77th Tour of Spain - Ackermann second on 16th Vuelta stage - Roglic crashes

Professional cyclist Pascal Ackermann narrowly missed out on another stage win at the 77th Tour of Spain after a thrilling finale.

The 28-year-old from the Palatinate had to admit defeat only to the Danish former world champion Mads Pedersen in the sprint on Tuesday's 16th stage after 189.4 kilometres from Sanlúcar de Barrameda to Tomares.

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Ackermann had latched onto the Slovenian's rear wheel around 2.5 kilometres after an attack by defending champion Primoz Roglic. However, both were caught by Pedersen, third-placed Danny van Poppel (Netherlands) and the Brit Fred Wright. Roglic then crashed a few metres before the finish after colliding with Wright. The Vuelta winner of the last three editions sat on the road afterwards with his right arm and leg covered in blood and obviously in shock.

"Roglic made the perfect attack. I waited too long on the last climb and then couldn't stay on the back wheel. Mads was simply far too strong today," said Ackermann and added: "I really wanted to win today, now I still have a chance in Madrid."

Evenepoel defends red despite breakdown

Despite the turbulence in the finale, there were only minor changes at the top of the overall standings one day after the third rest day, even though the Belgian overall leader Remco Evenepoel had a defect shortly after Roglic's attack and had to change his bike. However, due to the three-kilometre rule, the 22-year-old Belgian was classified at the same time as the peloton and now continues to lead Roglic by 1:26 minutes.

On Wednesday, the last of the three major national tours will enter the hot phase for the overall victory. After 152.6 kilometres, the 17th stage will end with a mountain finish at an altitude of 1095 metres on the Monasterio de Tentudia. The race ends next Sunday in Spain's capital Madrid.

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