And three for Annemiek Van Vleuten. The Dutchwoman, who succeeds in all grand tours, won her 3rd consecutive Vuelta on Sunday, after a stage crushed by her compatriot, Demi Vollering. It fell just nine seconds behind Van Vleuten in the overall standings.

At 40 years old, the champion of the Movistar team, who won the three Grand Tours (France, Italy, Spain) and the World Championships last year, completes an exceptional list of achievements before retiring at the end of the season.

Not a single stage win

But how hard it was! While she had a 1 min 11 sec lead in the general classification on Sunday morning on Vollering, she almost lost everything during the final ascent of 12.5 km at 6.9% average to the prestigious natural theater of the Lakes of Covadonga.

But she hung on to limit the damage after being dropped five kilometers from the goal by Vollering (SD Worx), who flew to win her second stage of this Vuelta. At the top, in a thick fog, Van Vleuten kept a small nest egg nine seconds ahead of Vollering. "I'm very happy and very, very tired," she said.

This is the first victory in 2023 for Van Vleuten, who has been a notch below his usual standards since the beginning of the season and who wins the Vuelta without having won a single stage.

The Edge of Discord

She turned the table upside down on Saturday during the penultimate stage which was surrounded by controversy. With tears in her eyes at the finish, Demi Vollering, who was still wearing the leader's red jersey on the morning of the stage, accused Van Vleuten and her team of speeding up as she took a toilet break.

Van Vleuten disputed any rogue move, saying the team had planned to attack at this precise location, 70km from the finish, to attempt a curb.

The tiny gap on Sunday night will inevitably stir up the regrets of Vollering who was aiming, at 26 years old, for his first victory in a Grand Tour. "Without that, I would have won this Vuelta," she ruminated on Sunday, "but I'm happy to have shown what I'm capable of today." We are not worried about the future concerning Vollering, hegemonic since the beginning of the season, with, among other things, a mythical hat-trick on the Ardennes classics.

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