Rising star Tom Crabbe surprises favourites at Vuelta a Andalucía

The 166 kilometre stage to Pozoblanco from Montoro was largely designed for the sprinters. An early eight kilometre climb at four percent caused little damage, and a two man breakaway featuring Luca Cretti (MBH Bank Ballan Telecom Fort) and Geoffrey Bouchard (Team TotalEnergies) was reeled in with less than 30 kilometres remaining.

Bonus seconds were on offer at the Golden Kilometre, where Romain Grégoire (Groupama United-FDJ) picked up five seconds and Tom Pidcock (Pinarello-Q36.5) took two, adding a brief spark to the general classification battle before the run in to Pozoblanco.

The decisive action came inside the final ten kilometres. Wellens attacked, with Laporte and Budzinski immediately joining him. The trio opened a small gap and briefly put pressure on the peloton, especially with Laporte and Wellens both within a minute on GC leader Iván Romeo (Movistar) at the start of the day.

The move was neutralised with two kilometres to go, allowing Visma | Lease a Bike to set up the sprint. Axel Zingle (Visma | Lease a Bike) launched first, Waerenskjold followed, but it was the 20-year-old Crabbe who timed his effort best, surging past in the final metres to seal the win and confirm his strong early season form.

All eyes now turn to Sunday’s finale at the Vuelta a Andalucia, a 167.6km hilly stage from La Roda de Andalucía to Lucena. With the Alto Primera Cruz climbed twice in the closing kilometres (2.8km at 5.9%), punchers and climbers have one last chance to reshape the overall standings.