In a year where South American cycling is ruling the roost in the Grand Tours, Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) continued the trend by taking the first leader`s jersey of the Vuelta a Espaņa. It has been a rollercoaster season for Lopez with victories in the Colombia Tour and Volta a Catalunya before a tumultuous Giro d`Italia, culminating in a scuffle with a fan on the side of the road. However, his return to the Vuelta a Espaņa, a race where he has already taken two mountain-top stage wins in 2017 and finished third overall in 2018, has now seen him claim a career-first overall lead in a Grand Tour.ADVERTISEMENT On a day when teams like Ineos did not perform as well as expected and others like Jumbo-Visma and UAE Team Emirates had tough stages with major falls, Astana delivered their leader to the line without any problems whatsoever. `I`m very pleased with how this has worked out, I have to enjoy this moment. Finally, I`m the leader in a major tour,` Lopez said. `The Giro didn`t work out so well, because of that problem with the fan. I was satisfied, all the same, because I gave it everything, but things didn`t work out for other reasons.`
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