Remco Evenepoel signed his third victory in the 2023 Tour of Spain by winning the 18th stage on Thursday in Puerto de La Cruz de Linares, after another solo raid at Merckx.
Present in today’s breakaway, the Belgian from the Soudal-Quick Step, dropped out of the general classification since his failure during the 13th stage, lost his last escape companions 29 kilometers from the finish, in the first of the two climbs of the Cruz de Linares, an 8.3 km pass at 8.6% climbed for the first time in the Vuelta.
The time trial world champion, who loves these extraordinary rides, never looked back to rush towards his 50th professional victory, at only 23 years old.
The peloton with the main favorites and the red jersey Sepp Kuss was around 11 minutes at the foot of the final ascent during this last arrival at the summit.
By spending the day at the front and crossing all the passes in the lead, Evenepoel has also mathematically assured himself the jersey of best climber on condition of reaching the final finish in Madrid on Sunday.