Enric Mas wins the Vuelta a Granada, Marc Marquez catches Martin at the top of the world championship
The Movistar rider from Spain finished ahead of Roglic and Gall in the 81st edition of the Spanish race, which started from Monaco. At Misano, Marc Marquez completed a Sprint-race double and moves up to 274 points, level with Jorge Martin.
Two races concluded on the same Sunday, two outcomes that reshape a general classification and a championship.
Enric Mas’s Vuelta
Enric Mas (Movistar) won the 81st Vuelta a España, which concluded on 13 September in Granada. On the final podium, Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora) finished second and Austrian Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) third.
The race had started on 22 August from Monaco with an individual time trial and crossed Monaco, France, Andorra and Spain over 3,310.6 kilometres. The twenty-first and final stage, 112 kilometres with start and finish in Granada, was decided in a sprint finish by Norwegian Tobias Halland Johannessen (Uno-X), ahead of Italian Alessandro Romele and Belgian Ramses Debruyne: it is Johannessen’s first victory in a grand tour.
The fact that explains much of the race is a withdrawal: Tadej Pogacar, winner of the opening time trial, left the Vuelta after a crash in stage eight. Other classifications: Wout van Aert won the points classification and was awarded most combative rider, Oscar Onley won the young riders’ classification.
This year’s route is in its own way newsworthy: a Spanish national race starting from the Principality of Monaco and touching four territories before returning, with the opening time trial as the first verdict and Granada as the finish. The structure rewarded consistency: Mas did not win the final stage, he won the general classification.
Misano, Marquez sweeps the weekend
In motorcycle racing, Marc Marquez (Ducati) won the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini Grand Prix on 13 September at the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli, having also taken Saturday’s Sprint.
The podium: Alex Marquez (Ducati Gresini) second and Pedro Acosta (KTM) third. Fermin Aldeguer finished fourth, Jorge Martin on the Aprilia fifth. The race eliminated two expected protagonists early on: Marco Bezzecchi, who started from pole position, crashed out on the first lap; Francesco Bagnaia went down on the sixth lap.
The effect on the standings is clear-cut. With the win, Marc Marquez draws level with Jorge Martin at the top of the championship on exactly 274 points; Bezzecchi remains third with 241. Ducati has retaken the lead in the constructors’ standings. The weekend recorded 184,000 attendees at the circuit.
Two riders tied at the top of the world championship with an identical points tally: from here on, every finishing position is a tiebreaker.
What changes now
In cycling, the Vuelta closes out the grand tour season with a Spanish winner in Spain and an international podium — Slovenia and Austria behind him. In motorcycle racing, the tie at the top changes the nature of the upcoming races: until yesterday Martin was defending a margin, from today he no longer has one.
The available material does not indicate how many races remain to be run nor the schedule of the championship’s upcoming rounds, and we do not infer it. What is confirmed is the score: 274 to 274, with Bezzecchi on 241.
Sources: Infobae (EFE agency); Ciclismo a Día (official finishing order); Cyclingnews; ANSA; MotoGP.com; Affaritaliani; Ravenna Notizie.
← Archive · Front page · Past editorials · Report an error · Original article (in Italian)