Sept 15 (Reuters) - 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. 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. Dainese said the victory was special as he is leaving the team for Tudor Pro Cycling next term. "Today I felt a lot of pressure because I knew it was the last opportunity for a sprint. Kuss, two stages away from winning his first Grand Tour, was all smiles as he retained the red jersey.

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Persons: Alberto Dainese, Sepp Kuss, Visma, Kaden Groves, Filippo Ganna, Dainese, Jumbo, Dane Jonas Vingegaard, Kuss, Rohith Nair, Ken Ferris Organizations: DSM, Firmenich, Ineos Grenadiers, Bahrain Victorious, Tudor Pro Cycling, Thomson Locations: Movistar, Bahrain, Bengaluru