Canada’s Woods wins Spanish Vuelta stage
BALCON DE BIZKAIA, SPAIN — Canada’s Michael Woods has won the 17th stage of the Spanish Vuelta.
Simon Yates lost a few seconds of his Spanish Vuelta lead on a difficult mountain stage won by Ottawa’s Woods on Wednesday.
The 31-year-old outlasted the field in a 157-kilometre 17th stage that finished with a tough climb up Balcon de Bizkaia in Basque Country. The Canadian rider crossed the line five seconds in front of Dylan Teuns and 10 seconds ahead of David de la Cruz.
Woods is the second Canadian in history to win a Spanish Vuelta stage. Ryder Hesjedal of Victoria won stages in 2009 and ’14.
Woods is 35th overall in the event. Yates’s gap to Alejandro Valverde was cut from
33 seconds to 25 seconds after a solid climb by the veteran Spaniard.
Enric Mas also had a good run and moved up to third place overall, one minute and 22 seconds behind Yates.
No changes at the top are expected Thursday, when riders will face a flat 186.1-kilometre stage from Ejea de los Caballeros to Lleida in northeastern Spain.