Our Devo rider produced a strong effort as he spent the day in the breakaway.
For Jasper Schoofs, the Vuelta a Burgos marks the third outing of the season in a stage race with the Soudal Quick-Step jersey on his shoulder, after Volta Comunitat Valencia and Settimana Internazionale Coppi e Bartali. A stage winner at this year’s Giro Next Gen, where he also got to wear the pink jersey, Jasper was keen on taking advantage of any opportunity he could find here, and as soon as one appeared, he seized it.
Thursday scheduled the hardest stage of Burgos so far, containing 3300 vertical meters, and it took a while for a breakaway to form. When a front group finally began to take shape, Schoofs attacked from the peloton, and thanks to a solid effort, he bridged across and immediately put in some long pulls that helped the breakaway extend their advantage to two minutes. Even when it became clear the chasers would catch them, Jasper continued to impress with his work rate, which made him one of the last riders to be brought back.
“I’ve had good feelings since the start of the race, and today, after that full gas start, I jumped from the peloton and joined the front group that was already up the road. We worked well together, but the chasers were stronger and reeled us in on the last ascent”, Jasper said after the stage.
On the relentless climb of Puerto del Escudo (7km, 9%), which the riders crested just a few kilometers from the finish, the race exploded and left only a few men in the mix. Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) attacked and took the win, while Filippo Zana concluded again as the highest-ranked Soudal Quick-Step rider.
Photo credit: ©Antonio Baixauli / Getty Images
