Dainese escapes final km crash to win Vuelta stage 19, Kuss retains lead

:Alberto Dainese of Team DSM-Firmenich narrowly avoided a massive crash in the final kilometre to sprint to victory in stage 19 of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday while American Sepp Kuss of Jumbo-Visma finished safely in the peloton to retain the overall lead.

As the Vuelta enters its home stretch, riders left the mountains behind in a flat 177.5-km ride from La Baneza to Iscar, speeding through countryside at 80 km/hr at one point.

A breakaway group of four were caught with 20-km to go before the teams set themselves up for the sprint with Ineos Grenadiers, Movistar and Bahrain Victorious driving the bunch.

Once the riders rode through a final right-hand bend, they had a straight 2.2-km run to the finish line where Kaden Groves, who has won two stages, was involved in a crash where several riders fell after a touch of wheels.

Filippo Ganna was in the ideal position at the front and opened up the final sprint but Dainese timed his sprint to perfection to edge out his fellow Italian by milliseconds.

"We did a super job... Today we executed the plan, 100 per cent," Dainese said. "It was really unlucky to lose a couple of guys in the crash but until that point I was in the perfect position, I was where I wanted to be.

"I knew there was a bit of a headwind so I just let Ganna and the other guys go a bit early and then I was waiting for my moment to go in the wind. I'm super happy to finish a hard Vuelta in this way."

Dainese said the victory was special as he is leaving the team for Tudor Pro Cycling next term.

"I really wanted to end the season in a good way and also to end my adventure with DSM in a good way," he added.

"Today I felt a lot of pressure because I knew it was the last opportunity for a sprint. I want to thank my team,