Imanol Erviti (Movistar) outsprinted his two Colombian breakaway partners to win the Vuelta a la Rioja. The trio had escaped just five kilometers from the line. Erviti's teammate Andrey Amador led home the bunch eight seconds later. It was Erviti's sixth win as a professional (three of them came in team time trials) and his first victory of the season.
The break of the day went after only five kilometers, when Bruno Pinto, Garikoitz Bravo, Pablo Urtasun, Fredy Piamonte, Ion Pardo, José Cano, Javier Iriarte, Carlos Baltazar, and Hector González stormed off the front. By the first intermediate sprint in Tudelilla (km 28), the gap was at three minutes. Pardo was ahead of Cano and Bravo.
At the category three Alto De Villarroya, Pinto preceded Bravo, Urtasun and Piamonte. The maximum gap was 3'25 (km 61), before gradually being brought back down again under the work of the Geox, Burgos 2016 and Orbea.
The next sprint in Autol at km 102 was taken by Pardo, ahead of Urtasun and Bravo. The fast race clocked an average of almost 45km/h after two hours of racing. The gap was down to 1'30, with Iriarte, Baltazar and González jumping clear at km 118. The rest of the break was swallowed and with only a 20-second gap, the other three soon followed suit.
Three more riders took off (Enrique Sanz, Aritz Etxeberría and Cristopher Jennings), who were joined by Tomas Metcalfe at km 124. The gap was at 1'25. Sanz took the sprint in Mendavia, ahead of Aritz Etxeberría and Cristopher Jennings. The break's day was over at km 186 and Movistar organized the peloton.
At km 193, three riders attacked and gained a 24-second advantage. Imanol Erviti of the Movistar team escaped along side Colombians Giovanny Manuel Baez Alvarez and Juan Pablo Suarez. Despite the peloton coming close, it couldn't prevent the trio from staying away.
Results
1. Imanol Erviti Ollo MOV
2. Giovanny Manuel Baez Alvarez EPM
3. Juan Pablo Suarez EPM