Guadalajara (Spain), September 11th- The longest stage of this edition of La Vuelta a España was also the craziest one so far. The super-fast pace and windy conditions split the peloton, causing a dramatic day for the General Classification contenders. Team Bahrain Merida kept the top ten overall: now it’s Dylan Teuns in 10th place.

After the second rest day, the race resumed with a 219.6km course from Aranda de Duero to Guadalajara. An easy one on the paper, with a likely bunch sprint finish, or opportunities for attackers. But since before the start, it was evident that the wind could cause damage. After 3km a group with about 35 riders tried to go in the breakaway. Heinrich Haussler and Hermann Pernsteiner were in it and soon also Dylan Teuns joined them.

“As I said at the start, it will be a tough day and it was” the Belgian rider explained. I’m happy I could join the breakaway and stay in the first echelon. The start was very fast and it was hard to stay in front, but once the first big group start to collaborate well, it was much easier”.

Due to the hard tempo, many attackers dropped, including TBM riders except Teuns, who is also used to train with crosswind in his home country. Meanwhile, the gap of the red jersey group to the first group kept steadily around 5 minutes.

“In the final I still did a good sprint on a kind of finish like this, slightly uphill” Dylan added commenting his 4th place after a reduced group sprint, with Philippe Gilbert who anticipated it with a winning move. “I think it’s all about recovery now” Teuns concluded “It’s the third week of La Vuelta and today it was hard for the legs. I hope to recover well for the next three tough days”.

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