Florian Senechal takes Stage 13 of 2021 La Vuelta a Espana

Florian Senechal has won Stage 13 of the 2021 La Vuelta a Espana in a hotly contested sprint stage on August 27.

Florian Senechal, rider for Team Deceuninck-Quickstep, won Stage 13 at the 2021 La Vuelta a Espana on August 27.

Stage 13 was a 203.7-kilometer-long sprint stage from Belmez to Villanueva de la Serena in scorching temperatures.

Florian Senechal changes roles in team crisis to take stage win

Senechal started the stage as lead out rider for fellow teammate Fabio Jakobsen who has already won two stages this year.

Several gaps opened up in the peloton throughout the race but it was in the final few kilometres that the main split occurred with fifteen riders making it into a breakaway group that the peloton failed to catch.

Among these were Team Ineos Grenadiers’ Egan Bernal, winner of this year’s Giro d’Italia, who managed to gain some time in the overall standings and better his position by keeping pace with the breakaway group.

While the plan was for Senechal to lead out Jakobsen, Jakobsen found himself falling behind with a sudden flat tire.

The team immediately switched strategies as Senechal then raced for the stage win.

He managed to beat out both Matteo Trentin and Alberto Dainese at the finish line to take the stage victory.

2021 La Vuelta a Espana’s overall general classification standings after Stage 13

Norway’s Odd Christian Eiking managed not to lose any time on the stage and retain his overall lead, only the second Norwegian rider to do so.

The rest of the overall general classification standings remained the same.

Despite his flat tire incident, Jakobsen had earlier managed to take the maximum sprint points available on the stage and retained his green jersey sprint points classification lead.

The next two stages are massive Category 1 classified mountain climbs.