The eleventh stage of the Vuelta a España 2024 proved to be a breakaway, where Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco AlUla) was the best of a lead group of more than 30 riders, emerging victorious in a 166.5-kilometer stage through Galicia, with four mountain passes along the way. Australian Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) saved the lead.
The Irish rider took advantage of a moment of tranquility among his breakaway companions and took the stage victory, ahead of Belgian Quinten Hermans (Alpecin – Deceuninck) and Briton Max Poole (Team dsm-firmenich PostNL), who finished second and third, respectively. The top-5 was completed by Ecuador’s Jhonnatan Narvaez (Ineos Granadiers) and Spain’s Urko Berrade (Team Kern Pharma).
Zipaquireño Brandon Rivera (Ineos Grenadiers), who was part of the numerous breakaway of the day, was the best Colombian in 17th place, 50 seconds behind the winner. Among the favorites, red jersey Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team) was pressured by Primož Roglič (Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe) and Enric Mas (Movistar Team) on the steep final climb. The overall leader ended up losing more than 30 seconds to his main rivals.
The second stage on Galician soil had four climbs on the route around the city of Padrón, with the Puerto San Xusto (10.2 km at 4.2%), the Puerto Aguasantas (5.6 km at 6.1%) and finally the Puerto Cruxeiras (2.8 km at 9%) eight kilometers from the finish.
In the end there was an exciting battle for the victory, Urko Berrade accelerated with Carlos Verona and Filippo Zana on his wheel, however, the chasers managed to connect and everything was defined in the streets of Padrón, where Eddie Dunbar (Ream Jayco AlUla) surprised all his rivals with an accurate attack a few meters from the finish.
The Iberian round will continue this Thursday with stage 12, a mountainous day of 137.5 kilometers between Ourense Termal and Estación De Montana De Manzaneda with a first-category summit finish.
La Vuelta Ciclista a España (2.UWT)
Results Stage 11 | Circuito Campus Tecnológico Cortizo Padrón (166,5 km)
| 1 | Eddie Dunbar | Team Jayco AlUla | 3:44:52 |
| 2 | Quinten Hermans | Alpecin – Deceuninck | 0:02 |
| 3 | Max Poole | Team dsm-firmenich PostNL | ,, |
| 4 | Jhonatan Narváez | INEOS Grenadiers | 0:04 |
| 5 | Urko Berrade | Equipo Kern Pharma | ,, |
| 6 | Filippo Zana | Team Jayco AlUla | ,, |
| 7 | Ion Izaguirre | Cofidis | ,, |
| 8 | Carlos Verona | Lidl – Trek | ,, |
| 9 | Gianmarco Garofoli | Astana Qazaqstan Team | ,, |
| 10 | Brandon McNulty | UAE Team Emirates | ,, |
Ranking General
| 1 | Ben O’Connor | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | 43:54:54 |
| 2 | Primož Roglic | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 3:16 |
| 3 | Enric Mas | Movistar Team | 3:58 |
| 4 | Richard Carapaz | EF Education – EasyPost | 4:10 |
| 5 | Mikel Landa | Soudal Quick-Step | 4:40 |
| 6 | Carlos Rodríguez | INEOS Grenadiers | 5:23 |
| 7 | Florian Lipowitz | Red Bull – BORA – hansgrohe | 5:29 |
| 8 | Adam Yates | UAE Team Emirates | 5:30 |
| 9 | Felix Gall | Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale Team | ,, |
| 10 | George Bennett | Israel – Premier Tech | 5:46 |
Source: Revista Mundo Ciclístico