from eight men, half of whom are from the same Burgos bra team.

140 km to go: Cavagna on the hunt

With the leadership of the two Burgos drivers, who protrude well beyond the minute mark, the Frenchman Remi Cavagna has moved away from the pack. His move has sparked a reaction from a handful of riders from the pack trying to bypass the Deceuninck Quick-Step runaway artist and join him.

145 km to go: Burgos bra on the way

Spaniard Angel Madrazo manages to escape the peloton’s clutches to build a small lead before being supported on the front by his Burgos bra Juan Felipe Osorio. An interesting – and completely unexpected – pincer move by the Spanish pro-continental team there …

According to the La Vuelta official website, Burgos-BH’s sporting director Oscar Cabedo said ahead of the stage that his riders would be aggressive today in their quest for that elusive victory: “It can be [the last breakaway opportunity]. It should be a big fight for the runaways to make it today. The thing is that the GC is in the game too and the GC teams don’t have a lot of options and we’re at a point where you don’t know what’s going to happen. There is so much going on, so many teams looking for something: sprinters, stage hunters, overall competitors … you never know what can happen. ”

Litter: ‘Richie licks his chops’

“When the crap hits the fan,” says Cameron Wurf, he wants to be in the right place at the right time to found his husband Richard Carapaz. Is there a nicer guy in the peloton than the Australian veteran who rode Ironmans (Ironmen?) Before Ineos called and pulled him out of retirement earlier this year …

150 km to go: no break or split times yet

The wind made this start quite nervous and any attempts to break loose have so far been foiled as the race starts on long, straight, flat, exposed roads southwest of Salamanca.

In the meantime, some thoughts from Sean Kelly on stage today that he thinks could make a big start …

162 km to go: Stage 16 is underway

Javier Guillen waves the red flag and this fascinating phase has sparked a series of gun attacks. Look forward to a pretty lively opening …

Winds expected for opening times

While the two categorized climbs don’t take place until later today, there have been reports of high winds that could prove to be a stormy obstacle to the peloton during the first 40 kilometers of today’s test. GC favorite teams will be on alert to avoid getting caught – while many will push to take advantage …

It’s not like they weren’t warned… It looks like Ineo’s grenadiers are already planning a busy day for her husband Richard Carapaz, who keeps the green jersey warm for Primoz Roglic in the hope that he will take care of it can The red jersey of the Slovenian between now and Madrid. Just 39 seconds separate the two on GC, Hugh Carthy from Great Britain another eight seconds back …

On the balance sheet of interest, it’s fair to say that Jumbo-Visma doesn’t seem to be taking the threat lightly … they’ve already done a hearty warm-up on the reels and are now at the forefront of drivers rolling through the neutral zone.

A non-runner: Luis Leon Sanchez

Astana has confirmed that the Spanish champions did not start today’s stage for “personal reasons”. Let’s hope it’s not serious and that Sanchez and his family are okay. The 36-year-old was involved in yesterday’s break and drove his 11th Vuelta. His withdrawal means that of the first 176 to start, we have only 144 riders left.

Level 16 preview

On today’s 16th stage of the Vuelta 2020, the peloton stands before a 162 km drive from Salamanca to Ciudad Rodrigo. Here is the stage profile – with two categorized climbs and before that an exposed 40 km opening that we hear could be animated by some serious cross winds …

Review at level 15

Jasper Philipsen won a windswept and soaked 15th stage of La Vuelta on Thursday and overtook Pascal Ackermann and Jannik Steimle in a reduced sprint finish.

No change in the overall standings meant that Primoz Roglic was able to keep the red jersey of rivals Richard Carapaz and Hugh Carthy three days before the end of the race.

The Slovenian Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) came out of well over six hours in the saddle and kept his 39-second lead over the Ecuadorian Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers). British rider Carthy (EF Pro Cycling) was third for eight seconds.

Stage 15 response

“Oh damn it is amazing,” said an emotional Philipsen, shivering in the cold. “I can’t describe how happy I am with this win. It means a lot to me – I waited the whole Vuelta for the right moment and today it was unexpected.

“It was a really strong breakaway, but with the headwind all day, it made it really difficult for the leading group. In the end I believed more and more because at the beginning of the day I never expected that it would be a mass sprint. “” ”

HOW TO WATCH LA VUELTA LIVE – TV & LIVE STREAMING

The Vuelta a Espana is live on Eurosport, eurosport.co.uk and the Eurosport app.

Eurosport.co.uk broadcasts uninterrupted coverage of each phase every day. We will also have rolling coverage online on the website and on our social channels.

And don’t forget, we’re bringing you podcasts from the Bradley Wiggins Show – check with your podcast provider for the latest show.