Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) made his decisive move in the race for the overall Vuelta a España on stage 19 as he took solo victory on the summit finish of Alto de Moncalvillo and moved into race lead.
On the early slopes of Alto de Moncalvillo, the three-time champion was ferried ahead of the leading group by teammates Daní Martinez and Aleksandr Vlasov before riding clear of his Red Bull train just inside 5km to go.
Enric Mas (Movistar) was the only rider able to make any reaction, leaving behind a group of GC favourites to bridge part of the way back to Roglič and gained a 30-second advantage on the red jersey Ben O’Connor (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale).
O'Connor could only watch as his 13-day red jersey streak and GC lead disappeared, but he battled to remain within two minutes of the Slovenian rider.
Mas was stung by the steep inclines of the final slopes of Alto de Moncalvillo and was passed by David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ), who swept in ahead of him for second place. Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl–Trek) also got the better of Mas in the last 100 metres to take third, 46 seconds behind Roglič, while Mas trailed in four seconds later.
O’Connor finished 1:49 behind Roglič, losing his red jersey but holding onto second place - 1:54 behind the new race leader, and 26 seconds ahead of Mas in third place.
Speaking after the stage finish, stage winner Roglič reflected on the day's racing. "I had some really nice memories from this climb. It didn't disappoint me again – beautiful."
While many expected Roglič to take victory today, the new red jersey argued it was never in the plan. "I said I don't need the stage but I will not say their names but some guys decided we don't listen to you anyway, we pull. We have nothing else to do," he said. "I had to make a call and I say, OK, we have to all be on the same side, then we go for it."
Asked if he felt he had sealed his GC victory, Roglič was cautious."Not really. I mean, we say all the time 'the Queen stage to come', it's the last one tomorrow, the big one, it is definitely super hard, and then still we don't do the normal laps in Madrid – it's again a decisive day for the GC, time trial.
"So I'm far from done."
Unsurprisingly O'Connor cut a despondent figure at the race finish. "I was a bit broken at the end there, I actually felt pretty good until the halfway," the Australian said. "But it's just stage 19 I guess."
Speaking about the startling attack from the three Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe riders, he said, "I wasn't surprised, but I didn't expect myself to be so bad at the end. A bit average to be honest but that's the reality."
O'Connor accepted there were two testing days ahead, and that his thoughts were focused on the race finish, "Monday, having beers, sitting on the terrace and relaxing."
How it unfolded
The peloton set off from Logroño below a bright cloudy sky and against the striking pastoral landscapes of Bilbao, with the Rioja wine region on the day's itinerary of sights.
The 139 riders remaining in La Vuelta a España peloton were soon leaping into attacks, with Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Dstny) an endearing (albeit predictable) protagonist of the early breakaway attempts.
With 23km passed, a group of 23 attempted to break free, but a roaring 50kph peloton absorbed the attack quickly.
Around the 30km mark, Edward Planckaert (Alpecin Deceuninck), Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious) and Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty) managed to establish a gap, with Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty) successfully bridging across to them.
With 125km left, the five riders had a gap of 1:20 and it seemed that the day's main breakaway was formed.
The peloton seemed quickly resigned to the five escapees, and it took only 15 minutes for that gap to swell to four minutes.
Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale and Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were active at the front of the peloton controlling the pace through the 100km market and toward the category 3 climb of Puerto de Pradilla that sat almost completely centrally on the stage profile.
The break held, but the efforts of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe on the long ascent chipped into their advantage as the five riders passed the summit of the Puerto de Pradilla with a slimmer margin of 2:40 on the peloton.
Aside from a brief split and a tussle of peloton firepower between Movistar, Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe and Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale, the main group was largely orderly as it approached the final 40km.
With 35km remaining, the break had only 1:30, with the 1,490m summit finish of Alto de Moncalvillo looming on the horizon.
It was a margin that the riders held at the 25km mark, but the aggressive turn of pace that foreshadowed the final ascent - beginning with 8.6km to go - saw their gap shrink to 30 seconds with 12km remaining before they were swallowed up only kilometres from the foothills of the climb.
As the ascent began, so too did the selection with all but the major GC contenders spat out of the main group as Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe set a blistering pace on the early kilometres of the climb.
With 5.8km left of the ascent, Primož Roglič was catapulted ahead of the favourites group by Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe henchmen Daní Martinez and Aleksandr Vlasov. No one was able to react, as Ben O'Connor was left to watch the Red Bull trio ride into red.
At the 5km mark, Martinez and Vlasov were relieved of their supporting duties as the three-time Vuelta champion rode solo into an open empty road and likely Grand Tour victory.
Results
Results powered by FirstCycling
