Degenkolb wins 10th stage of Vuelta

John Degenkolb of Germany won the Tour of Spain’s tenth stage on Tuesday, while Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez held on to the overall leader’s red jersey.

Degenkolb of the Argos-Shimano team dashed to his fourth stage victory of this year’s race in the mass sprint finish of the 190-kilometre (12-mile) ride from Ponteareas to Sanxenxo in northwestern Spain.

The 23-year-old completed the stage in four hours, 47 minutes and 24 seconds after outsprinting German rider Nacer Bouhanni of France and Daniele Bennati of Italy.

He had already won the second, fifth and seventh stages of this year’s Tour of Spain.

“Winning green (the colour of the points competition jersey) is the objective, and if that means winning five or six stages of the Vuelta, I’ll have nothing to complain about,” said Degenkolb, who has won 10 races this year. 

“No question today, it was a hard last 300 to 400 metres, constantly uphill.”

There were no changes to the overall leading group after the ride through the western province of Galicia following the first rest day in the three-week race.

Rodriguez of team Katusha held on to the overall race lead, with a 53 second advantage of his nearest rival, Britain’s Chris Froome of Team Sky.

Spain’s Alberto Contador of Saxo-Bank is in third place in the overall standings, one minute behind the leaders.

The individual time trial on Wednesday is expected to be key in deciding the race winner.