Watch: Vuelta a España stage 19 highlights

Stage 19 of the Vuelta a España was one more for the sprinters before the final rendezvous in the hills before the finale in Madrid. With the Vuelta’s available prizes dwindling, however, the intensity in the bunch was high as the likes of Kaden Groves (Alpecin-Deceuninck), Sebastián Molano (UAE Team Emirates), Iván García Cortina (Movistar)and Alberto Dainese (dsm-firmenich) sought to claim the stage.

With a stage profile that resembled a billiards table and the forecast calling for low winds, the majority of the day was a mellow one. A breakaway was up the road, with Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa Samsic), Michal Schlegel (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Paul Lapeira (AG2R Citroën) and Clément Davy (Groupama-FDJ) making up the numbers, but with sprint teams eager to control the day their move was one for pride and not glory.

The escapees would be brought back with around 20 kilometres to go at the day’s sprint point.

While the run to the line was straightforward, it was still marred by a big pileup in the closing stages of the day, with a dramatic crash right at the head of the peloton with 1.2km to go. The first fallers were a pair of lead-out riders from Alpecin-Deceuninck and dsm-firmenich riders. Kaden Groves was one of the riders who also hit the deck, while Alberto Dainese was able to avoid the fall.

Yet in cycling, the sprint waits for no man and in the final few hundred metres Filippo Ganna (Ineos Grenadiers) opened up to the line first with a powerful sprint. For a few seconds, it looked as if the time trialist would get the sprint win, but at the last moment, Dainese emerged on the other side of the road and stole the march on everyone, taking the win despite almost losing the chance to sprint a kilometre early.

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