La Vuelta Ciclista a España

Thursday afternoon found the peloton in the Basque Country for the 179.5km stage 18 between Vitoria-Gasteiz and Maestu-Parque Natural de Izki. It was a medium-mountain day comprising two classified climbs, the toughest of which was Puerto de Herrera, coming in the last 50 kilometers.

On that steep ascent, some teams decided to put pressure on the red jersey, upping the tempo and splitting the peloton. Mikel Landa found himself distanced but tried his best to limit the losses on his way to the top of the climb, before linking up with the likes of Casper Pedersen, Mauri Vansevenant and Mattia Cattaneo, all of whom had been part of the mammoth breakaway that formed soon after the start.

The T-Rex Quick-Step guys chased hard behind the favourites’ group on this stage won by Urko Berrade (KernPharma), trading pulls at the front and doing their best to keep Mikel in contention for a good result. Thanks to their effort, the Basque remained in the top ten of the general classification ahead of Friday’s stage, which will conclude atop Alto de Moncalvillo, one of the most demanding climbs of this edition.

Photo credit: ©Tim De Waele / Getty Images