BERMILLO DE SAYAGO, Spain – Italian rider Elia Viviani won his second Spanish Vuelta stage on Tuesday, while Simon Yates retained the leader’s red jersey despite a punctured tire.
Viviani, who also won the third stage, outsprinted Peter Sagan in the final meters to comfortably win the 110-mile flat 10th stage from Salamanca to Bermillo de Sayago.
“Everything went perfect,” Viviani said. “I always dreamt of winning as many Grand Tour stages as possible. Now I have five at the Giro and two at La Vuelta and I want to enjoy my perfect train to win more until the end of La Vuelta.”
Yates had a puncture with about 15 kilometers to go but was able to rejoin the pack and maintain his one-second lead over Alejandro Valverde. Adam Yates, Simon’s twin, was among the riders who stayed behind to lead him back to the peloton.
“Things went relatively straightforward until the end, then I must have hit something on the side of the road, I punctured twice so it made things a bit nervous but we managed to control,” Yates said. “I’m improving every year to try and win the general classification and now we’ll see how far I can go with this red jersey.”
Nairo Quintana, third overall, also had a puncture late in the stage, but recovered to remain 14 seconds behind Yates.
Diego Rubio broke away with about 20 kilometers to go, moving 20 seconds in front of the pack, but he was caught less than 10 kilometers from the finish.
Durango’s Sepp Kuss finished Tuesday’s stage in 77th and was credited with the same time as Viviani. The 23-year-old Team LottoNL-Jumbo rider is in 38th overall, 15:12 behind Yates’ lead.
Tuesday’s stage came after the Vuelta’s first rest day.
On Wednesday, riders will face a 129-mile hilly route from Mombuey to Ribeira Sacra. That route will favor Kuss’ climbing strength.
The Grand Tour race will end Sept. 16 in Madrid.
The Durango Herald contributed to this report.
