Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal) powers to stage 18 victory Vuelta a Espana.

Jelle Wallays (Lotto-Soudal) nabs sprinters day in a breathless finale in Lleida, Vuelta a Espana.
He out-sprinted his breakaway companion Sven Erik Bystrom (UAE Team Emirates) just as the peloton was bearing down upon them in the finishing straight.

How it unfolded

Few anticipated anything other than a bunch sprint on stage 18 when the Vuelta route was unveiled in January, and nothing about the opening phase of Thursday's stage suggested a deviation from that script.

Wallays, Bol and Bystrom escaped from the peloton after 3km, but their freedom came with rigorously designated limits. Sprint opportunities are few and far between at the modern Vuelta – witness the 'flat' day that finished on the climb to Caminito del Rey on stage 2 – and the fast men's teams kept a tight rein on the break's advantage throughout the afternoon.

Top Ten General Classification standings

1, Simon Yates (Great Britain) Mitchelton-Scott 73:02:37,
2, Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar Team 00:00:25,
3, Enric Mas (Spain) Quick-Step Floors 00:01:22,
4, Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia) Astana Pro Team 00:01:36,
5, Steven Kruijswijk (Netherland) LottoNL-Jumbo 00:01:48,
6, Nairo Quintana (Colombia) Movistar Team 00:02:11
7, Ion Izagirre (Spain) Bahrain-Merida 00:04:09,
8, Rigoberto Uran (Colombia) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale 00:04:36,
9, Thibaut Pinot (France) Groupama-FDJ 00:05:31
10, Tony Gallopin (France) AG2R La Mondiale 00:06:05