Van Aert wins shortened Spanish Vuelta stage amid extreme heat, Mas keeps overall lead

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CORDOBA, Spain (AP) — Wout van Aert pulled away to win the Spanish Vuelta 15th stage that was shortened because of extreme temperatures in southern Spain.

Enric Mas safely held on Sunday to his overall lead entering the final week of the Grand Tour.

The temperature neared 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit) when Van Aert crossed the finish line in a stage shortened from 189 kilometers to 110 kilometers (117 miles to 68 miles) because of the heat.

Race organizers altered the stage with “the aim of protecting the health of the riders and ensuring the best possible conditions for the competition.” The Tour de France also had a stage shortened because of a heatwave in France in July.

It was in Cordoba two years ago that Van Aert took his second win in the Spanish Vuelta.

The Visma-Lease a Bike rider had also won the 13th stage on Friday. On Sunday, the Belgian had the best final kick to the line from the group of five riders challenging in the final sprint. Alessandro Romele of XDS Astana finished second, ahead of Thibau Nys of Lidl-Trek.

“Most of the days that we thought we were able to win, we won actually,” Van Aert said. "That’s pretty impressive. And on a stage like today, how we took control as a team is something to be really proud of. I have to be very grateful for the work of the boys again.”

Mas kept an overall lead of more than two minutes over Félix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM. Primož Roglič is third.

Mas of Movistar has led the race since Tour champion Tadej Pogačar withdrew following a crash the previous weekend that has ended his season. He is trying to win the race for the first time after finishing runner-up in 2018, 2021 and 2022. No Spaniard has won the Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014.

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