Jay Vine powered to victory in stage six of the Vuelta a Espana as Torstein Traeen came second to take the overall race lead.
Vine (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) led a solo attack in the final 20km after breaking away from a 10-man group which got away early on the 170.3km stretch across the Pyrenees from Olot in Catalonia to Pal in Andorra.
It was a third individual Vuelta stage win for the 29-year-old Australian, who lives in Andorra.
“The Vuelta wasn’t on my schedule originally, so to be able to win in Andorra in front of my son and wife is unbelievable and incredibly motivating,” said Vine.
“I know these roads pretty well. I’m from just down the hill, and La Comella is my favourite climb in all of Andorra.”
Norway’s Traeen, 30, finished 54 seconds behind Vine but the Bahrain Victorious rider jumped from 26th to first in the general classification.
Traeen, who was diagnosed with testicular cancer in 2022 and announced he was free from the disease the following year, holds a 31-second lead over France’s Bruno Armirail in the overall rankings.
