Henok climbs to 36th ahead of Vuelta time trial

Henok Mulubrhan moved up two places to 36th overall at the Vuelta a España on Wednesday after finishing with the leading peloton in Sevilla.

The Eritrean placed 39th on Stage 17 from Dos Hermanas, recording 4:07:15, the same time as winner Matthew Brennan. His cumulative time stands at 61:38:51, with his deficit to race leader Enric Mas unchanged at 1:29:07.

Brennan secured his fifth stage victory of the race ahead of Jordi Meeus and Magnus Cort. XDS Astana’s Alessandro Romele finished fourth as the sprinters took their opportunity following the capture of lone attacker Enzo Paleni with three kilometres remaining.

Mulubrhan remains on 22 points, placing him 44th in the points classification. His best result in this Vuelta is eighth on Stage 15 in Córdoba, one of five top-15 finishes during the race.

Thursday’s Stage 18 brings a 32.1-kilometre individual time trial from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera. Mulubrhan is scheduled to start at 16:00 local time. The race against the clock presents a different challenge after two sprint stages, before the demanding climbs of the final weekend.