Vuelta a España 2022

Stage 9 – Villaviciosa > Les Praeres. Nava (171.4km)

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Stage 8 Result

1st Jay Vine (6/1F)

2nd Marc Soler (50/1)

3rd Rein Taaramäe (50/1)

Stage 8 Bets

1pt each way (3 places) Alexey Lutsenko @20/1

1pt win Santiago Buitrago @ 12/1

1pt win Mark Padun @11/1

0.25pts each way (3 places) Bob Jungels @150/1

1pt win Primož Roglič @9/1

Vine on fire at the moment. Lutsenko made the break and was the first to attack but was quickly reeled in and his challenge fizzled out. Padun was in an earlier break but didn’t make the decisive one. As far as I could see, neither Buitrago or Jungels threatened to get clear.

Stage 9 Preview

The second of our mountain stages in Asturias before a near thousand kilometre transfer down to the Costa Blanca in Spain’s southeast. It’s similar but different to stage 8 in that we have an uphill start, though not as tough as the one out of Pola de Laviana, a number of categorised climbs and then a first-category summit finish.

And it’s that finish where the biggest difference lies – it’s not so much a climb as a wall. Just 3.9km but with an average gradient of 12.9% and sections north of 20%. Any break will need a decent advantage at the bottom to stay away, especially if it kicks off early behind.

Stage 9 Contenders

This final was used back in 2018 where Simon Yates won ahead of Miguel Ángel López. Yates won the Vuelta that year with López filling the podium in third. It’s questionable whether either is in the form to repeat that but certainly Yates has shaped the better and fought back well to lose only 13secs to the leaders on stage 8.

Stage 8 was a big test for Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl – who many believe have a weak team to protect a GC lead – but they did pretty well considering how dangerous the opening kilometres were. Never lacking in confidence, Remco Evenepoel expressed his liking for this finish and desire to win the stage. Amongst the GC contenders he’s looking pretty peerless and is the strong favourite at a best price of 4/1.

Despite holding the leader’s red jersey, Evenepoel hasn’t got a stage win and will be extra motivated to put that right here. He’s looking good and by all measures must fancy his chances to come home ahead of the pack here.

A steep finish should be to the liking of Enric Mas. Could he banish his reputation as a follower and silence the haters? It would be good to see but history suggests not which puts you off the price of around 10/1.

There were better signs for Primož Roglič who stuck on the wheels of Evenepoel and Mas up to the line. He has to hope that he can stay within shooting distance of the pair and that his form is going up whilst theirs goes down. We saw on stage 4 how good the Slovenian is on steep slopes – he could be a big player here and is second favourite at around 9/2.

For the breakaway – and it’s probably 50/50 whether this is a breakaway or GC stage – is a third stage win for Jay Vine possible? There’s no doubt that he’s climbing better than anyone and would fair pretty well amongst the favourites on this form. And he will want to get in the break as he now has a mountains jersey to defend. It’s possible, but would it not seem a bit greedy?

Mark Padun made an early split on stage 8 but didn’t ultimately make the break that stayed away. That was a shame as it would’ve been good to see how he shaped up against the rest in a super strong break. If he can unlock the stellar form from last year’s Dauphiné then he’s a match for anyone, perhaps even Vine. His descending wasn’t the greatest on stage 6, so let’s hope it’s dry.

Looking for some value, UAE Team Emirates’ Brandon McNulty was also in that early break with Padun so clearly he has some licence and can also work as a satellite rider to his co-leaders Juan Ayuso and João Almeida should the break get caught. The American is good on a steep finish and whilst it looks like his form isn’t what it was in the Tour de France, could still find himself the strongest in the break.

Thibaut Pinot found a few too good for him on stage 8 but it looks like his legs are good. There was some great work from Sébastien Reichenbach and Bruno Armirail to put Pinot in position so there’s clearly belief in the FDJ camp. McNulty and Pinot are both around the 50/1 mark which is decent for a breakaway play.

Stage 9 Bets

3pts win Remco Evenepoel @4/1

1pt each way (3 places) Mark Padun @16/1

0.5pts each way (3 places) Brandon McNulty @40/1

0.5pts each way (3 places) Thibaut Pinot @55/1

Posted 2220 BST Sat 27th Aug 2022

Prices correct at the time of writing but are subject to change - find the best prices available on the Vuelta a España at Oddschecker