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Marc Hirschi finished second in the Memorial Pantani in Italy, where riders covered 193.3km from Riccione to Cesenatico.
The day was characterized by continuous ups and downs in the first 70km until the first GPM, which marked the start of a circuit which the riders covered four times.
At the beginning of the final lap, a group of six riders, including Hirschi and Formolo, gained an advantage, with the Swiss rider able to stay in contact with Sivakov (INEOS Grenadiers) and Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) as they launched their attack on the final climb of the day.
In the last flat 30km, the leading trio held their gap, deciding the race in a sprint, where Hirschi finished in second place behind Lutsenko.
Hirschi: “Today was a hard but beautiful race. Myself and Formolo managed to get ourselves in the front group and build up a bit of a lead which eventually broke into a group of 3. Lutsenko was the strongest in the road today, but we hope to give it a go tomorrow again.”
Memorial Pantani General Classification:
1.Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Qazaqstan Team) 4h21’32”
2.Marc Hirschi (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
3.Pavel Sivakov (INEOS Grenadiers) s.t.
5.Davide Formolo (UAE Team Emirates) +1’57”
On the penultimate day of the Vuelta a España, there were no significant changes in the standings. The longest stage of the Spanish race covered 208km with a challenging 3rd category climb to tackle.
The race was animated by a group of about thirty attackers breaking away after approximately 50km, with Finn Fisher-Black and especially Marc Soler consistently fighting for positions and GPM points.
UAE Team Emirates’ Catalan climber stuck with the front riders who gradually thinned out the group, leaving only five at the front.
The quintet battled for the stage victory in the final kilometere, with a long sprint ending with Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) taking first place and Soler finishing in fifth position.
Juan Ayuso remained safe along with the big names in the General Classification, confirming his fourth-place and the white jersey as the best young rider of this Vuelta, ahead of the final stage dedicated to the sprinters with a finish in Madrid tomorrow.
Results of the 20th stage of the Vuelta a España:
1.Wout Poels (Bahrain-Victorious) 4h29’29”
2.Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-Quick Step) s.t.
3.Pelayo Sanchez (Burgos-BH) s.t.
5.Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) s.t.
General Classification after the 20th stage of the Vuelta a España:
1.Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) 74h23’42”
2.Jonas Vingegaard (Jumbo-Visma) +17″
3.Primo Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1’08”
4.Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +3’44”
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