Uran takes Vuelta stage 17 in close finish, Evenepoel retains lead

Rigoberto Uran held off Quentin Pacher and Jesus Herrada in a thrilling sprint finish to win stage 17 of the Vuelta e Espana on Wednesday as overall leader Remco Evenepoel maintained his advantage and edged closer to a maiden Grand Tour title.

Herrada of Cofidis looked set to take the win with under a kilometre to go before EF Education-EasyPost's Uran chased him down with 200m left to claim his first Grand Tour stage victory since 2017.

The Colombian has now won a stage in each of cycling's three Grand Tours, the Tour de France, Giro d'Italia and Vuelta e Espana.

Back in the peloton, Evenepoel never looked like relinquishing his red jersey despite a late surge from Enric Mas as the Belgian cashed in on the absence of main rival Primoz Roglic who had been in second place.

Roglic, bidding for a fourth straight Vuelta crown, withdrew from the race following a heavy crash on the home stretch of Tuesday's stage 16.

The riders tackle the mountains again on Thursday in a 192km journey from Trujillo to Alto de Piornal.

VUELTA A ESPANA SUMMARIES - STAGE 17

1. Rigoberto Urán (COL) EF Education - EasyPost 3:42:28
2. Quentin Pacher (FRA) Groupama - FDJ "
3. Jesús Herrada (ESP) Cofidis +2
4. Marc Soler (ESP) UAE Team Emirates +15
5. Kenny Elissonde (FRA) Trek - Segafredo +26
6. Clément Champoussin (FRA) AG2R - Citroën Team +29
7. Alessandro De Marchi (ITA) Israel - Premier Tech +46
8. Bob Jungels (LUX) AG2R - Citroën Team +55
9. Élie Gesbert (FRA) Team Arkéa - Samsic +1:09
10. Lawson Craddock (USA) Team BikeExchange - Jayco +1:30
11. Gino Mäder (SUI) Bahrain Victorious +2:06
12. Simon Guglielmi (FRA) Team Arkéa - Samsic +2:43
13. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +5:02
14. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Quick-Step - Alpha Vinyl +5:11

TEAM

15. Enric Mas (ESP) Movistar Team "
16. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates +5:13
17. Jai Hindley (AUS) BORA - hansgrohe +5:15
18. Thibaut Pinot (FRA) Groupama - FDJ "
19. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers "
20. Miguel Ángel López (COL) Astana - Qazaqstan Team +5:20

OVERALL LEADERS

1. Remco Evenepoel (BEL) Quick-Step - Alpha Vinyl 65:14:05
2. Enric Mas (ESP) Movistar Team +2:01
3. Juan Ayuso (ESP) UAE Team Emirates +4:51
4. Carlos Rodríguez (ESP) INEOS Grenadiers +5:20
5. Miguel Ángel López (COL) Astana - Qazaqstan Team +5:33
6. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates +6:51
7. Thymen Arensman (NED) Team DSM +7:46
8. Ben O'Connor (AUS) AG2R - Citroën Team +9:11
9. Rigoberto Urán (COL) EF Education - EasyPost +9:33
10. Jai Hindley (AUS) BORA - hansgrohe +11:40
11. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché - Wanty - +12:30 Gobert Matériaux
12. Jan Polanc (SLO) UAE Team Emirates +16:20
13. Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar Team +18:53
14. David De La Cruz (ESP) Astana - Qazaqstan Team +19:07
15. Wilco Kelderman (NED) BORA - hansgrohe +19:48
16. Richard Carapaz (ECU) INEOS Grenadiers +26:20
17. Tao Geoghegan Hart (GBR) INEOS Grenadiers +33:50
18. Luis León Sánchez (ESP) Bahrain Victorious +38:40
19. Óscar Cabedo (ESP) Burgos - BH +40:21
20. Mikel Landa (ESP) Bahrain Victorious +40:27