Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have not given up on the idea of winning the Vuelta a España by a long shot, but they recognised that for their leader Primož Roglič, who was once again dropped by Enric Mas (Movistar) on a second straight summit finish, things are looking increasingly complicated.
Almost as soon as Mas attacked at around 12 kilometres to go during the stage 12 summit finish at Calar Alto, Roglič settled into his own pace, and rather than then regaining ground as he did solo on the Spaniard on stage 9 to Aitana, this time he seemed more in need of allies to limit the damage.
