Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen launched his sprint resurgence by winning the 186-kilometre opening stage of the 80th Vuelta a España from Turin to Novara, edging Britain’s Ethan Vernon and Venezuela’s Orluis Aular. The victory hands the 27-year-old Alpecin-Deceuninck rider the first red leader’s jersey, barely six weeks after a crash forced him out of the Tour de France. The anniversary edition of the Spanish Grand Tour spans 3,151 kilometres across 21 stages and, for the first time, began on Italian roads. Sunday’s second stage moves from Alba to the summit finish at Limone Piemonte, a 159.6-kilometre route capped by a 9.8-kilometre ascent averaging 5.1 percent that is expected to test the overall favourites, including Jonas Vingegaard, Juan Ayuso and João Almeida. Festivities were tempered by tragedy after 17-year-old Spaniard Ivan Melendez Luque died following a mass crash during the Vuelta Junior on Saturday. Eighteen riders were hospitalised and the youth event was cancelled. A minute of silence was observed at the start of the professional peloton’s second stage, and cycling’s world governing body, the UCI, offered condolences to the rider’s family and the sport’s community.
Vainqueur de la 5e étape du Renewi Tour, le Belge Arnaud De Lie a également devancé de peu Mathieu Van der Poel pour s'imposer au classement général ce dimanche. ➡️ https://t.co/ZFPk2IlbSu https://t.co/HMKfPxWlqV
La Vuleta junior en Espagne annulée après la mort du jeune coureur Ivan Melendez Luque https://t.co/zkxCefCY3x
Cyclisme : Ivan Melendez Luque, un coureur de la Vuelta junior, décède après une chute https://t.co/3RVlByZVtV