The National Times - Berrade soloes to Vuelta stage 18 win, O'Connor holds lead

Berrade soloes to Vuelta stage 18 win, O'Connor holds lead


Berrade soloes to Vuelta stage 18 win, O'Connor holds lead
Berrade soloes to Vuelta stage 18 win, O'Connor holds lead / Photo: © AFP

Spaniard Urko Berrade soloed to victory in Thursday's 18th stage of the Vuelta a Espana in the Basque Country as Australia's Ben O'Connor held the overall race lead.

Change text size:

Berrade, 26, gave his Kern Pharma team their third stage win of this year's race, powering over the line in his home region four seconds ahead of Swiss Mauro Schmid. Another Kern Pharma rider Pau Miquel crossed the line in third.

O'Connor, riding for the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale team, held his five-second advantage on Slovenian three-time champion Primoz Roglic after the medium mountain stage over 179.5km from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maeztu.

Friday's 19th stage arrives at the summit of Alto De Moncalvillo in La Rioja region, with another decisive mountain top finish on Saturday before the final time trial in Madrid on Sunday.

C.Stevenson--TNT