Primoz Roglic has taken control of the Vuelta. The Slovenian won the 19th on Fridaye stage of the Tour of Spain and took the lead in the general classification ahead of Australian Ben O’Connor who was unable to follow his pace on the climb of the Alto de Moncalvillo.
The Bora-Hansgrohe rider won solo with a 46-second lead over Frenchman David Gaudu, at the end of a real hill climb.
The Dane Mattias Skjelmose completed the podium in the wheels of Gaudu, followed by the Spaniard Enric Mas and the Colombian Richard Carapaz.
All were powerless against Roglic’s attack five kilometres from the line after being taken by his team-mates.
“That was the tactic defined in the morning, to put myself in the best conditions at the foot of the last difficulty. It was applied wonderfully,” rejoiced the winner of the day.
Gaudu at the foot of the podium
“Saturday’s stage will be complicated but the team will be attentive. Sunday’s time trial is in principle to my advantage,” Roglic added.
At the top of the slopes of the Alto de Moncalvillo (8.6 km at 6.9%), Roglic therefore did a double by winning his third stage in this Vuelta and recovering the red jersey of general leader.
Ben O’Connor, in red for 13 days, had only a five-second lead at the start over his runner-up. The Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale rider crossed the line, exhausted, almost two minutes (1:49) behind the winner.
Roglic, a three-time winner of the Vuelta, can now look forward to a fourth victory as he has an advantage of almost two minutes (1:54) over O’Connor and more than two over the Spaniard Enric Mas and the Colombian Richard Carapaz.
David Gaudu, in excellent form in recent days, is fifth at 4 min 33 seconds, and two minutes from a place on the podium. A position that he will try to maintain with only two stages left to go.
This result is the best performance in the World Tour for David Gaudu since his second place at Paris-Nice 2023.
On Saturday, the peloton will face the climb of Picon Blanco before a final time trial in the streets of Madrid on Sunday where Roglic will be the favourite.