Vuelta a Espana: Jay Vine wins stage, red jersey changes hands again

Jay Vine secured a first professional victory on stage six of the Vuelta a Espana in weather conditions so bad TV cameras could not even pick up footage of him crossing the line.

The Australian, a late convert from indoor cycling, finished a comfortable 15 seconds ahead of Remco Evenepoel, though the Belgian still took the red jersey, which hands for the third day in a row.

Enric Mas remained in the hunt with a third-place finish, sitting 28 seconds behind Evenepoel in the General Classification, while Primoz Roglic could not keep pace and finished over a minute behind his rivals.

Juan Ayuso came fourth, 55 seconds off the lead, while Rudy Molard – second in the standings and 21 seconds behind Evenepoel – finished 35th on the day.

Evenepoel's charge to the top of the standings sees the Belgian become the youngest leader of the Vuelta since Ettore Pastorelli 34 years ago, taking the red jersey following an unprecedented summit finish at Pico Jano.

Three more days of action over the weekend before the next rest period in Alicante on Monday leaves plenty left to be decided, and there have been several surprises over the course of the week.

Etapa 6 | Stage 6

@jayvine3 #LaVuelta22 pic.twitter.com/fZ1CsjWnya
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) August 25, 2022

Vine's jubilation

Vine was understandably over the moon with his performance and found himself looking back on fulfilling a dream after a tricky start.

"It's almost unreal. At 70k to go, I missed the break; got a flat tyre in the first 5k. Even though it was still the team's plan if it all came back together for me to go on the final climb, it's unreal to be able to do it," he told Eurosport.

"From the GC group, it's incredible. I've been working towards this all year, after last year, coming so close. It's a dream come true."

STAGE RESULT

1. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) 04:38:00

2. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) +00:00:15

3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +00:00:16

4. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +00:00:55

5. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +00:01:37

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 20:50:07

2. Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) +00:00:21

3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +00:00:28