The 73rd Vuelta a España concluded over the weekend, and saw the 5th consecutive Grand Tour win for Great Britain. Yates avoided a repeat of his monumental collapse at the Giro d’Italia and convincingly took the overall honours after a strong performance over the last weekend.
Not many riders looked like they would be able to challenge Yates’ dominance. With Movistar’s Grand Tour specialists seemingly unable to land any significant blows on the Mitchelton-Scott rider, the task fell to younger riders with only one mountain stage remaining.
Taking in six categorised climbs, stage 20 looked to be one of the hardest in the entire race. On the final climb of the day only Astana’s Miguel Angel Lopez and Quickstep's Enric Mas managed to escape the group of favourites. Initially the pair broke away with the race leader but soon shook him off as they continued to push on up the final climb.
As the pair came across the line it was the young Spaniard - Mas - who had the faster finish, taking the stage win. However, the combined effort of the duo was enough to move them up into second and third respectively, securing a podium finish in Madrid. Lopez’ 3rd place overall bookends a brilliant season, which saw the young Columbian star finish on the podium at both the Giro d’Italia and the Vuelta a España.
Throughout the Vuelta a España Mas has used Defeet socks. Lopez has now ridden to two grand tour podiums on his trusty Argon 18 Gallium Pro.