Bennett wins again in Vuelta thanks to Van Poppel, red for Affini | Cycling

With Mike Teunissen in red and Julius van den Berg in the bulbs, the official starting shot was given in Breda at just before 1 p.m. for the last Vuelta stage of 2022 on Dutch soil. Just like the day before, Van den Berg decided to opt for the attack. He got six riders with him, including the Belgians Thomas De Gendt and Jan Bakelants.

For a long time it was a sluggish stage on the Dutch roads with the only notable race fact being the retirement of Michael Woods. The Canadian fell on his face early in the race and suffered a concussion.

Van den Berg against De Gendt

Sixty kilometers from the finish, there was a full sprint again for a mountain point. This time, Van den Berg was mainly bothered by De Gendt and Pau Miquel, who also participated on Saturday. Van den Berg had to acknowledge his superior in De Gendt, but because he came through as number two, he can also leave the mountain classification leader in Spain on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the seven never really considered a successful flight. The Alpecin (Merlier) and Trek (Pedersen) teams controlled the game. In the end they grabbed the leaders with just under fifteen kilometers from the finish, just after the intermediate sprint, also won by De Gendt.

In the run-up to the sprint in Breda, Teunissen said goodbye to his red jersey. Just like Robert Gesink, he let go, so that a teammate could take over the leader’s jersey. In the sprint Danny van Poppel again came into his own as lead-out. His Irish teammate Sam Bennett therefore sprinted to his second stage win in a row.

Affini was the first to cross the line from the Jumbo riders and thus became the new red jersey wearer. The Italian was one of the main forces during the team time trial on Friday and can enjoy his day in red on Tuesday during the first stage in Spain.