Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) held off the challenge of Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin) to win the 11th stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday.
Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) retains the overall lead after he also withstood a series of late attacks, in particular from Nairo Quintana (Movistar).
De Marchi and Restrepo both pulled clear of a large breakaway group, which had been spearheaded by Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) with around 80 kilometres to go.
De Marchi then outlasted Restrepo on the final ascent to finish on his own for a third stage victory in the race, following up those he won in 2013 and 2014.
“If I waited for the sprint, I think for sure I would have been second,” De Marchi said. “The only option I had was to try everything on the last climb and honestly I didn’t feel the best (in my) legs, it was just about the mind.”
De Marchi crossed the line, with his arms outstretched, 28 seconds ahead of Restrepo. Franco Pellizotti (Bahrain-Merida) was 59 seconds back in third, at the end of the longest stage of the race at 207.8 kilometres.
Vuelta will continue on Thursday with the 12th stage between Mondonedo and Manon.
Vuelta a Espana 2018 – stage 11 results (Mombuey – Ribeira Sacra. Luintra):
| 1 | Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) | 4:52:38 |
| 2 | Jhonatan Restrepo (Katusha-Alpecin) | +28” |
| 3 | Franco Pellizotti (Bahrain-Merida) | +59” |
| 4 | Nans Peters (AG2R La Mondiale) | +01’24” |
| 5 | Dylan Teuns (BMC) | +01’45” |
| 6 | Tiesj Benoot (Lotto Soudal) | +01’46” |
| 7 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 8 | Nicolas Roche (BMC) | +01’48” |
| 9 | Sergio Henao (Team Sky) | +01’50” |
| 10 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | ,, |
| 11 | Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias) | +01’52” |
| 12 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +02’02” |
| 13 | Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
| 14 | Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
| 15 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | ,, |
| 16 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | ,, |
| 17 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | ,, |
| 18 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) | ,, |
| 19 | Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data) | ,, |
| 20 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | ,, |
General classification after stage 11:
| 1 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 45:57:40 |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +01” |
| 3 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +14” |
| 4 | Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) | +17” |
| 5 | Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale) | +24” |
| 6 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | ,, |
| 7 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +27” |
| 8 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) | +32” |
| 9 | Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +43” |
| 10 | George Bennett (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +47” |
| 11 | Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’15” |
| 12 | David De La Cruz (Team Sky) | +01’33” |
| 13 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +01’49” |
| 14 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +01’50” |
| 15 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | +02’10” |
| 16 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +02’20” |
| 17 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | +03’24” |
| 18 | Benjamin King (Dimension Data) | +03’42” |
| 19 | Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) | +04’29” |
| 20 | Louis Meintjes (Dimension Data) | +05’27” |
