Russian climber Alexander Vlasov (Astana) avenged his disappointment of having to abandon the Giro d'Italia a few weeks ago due to stomach problems by finishing 11th overall in his first Grand Tour at the Vuelta a España on Sunday.

"I am grateful to the team for taking me to the Vuelta after I had to pull out of the Giro due to health issues. I've gained valuable experience in my first Grand Tour and I'm confident that I can continue to grow as a professional rider."

Astana has acquired Vlasov for 2020 from Russian pro team Gazprom-Rusvelo, and in his first year at the World Tour level, the 24-year-old has had a remarkable season, taking a stage win and second place overall at the Tour de la Provence in February, and then in the summer When racing resumed, he finished third overall on the Route d'Occitanie.

Two days later, he took a solo victory atop the "Giants of Provence" ahead of Richie Porte (Trek-Segafredo) and Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) in the Mont Ventoux-Denivelle Challenge, and in mid-August he reached the podium at Il Lombardia and the one-day He also won the Giro delle Miglia.

In September, Vlasov won the youth class and finished fifth overall at Tirreno-Adriatico, but was forced to retire on the second stage of the Giro in early October due to illness, the only blemish on his phenomenal season.

Vlasov said at the time, "I can't express how disappointed I am that I had to abandon the Giro," but Astana was able to include him in the Vuelta instead. On stage 12, the "queen stage" of the Vuelta, the dreaded climb from Pola de Raviana to Alto de Largrill, he finished 11th overall, as well as third in the young rider class and second behind EF Pro Cycling's Hugh Kersee.

"I really liked the Vuelta a España. It's a great race and I'm really happy to finish," Vlasov said.

"It was great to compete with the best climbers and be next to them on the hardest climbs of the race.

In September, Italian sports newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport reported that Vlasov may move to Ineos Grenadier, the team of last year's Giro winner and this year's Vuelta runner-up Richard Carapas and this year's Giro surprise winner Tao Geoghegan Hart reportedly.

This was repeated by New Zealand's George Bennett after the Vuelta when he talked about how his Jumbo Visma team, with Vuelta winner Primoš Roglic, will compete with a strengthened Ineos and UAE Team Emirates, with Tour de France winner Tadej Pogachar, next season and beyond. The rumors were repeated when he talked about how he would fight.