On a day that took in four ascents and 50 kilometers of climbing, the Cumbrian made sure of giving again his best.
Stage 18 (Colmenar Viejo – Becerril de la Sierra, 178.2 kilometers) began with Deceuninck – Quick-Step making a trip to the podium to receive for the sixth time in 17 days the prize for the best team in the race, and continued with a pretty fast tempo until the early slopes of Puerto de Navacerrada, the most visited climb in the history of La Vuelta, which was making its 48th appearance since 1941.
Between that and the last kilometers of the penultimate ascent, the challenging Puerto de Morcuera, the stage was pretty quiet once a breakaway took shape and padded their lead to five minutes, the first big move from the favourites’ win coming with 55 kilometers remaining. Eighth on the general classification following Deceuninck – Quick-Step’s collective masterclass twenty-four hours earlier, James Knox remained with the best on the tough slopes of Morcuera, but began losing ground when attacks started firing out.
Not panicking, the 23-year-old joined a group who came from behind and traded pulls at the front, bringing his fair share of work as the chasers tried to limit the losses in the valley taking to the last difficulty of the day, Puerto de Cotos. Best-placed British rider ahead of the final weekend, Knox crested the summit with a three-minute deficit, but together with his companions he flew down the descent and came home less than around five minutes behind the winner, Sergio Higuita (EF Education First), the last survivor of the breakaway.
Despite dropping a place in the general classification, James – whose capacity of pushing himself to the limit and always fighting on has become a trademark – is still in with a solid shot of a maiden Grand Tour top 10 finish in Madrid, with only one mountain stage standing between him and what would be a spectacular result in just his second pro year.
Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele/ Getty Images
