Australia’s Jai Hindley is still in contention to finish on the podium at the Vuelta a España ahead of its conclusion this weekend.
Hindley is fourth overall following stage 19, which was won by Belgium’s Jasper Philipsen.
Dane Jonas Vingegaard is the overall leader, 44 seconds ahead of Portugal’s João Almeida.
Tom Pidcock (Q36.5 Pro Cycling) retained third place overall and will start the penultimate stage 2 minutes and 43 seconds behind Vingegaard.
Hindley is 49 seconds adrift of Pidcock.
The Red Bull-Bora Hansgrohe rider can still finish in the top three, while fellow Australian Jay Vine is the frontrunner to claim the King of the Mountains jersey as he holds a 20-point advantage over Vingegaard.
Hindley and Vine placed 35th and 150th, respectively, in stage 19.
Philipsen made it three wins at this year’s race as he sprinted clear at the end of stage 19, with Vingegaard adding 4 seconds to his advantage over Almeida.
After 160 kilometres of relatively flat riding, Philipsen (Alpecin-Deceuninck) burst to the front near the finish and never looked like being caught.
Denmark’s Mads Pedersen (Lidl-Trek) was the first to make his move but could not resist Philipsen as he crossed the line in second place with Venezuela’s Orluis Aular (Movistar) third.
“It was a really tough finish, and after 11 days not going this deep, it hurts,” Philipsen told TNT Sport.
“The final 250 metres was more flat, but before that the team did amazing.
“I was struggling in the middle, but I pushed through, and when I saw the finish line, it was really nice. We will try to repeat on Sunday. It’s been a tough three weeks.”
Vingegaard (Team Visma-Lease a Bike) finished safely in the bunch after picking up an unexpected 4 bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint in Salamanca, 60km from the finish, as main rival Almeida was caught napping.
Saturday’s penultimate stage is a brutal mountainous route featuring more than 4,000m of climbing, offering the last realistic chance for Almeida to catch Vingegaard.
Reuters