Team LottoNL-Jumbo’s rider delivers after a 170 km escape, with teammate Bennett fourth.
The second assault of Robert Gesink to a Vuelta a Espana stage turned into a success on Saturday, September 3rd. The LottoNL-Jumbo’s climber claimed the Spanish race’s hardest and most anticipated stage, the fourteenth, 196 km from Urdatx-Dantxarinea to Col d’Aubisque, dropping all of the former escape companions on the iconic uphill finish.
Riding Oltre XR4, Gesink held off Kenny Elissonde and Egor Silin for his first win in almost three years, with his teammate George Bennett coming in fourth (+0:31”) on the day.
Together with two more Team LottoNL-Jumbo riders, George Bennett and Victor Campenaerts, Gesink was part of a 41-man breakway started after 20 kilometers. Bennett got in a selected six-man group to the top of the Col de Marie-Blanque’s ascent, but it was on the 16,5 km long Aubisque climb that Gesink eventually made his winning move. The 30-year-old from Varsseveld attacked with 10 kilometers to go, bridging back to the leaders and getting clear again, only followed by the likes of Jan Bakelants. At the end, Gesink still found the energy to distance Kenny Elissonde and Egor Silin in the final metres of the stage. Also Bennett’s performance was solid until the finish line: the New Zealand’s rider is now 12th in the GC.
Treviglio (Italy), 2016, September 3rd
