Vuelta a Espana: Mikel Iturria wins first race on home soil
- Published
Mikel Iturria had a 45-second lead at one point in the race
Mikel Iturria won stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espana on home soil in the Basque Country to take his first ever pro win as the general classification riders enjoyed a relaxing day.
The 27-year-old was part of a 12-strong breakaway before launching a solo attack to win in front of his family.
He built a lead of 45 seconds before holding on to take his first Grand Tour win by six seconds.
"When I was asked which stage I wanted to win, I said this one," he said.
Iturria, who won from Jonathan Lastra with Lawson Craddock third, added: "I've always dreamed of something like this, because I'm a worker not a winner."
Race leader Primoz Roglic came in 18 minutes and 35 seconds behind Iturria with the rest of the peloton, maintaining his lead of one minute 52 seconds over nearest challenger Alejandro Valverde after his victory in Tuesday's individual time trial.
Thursday's stage 12 is another hilly ride around northern Spain, a 171.4 km route from Circuito de Navarra to Bilbao.
Stage 11 result
1. Mikel Iturria (Esp/Euskadi Basque Country) 4hr 36mins 44secs
2. Jonathan Lastra (Spa/Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) +6secs
3. Lawson Craddock (USA/Education First) +6secs
4. Damien Howson (Aus/Mitchelton - Scott) +6secs
5. Francois Bidard (Fra/AG2R La Mondiale) +6secs
6. Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Eri/Team Dimension Data) +9secs
7. Benjamin Thomas (Fra/Groupama - FDJ) +12secs
8. Matteo Fabbro (Ita/Team Katusha - Alpecin) +12secs
9. Gorka Izagirre (Esp/Astana Pro Team) +12secs
10. Remi Cavagna (Fra/Deceuninck - Quick-Step) +12secs
Overall leaders
1. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) 41hrs, 48mins
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Movistar) +1min 52secs
3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col/Astana) +2mins 11secs
4. Nairo Quintana (Col/Movistar) +3mins
5. Tadej Pogacar (Slo/UAE Team Emirates) + 3mins 5secs
6. Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor/Lotto-Soudal) +4mins 59secs
7. Rafal Majka (Pol/BORA-hansgrohe) +5mins 42secs
8. Nicolas Edet (Fra/Cofidis) +5mins 49secs
9. Dylan Teuns (Bel/Bahrain-Merida) +6 mins 7secs
10. Wilco Kelderman (NED/Sunweb) +6mins 25secs