Professional cyclist Lennard Kämna celebrated his first stage win at the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday (September 3rd, 2023) and thus completed the mountain hat-trick in the three major state tours.
The 26-year-old from the Bora-hansgrohe team triumphed at the summit of the ninth stage on the Alto Caravaca da la Cruz near Murcia, crowning a 130-kilometer escape in a breakaway group.
Decisive attack just before the end
On the muddy and up to 15 percent steep mountain road, the climber from Wedel launched the decisive attack five kilometers before the finish and finally won clearly ahead of Italian Matteo Sobrero.
The Vuelta victory was still missing for Kämna in his collection. At the 2020 Tour de France, Kämna triumphed in Villard-de-Lans, and in 2022 he won the Giro stage on Mount Etna.
Kiss on in the red jersey
Because of the poor road conditions on the final climb, sodden by the rain that, unusually in this area, had fallen shortly before the stage, the official time intervals had already been set 2.6 kilometers before the finish. At this point, the favorites for overall victory were well behind the Kämna group. The American Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) claimed the red jersey.
Kämna was part of a breakaway group of eight that had formed around 50 kilometers after the start in Cartagena. The ninth overall in the Giro d’Italia had already lost too much time in the fight for a top position in the final standings on the first days of the race and was not looking for luck in flight for the first time. On the third stage, a group around Kämna was caught shortly before the finish.