Mikel Iturria couldn’t have asked for a better setting for his first professional cycling win. Just a few kilometers from home, Iturria used a solo breakaway to win the 11th stage of the Vuelta.
”To win it the Vuelta, close to home and with my family here, is a dream come true,” the Spaniard said. ”Before the race I was asked which stage I wanted to win, and I said this was the one. I gave all I had. I was going as fast as I could, finding strength that I didn’t know I had, and was able to make it to the end and win the stage.”
Iturria held on for the victory after making an impressive solo run with about 25 kilometers to go of the 180-kilometer ride from Saint-Palais to Urdax in Spain’s Basque Country.
Iturria finished six seconds ahead of the first group of chasers. He had built a gap of nearly 50 seconds with about 15 kilometers to go.
”I don’t have words for this,” the Basque Country rider said. ”We’ll have to toast with champagne tonight.”
Overall leader Primoz Roglic finished safely in the peloton, which crossed the line almost 20 minutes after Iturria. Roglic remained 1 minute, 52 seconds in front of Alejandro Valverde, with Miguel Angel Lopez 19 seconds behind.
”It was a bit of a hard start but then it was a nice day and my team did a great job,” said Roglic. ”We’ve proven this is a big team already. I don’t think tomorrow’s stage is more dangerous than the high mountains. I don’t have any problem with short climbs. We need to be focused on the moment and do our best.”
On Thursday, riders will face three difficult short climbs near the end of a 171-kilometer stage that will finish in Bilbao.
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – stage 11 results (Saint-Palais – Urdax-Dantxarinea):
| 1 | Mikel Iturria (Euskadi-Murias) | 4:36:44 |
| 2 | Jonathan Lastra (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | +06” |
| 3 | Lawson Craddock (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 4 | Damien Howson (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 5 | Francois Bidard (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 6 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Dimension Data) | +09” |
| 7 | Benjamin Thomas (Groupama-FDJ) | +12” |
| 8 | Matteo Fabbro (Katusha-Alpecin) | ,, |
| 9 | Gorka Izagirre (Astana) | ,, |
| 10 | Remi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | ,, |
| 11 | Alexander Aranburu (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) | ,, |
| 12 | Jorge Arcas (Movistar) | +20” |
| 13 | Ben O’Connor (Dimension Data) | +09’11” |
| 14 | Angel Madrazo (Burgos-BH) | +17’15” |
| 15 | Lennard Hofstede (Jumbo-Visma) | +18’35” |
| 16 | Tony Martin (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 17 | Neilson Powless (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 18 | Robert Gesink (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 19 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 20 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – general classification after stage 11:
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | 41:00:48 |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +01’52” |
| 3 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +02’11” |
| 4 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +03’00” |
| 5 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +03’05” |
| 6 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Lotto Soudal) | +04’59” |
| 7 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +05’42” |
| 8 | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) | +05’49” |
| 9 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrian-Merida) | +06’07” |
| 10 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +06’25” |
| 11 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) | +08’44” |
| 12 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | +08’52” |
| 13 | George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) | +10’07” |
| 14 | Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) | ,, |
| 15 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +10’47” |
| 16 | Ion Izagirre (Astana) | +12’53” |
| 17 | Marc Soler (Movistar) | +14’13” |
| 18 | Oscar Rodriguez (Euskadi-Murias) | +14’39” |
| 19 | Daniel Martinez (EF Education First) | +15’12” |
| 20 | James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +15’17” |
