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Primož Roglič did what many expected Friday, wresting the red leader’s jersey off the shoulders of Ben O’Connor at the Vuelta a España.
The Slovenian’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team did the bulk of the work during the stage to control the day’s breakaway and then set Roglič up for a huge attack inside the final 6km.
He scorched clear of the rest and sped upwards to the 15th Vuelta stage win of his career.
More significantly, his ace solo move put the red jersey back on his shoulders and put him on course for a record-equalling fourth Vuelta title on Sunday.
“I had some really nice memories from this climb,” he said, referring to his victory on the Alto de Moncalvillo in 2020.
“It didn’t disappoint me, beautiful.”
He finished 46 seconds ahead of David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). Enric Mas (Movistar Team) had looked the second-strongest after Roglič on the climb but weakened towards the end and was overhauled by Gaudu and Skjelmose within sight of the line. He lost four seconds to them.
O’Connor initially stayed with the other GC riders but then completely cracked, the strain of the past three weeks showing. He finished 1:49 back and drops to second overall.
“I was a bit broken in the end there. I actually felt pretty good until about halfway, and then … stage 19, I guess,” he said.
He is now 1:54 off the red jersey but, importantly, is 26 seconds ahead of Mas. He has a full minute on Carapaz, who has been impressive in recent days but was below that level Friday.
O’Connor remains in line for a podium finish, something which would improve on his fourth places in the Tour de France and Giro d’Italia. He pledged to fight for that.
“I tried today but I didn’t really do my best work,” he said. “So it comes down to tomorrow and obviously we have Sunday as well. So still two very important days.”
As for Roglič, he is firmly in the driving seat. With another mountain stage and then a time trial to come, he will hope to further push the gas pedal between now and Madrid.
He admitted he was surprised to suddenly have such a big gap. “It is better than five minutes behind. I am happy with the way I am functioning, and definitely happy with the guys.”
Breakaway takes a chance on day destined for furious GC showdown
Stage 19 of the Vuelta a España was the penultimate day in the mountains, and set to be a key decider in the final GC battle. Starting in Logroño and concluding at the summit of the Alto de Moncalvillo, the 168.5 distance clocked up 2601 meters of altitude gain.
These came from undulating roads, the third category Puerto de Pradilla approximately halfway through, and the concluding first category climb.
Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Dstny) was one of the day’s first attacks, holding true to his promise to try to land a farewell stage win, but this and many other early moves were brought back.
Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty), Fran Miholjević (Bahrain-Victorious), Edward Planckaert (Alpecin-Deceunink) clipped away with 139km remaining, and were joined four kilometers later by the gifted youngster Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty).
The break was 5:18 ahead of the peloton with 117km remaining. Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates) crashed at that point and suffered multiple cuts. He was treated at the medical car and was able to continue, but the fall dented his chances of recapturing the king of the mountains jersey.
Miholjevič led Del Toro, Planckaert and the other two riders over the summit of the Puerto de Pradilla. Roglič’s Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team had been chasing hard for much of the stage and had brought the break’s advantage down to 2:55.
Roglič head and shoulders above
Movistar Team joined forces with Red Bull and provoked a split in the peloton with 68km remaining. That was a nervous moment for many, including a distanced Sepp Kuss (Visma-Lease a Bike). However things came back together 6km later.
Braet was dropped from the break with 50km left. The remaining four riders had 1:35 with 25km remaining. Planckaert leaped clear approximately 10km later to take the intermediate sprint, but then switched off and went back to the bunch afterwards.
The bunch was closing all the while and with the gap down to less than 30 seconds, Miholjević attacked with 11km to go. He reached the bottom of the final climb alone, but was caught very soon afterwards.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe continued to apply the pressure on the early slopes of the Alto de Moncalvillo. Dani Martínez ramped things up with 5.8km left and immediately drew Vlasov and Roglič clear. O’Connor and the other GC riders stayed together 18 seconds back, with David Gaudu (Groupama FDJ) leaping clear to sit several seconds ahead of the Decathlon-Ag2r La Mondiale-led chase.
Roglič pushed on alone with 5km remaining, heading for the stage win and red jersey. Carapaz scorched clear of the chase group with about 4.5km left but was soon reeled in by the other contenders. Mas went inside 4km to go and was well clear for most of the climb, only to weaken at the top and be overhauled by a flying Gaudu and Skjelmose.
As for O’Connor, he fought all the way to the finish but admitted he was far from his best.
“I wasn’t really surprised,” he said, referring to the attacks. “I didn’t expect myself to be so bad at the end. A bit average, to be honest, but I guess that’s just the reality.”
He’s been one of the key riders of the race, though, and has shouldered the extra pressure and obligations of the red jersey for 13 stages. Roglič may well go on to take his fourth Vuelta title Sunday, but O’Connor can be proud of how he performed.
What is next
The Vuelta a España continues Saturday with the final mountain stage. This will be incredibly tough, with 5077 meters of altitude gain across seven categorized climbs.
The first category Picon Blanco finishes things off and could well see a further shakeup of the general classification prior to Sunday’s final time trial.
It was only a matter of time. Relive the LAST KM thanks to @CarrefourES!
Era solo cuestión de tiempo para Primoz. ¡Revive el ÚLTIMO KM gracias a @CarrefourES!#LaVuelta24 #CarrefourConLaVuelta pic.twitter.com/UfKR1uVIVk
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 6, 2024
