Halfway through the Vuelta a España, the riders were presented with the shortest stage. The peloton set off in Ourense for 137 kilometres. After a hilly start, the final climb to ski resort Manzaneda was the focal point.  

Van Aert and Affini tried to set up a breakaway several times. Each time their escape attempts were reeled in by the peloton. Moments later, an acceleration of ten riders without members of Team Visma | Lease a Bike proved successful. The peloton gave the ten a large lead. In the end, Castrillo proved to be the strongest. An emotional victory for the Spanish team, who announced the passing of their founder before the start of the stage.  

“I tried to be in the breakaway, but I missed the acceleration to make the jump to the front”, commented green jersey wearer Van Aert afterwards. “Once back in the peloton I was able to save energy with the upcoming stages in mind. Furthermore, it's nice for Castrillo and his team to win a stage here. They try to show themselves at the front of the race every day, so they absolutely deserve this reward for all their work.”  

“Sports director Marc Reef: “It was another tough start with the long fight for a place in the breakaway of the day. The aim was to send Wout in the break, but unfortunately we were unable to make that happen. Once the breakaway was formed, we shifted our focus to Sepp Kuss. A few riders, including Cian Uijtdebroeks, were able to protect him for a long time on the final climb. In the end, nothing happened in the group of favourites. Tomorrow, another stage awaits the GC riders. Our goal will be to assist Sepp for as long as possible again.”