South Africa’s Louis Meintjes powered to victory in stage nine of the Vuelta a Espana with a lung-busting solo effort on Sunday as Belgian Remco Evenepoel extended his lead at the top of the general classification.
It was Meintjes’ maiden stage win at the Vuelta as he emerged the strongest among the nine-man breakaway group, finishing more than a minute ahead of Italian duo Samuele Battistella and Edoardo Zambanini.
Evenepoel put in another strong showing, pulling away from his general classification rivals in the closing stages to cross the line fourth and open up a minute 12-second lead over local favourite Enric Mas.
Three-times defending champion Primoz Roglic struggled on the 171.4km course from Villaviciosa to Les Praeres, fading towards the end and falling almost two minutes behind Evenepoel of Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl in the overall standings.
Ireland’s Sam Bennett, with two stage wins already in the 2022 Vuelta, continues to trail Denmark’s Mads Pederson by five points in the points classification.
Monday is a rest day before the riders embark on a 30.9km individual time trial from Elche to Alicante on Tuesday.
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