Philipsen wins his third stage at Vuelta and Vingegaard leads before decisive day

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GUIJUELO, Spain (AP) — Jasper Philipsen grabbed his third stage at the Spanish Vuelta on Friday while Jonas Vingegaard kept his overall lead before the race’s decisive mountain stage.

Philipsen beat the pack to the end of Stage 19, a 161-kilometer (100-mile) route from Rueda to Guijuelo across the plains of central Spain.

The Belgian rider of Alpecin-Deceuninck has won three of the four bunch sprints at the end of flat stages in this edition of the Spanish Grand Tour.

Vingegaard holds a 44-second lead over Joao Almeida in the overall classification ahead of Saturday’s stage that finishes atop the beyond-category Bola del Mundo summit.

Race custom dictates that the rider who leads the classification after the second-to-last stage will go on to win the race. His rivals are supposed to not challenge him on the largely ceremonial arrival to Madrid on the final day.

On Friday, there were no significant pro-Palestinian protests like the ones that have disrupted the race this week.

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AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling