Five seconds, not a second more
Felix Gall won the Vuelta a Burgos by the narrowest of margins. Five seconds ahead of Oscar Onley overall. Ten in front of Giulio Ciccone. In other words: barely anything.
It all came down on Saturday, on the final climb to the Lagunas de Neila. The Austrian reached it with a six-second lead over Ciccone, seven over Onley. A threadbare cushion.
He attacked. Again. Two kilometres from the summit, he split the favourites. Only Ciccone and Onley could live with it. For a moment, it looked like he was about to ride away with the whole thing.
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Pellizzari turns it on its head
Then the script flipped. Torres, Pellizzari, Mas and Rondel came back. The group came together again with 1.7 kilometres to go. The race was suddenly wide open.
Giulio Pellizzari seized the moment. With 1.2 kilometres left, the Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe rider launched his move. Nobody answered. He crossed the line alone, five seconds clear of Onley.
Gall came home third on the stage, seven seconds down. That was enough. Onley took back only two seconds. Too little, too late.
The stage winner was not the overall leader
Pellizzari had started the day sixth, 43 seconds down. He leaves with the queen stage win. Not bad at all for a rider who can climb.
Gall leaves with something bigger. The general classification. The real prize.
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