Vuelta a Espana Stage 13 Results

Nelson Oliveria Wins Stage 13, Fabio Aru Stays in Lead

Nelson Oliveria (Lampre-Merida) won Stage 13 by staying in front of a breakaway group after pulling away with 28 km (17 miles) to go in the stage. Oliveria slowly built a lead of one minute, which the breakaway group and the main peloton never shrank. Oliveria is the eighth different winner of a Vuelta Stage. Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) continues to lead the Vuelta. The breakaway group did not have any General Classification contenders, so the peloton did not chase down the group.

A 50 rider breakaway developed early in Stage 13, a mountainous 168 km (104 mile) route from Catalayud to Tarazona. The stage was tailor-made for a breakaway, and this was proven during the stage. The 50 rider breakaway was pared down to 24 riders when the group reached the Category 3 climb of Alto Collado de Oseja 40 km (25 miles) into the stage. The peloton did not chase the breakaway. The peloton kept the gap reasonable and stayed together. One GC contender, Nairo Quintana (Movistar Team), had some difficulty. On one climb, Quintana was falling behind the peloton but caught up later in the stage. After the stage, Quintana’s team doctor said that Quintana was suffering a fever and stomach problems. Quintana is now 3 minutes behind Aru.

Oliveria is a three-time Portugal Time Trial Champion, and it showed during the stage. Oliveria pulled away from the breakaway group and gradually pulled away from the breakaway group on the descending route to the finish line. The Stage 13 victory was the first Grand Tour victory oh Oliveria’s career.

The 213 km (132 mile) Stage 14 is a mountainous stage in Basque country, running from the Basque capital of Vitoria to Fuente del Chivo. The stage has one Category 3 and two Category 1 climbs, including Puerto del Escudo, which averages 9% over 7km (4.3 miles). This stage will be a test of whether Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin) can remain in contention until the individual time trial in Stage 17 or will Aru keep the Red Jersey the rest of the way.

Stage 13 Results

1	Nelson Oliveira	Por	Lampre-Merida	4:14:01
2	Julien Simon	Fra	Cofidis, Solutions Credits	0:01:00
3	Nicolas Roche	Irl	Team Sky	0:01:00
4	Sylvain Chavanel	Fra	IAM Cycling	0:01:00
5	Jose Joaquin Rojas	Spa	Movistar Team	0:01:00
6	Rinaldo Nocentini	Ita	AG2R La Mondiale	0:01:00
7	Kévin Reza	Fra	FDJ	0:01:00
8	Mikael Cherel	Fra	AG2R La Mondiale	0:01:00
9	Cameron Meyer	Aus	Orica GreenEdge	0:01:00
10	Maxime Monfort	Bel	Lotto Soudal	0:01:00

General Classification Standings

1	Fabio Aru	Ita	Astana Pro Team	51:33:19
2	Joaquim Rodriguez	Spa	Team Katusha	0:00:27
3	Tom Dumoulin	Ned	Team Giant-Alpecin	0:00:30
4	Rafal Majka	Pol	Tinkoff-Saxo	0:01:28
5	Esteban Chaves	Col	Orica GreenEdge	0:01:29
6	Alejandro Valverde	Spa	Movistar Team	0:01:52
7	Daniel Moreno Fernandez	Spa	Team Katusha	0:01:54
8	Mikel Nieve	Spa	Team Sky	0:01:58
9	Gianluca Brambilla	Ita	Etixx - Quick-Step	0:02:51
10	Romain Sicard	Fra	Team Europcar	0:02:51
11	Nairo Quintana	Col	Movistar Team	0:03:07