The day after Tadej Pogačar abandoned the Vuelta a España, stage 9 saw the battle for the general classification explode on the slopes of the Alto de Aitana, as Enric Mas dominated on the final climb to take the victory and strengthen his grip on the red jersey.
It marked the first stage win for Movistar at the Vuelta a España for five years, ending an embarrassing drought for the team in their home Grand Tour, whilst Mas also extended his overall lead to a minute and eighteen seconds over Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe), who was unable to match the Spaniard’s attacks in the final kilometres.
