Pedersen greens the Vuelta a España

Mads Pedersen crosses the finish line first during stage 13 of the Vuelta a España on Friday. Tim De Waele (Getty Images)

What a party there was in the last meters of the stage with people crowding the balconies, a tremendous explosion of joy, sensational and figurative the brotherhood of Montilla (Córdoba), because of the blows that everyone hit the banners that protected the road.

Shouts of encouragement, of joy for being protagonists of the Vuelta, of true happiness;

hair standing on end due to the enjoyment of the fans, also due to the hypersonic speed of Mads Pedersen, finally consecrated in the Spanish round by being crowned for the first time in a stage, an award that he smelled but did not taste in the other three days of this edition by staying second.

But, yes, this time, Pedersen did well that of the one who follows her, she gets it, a sprint that itched a bit uphill, plenty of strength and legs because nobody overshadowed her,

to the point that he allowed himself the luxury of letting go of the handlebars to raise his arms as he crossed the finish line and, incidentally, congratulate everyone on the earpiece.

“I didn't care much about second places... So, finally, I'm happy that I got it.

We have done a great team job”, resolved the Dane upon reaching the finish line.

Such a happy and vibrant ending for the Trek-Segrafedo after a day of little chicha.

The truce was signed in the Vuelta before the curves arrive or, rather, two steep stages during the weekend.

From Ronda (Málaga) to Montilla, a flat day with a hair-raising finish, the white flag was raised so that, finally, the sprinters decided who was the fastest of all, absent Sam Bennett - he won both in the Netherlands first massive finals but withdrew due to covid-although with several contenders for the award.

"I hope it will be a normal sprint stage with a controlled race," said the leader Remco Evenepoel before getting on the bike and confirming that the bump he hit the previous day was nothing more than a scare.

Wish granted for the Belgian in a landscape dotted with olive trees and vineyards, green mixed with earthy brown, pure Andalusia.

Of course, Burgos and Euskaltel - not Kern Pharma, depleted by the covid since it only has five runners out of the eight that started - honored the invitation to the race and encouraged it again, a getaway as soon as the curtain opened .

Thus, Bou (Euskaltel), Okamika (Burgos-BH) and Van den Berg (EF), three agitators by definition, jumped before completing the first kilometer, a break that was doomed to failure because the teams with sprinters wanted to open the champagne at the hotel as is customary to celebrate a stage laurel.

The Mads Pedersen Award was called for;

Groves (BikeExchange) was running again, having already won in the previous sprint;

and Tim Merlier (Alpecin) poked his head out, who to date has not said a peep, theoretical strong man for the

green that has not found the point of speed at the right time, poorly placed at times, lacking legs at others.

Those three teams were at the head of the peloton, good relays and understanding so that there were no more surprises in the form of breakaways because it has been a constant in this Vuelta, especially because the average level has risen a lot and because of the breakaways they could have fought for something more than stages, in the case of Soler, Vine and, above all, Carapaz, finally present in the round after showing everyone the registration the previous day, in the ascent to Peñas Blancas (Estepona).

So at 50 kilometers from the finish line, the distance was three minutes, not much by the time the peloton put on the turbo.

At 25 it was reduced to one minute;

and nine kilometers, the multi-colored

absorbed the leak to start the race that mattered on the day, the one that would be resolved in the final 500 meters.

Jumbo wanted to throw Roglic because the finish was uphill, but he soon gave up the attempt because the pure sprinters were asking for a pass.

Like Wright (Bahrain), like Van Poppel (Bora) and like Ackermann (UAE) who tried solitaire at about 300 meters, too soon for the strength he had left, in the end third behind Coquard (Cofidis) and, of course, Pedersen, even greener in this Vuelta -he adds 247 points to Soler's 96, second-, already with his stage in the bag.

“Maintaining this jersey until Madrid is the great objective”, he accepted.

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