Triple success for Trentin as Froome maintains Vuelta lead
An uneventful stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana was won by Matteo Trentin, as Chris Froome maintained his overall lead.
Matteo Trentin claimed his third stage win of this year's Vuelta a Espana at the end of a comparatively drama-free Friday as Chris Froome retained his healthy lead over Vincenzo Nibali.
Thursday's 12th stage had seen Team Sky's Froome - bidding to become just the third rider to complete the Tour de France-Vuelta double in the same year - fall and lose 20 seconds.
In addition, Aqua Blue Sport discovered their team bus had been set on fire while Katusha's Maxim Belkov had also been pushed from his bike by a spectator, whom it was later confirmed suffers from mental health issues.
However, stage 13's flat 198.4-kilometre route from Coin to Tomares produced a significantly less eventful four and a half hours of action.
A breakaway quartet were eventually caught by the peloton with around 4km remaining and in the sprint to the finish, Quick-Step Floors' Trentin outpaced his rivals to comfortably cross the line ahead of the rest, arms wide in the sport's trademark triumphant pose.
Trentin had previously prevailed on stages four and 10, while he adds to his two career stage victories in the Tour de France, as well as one from last year's Giro d'Italia.
"The guys were incredible, it was amazing. Everybody did his job and gave everything they had, 100 per cent. When the team is like this you have to finish off the work they do," Trentin said.
"It's amazing, because I came in this race with confidence but I never expected something like this. Even for the team the Vuelta is not finished, we are betting for more."
GOOD DAY/BAD DAY
Aside from Trentin's delight at his victory, it was a reassuring day for Froome in the red jersey, who remained ensconced safely in the peloton with neither Nibali nor third-place Esteban Chaves (+02:13) able to gain any ground.
It was also a positive day for Belkov, who encountered no repeat of the scary fan incident that overshadowed stage 12.
There was bad news for Omar Fraile, however. The Dimension Data rider had been struggling with sickness throughout much of the Vuelta and opted to abandon the race with around 50km remaining of Friday's stage.
STAGE RESULT
1. Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors) 4:25:13
2. Gianni Moscon (Team Sky)
3. Soren Kragh Andersen (Team Sunweb)
4. Michael Schwarzmann (Bora-Hansgrohe)
5. Tom Van Asbroeck (Cannondale-Drapac)
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Chris Froome (Team Sky) 53:48:06
2. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) +00:59
3. Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) +02:13
POINTS CLASSIFICATION
1. Matteo Trentin (Quick-Step Floors) 103 pts
2. Chris Froome (Team Sky) 84 pts
3. Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) 63 pts
KING OF THE MOUNTAINS
1. Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) 41 pts
2. Jose Joaquin Rojas (Movistar) 27 pts
3. Chris Froome (Team Sky) 21 pts
UP NEXT…
It is back in the hills for the riders on Saturday with the 175km route from Ecija to Sierra de la Pandera - the first of two back-to-back mountain stages before a rest day.