After a magnificent performance in the San Sebastián Classic, Lennert Van Eetvelt came very close to his first Grand Tour stage victory, but in the final metres, Primož Roglič beat him at the line, taking his 13th stage win in La Vuelta.
The first hard mountain stage of La Vuelta featured a summit finish at Pico Villuercas. The climb began with a gentle gradient, followed by several very steep kilometres, and ended with a more gradual ascent. The Extremadura region was experiencing extreme heat, with temperatures reaching 40°C, and 35°C on the final climb. Brandon McNulty spent 3,543 kilojoules over 4 hours and 9 minutes, at a rate of 12.75 kg/kj/h. The intense heat exhausted the riders before tackling the steep ramps of Pico Villuercas.
With Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, Lidl-Trek, and UAE Emirates setting the pace on the 4-5% gradient, the tempo was high on Pico Villuercas, with riders producing 5.8 ᵉW/kg for 23 minutes. When the steep gradients began, the road surface was far from ideal, with rolling resistance higher than usual. The GC group quickly shattered as Pavel Sivakov attacked, causing Primož Roglič to panic and close him down, being one of the race favourites. Later on the climb, Felix Gall attacked on the steep ramps but was eventually caught by Roglič, Lennert Van Eetvelt, and Enric Mas.
Primož Roglič, Enric Mas, and Lennert van Eetvelt averaged 6.79 – 6.81 ᵉW/kg for 12 minutes and 4 seconds on the steep section (2.9 km at 13.76%). Joao Almeida, Matthew Riccitello, and Felix Gall lost 8 to 10 seconds with 6.70 – 6.72 ᵉW/kg. In the final five minutes of the climb on the main road, the leaders’ pace slowed down, allowing even Mikel Landa to catch up, forming a 7-rider group. The ᵉW/kg figures are not as high overall, as they averaged 5.80 ᵉW/kg on the shallow section, which would be equivalent to 6 ᵉW/kg for the entire climb, completed in 40 minutes and 18 seconds.
With Mikel Landa attacking after catching the group, Van Eetvelt closed his attack with Roglič on his wheel. The 2024 UAE Tour winner was looking to win but celebrated too early and stopped pedalling in the last metres, with Roglič taking a characteristic stage win in La Vuelta. Of the GC favourites, Sepp Kuss and Adam Yates in the hot conditions underperformed relative to their expectations losing significant time to the other contenders.
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Is there something like Heat Adjusted Performance, like it is done with See Level Adjusted Performance?