Stage winner Küng completed the 32.1-kilometre route from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera in 35 minutes and 23 seconds – an average speed of 54.5 km/h. Thornley was just three seconds slower. Almeida was nine seconds behind. Roglic finished fourth, 19 seconds behind. However, this meant he made up only 33 seconds on Mas, who, having finished twelfth on the day, was just 52 seconds behind Küng and thus heads into the final two mountain stages of this Vuelta with a 1 minute 37 seconds lead over the Slovenian.

Of the leading trio, only Felix Gall (Decathlon CMA CGM) was unable to keep up. He finished 26th, 1 minute and 47 seconds behind Küng. As expected, Roglic overtook the Austrian, who now trails Mas by 3 minutes and 1 second. Gall nevertheless remains comfortably in third place. Richard Carapaz (EF Education - EasyPost), in fourth, is more than five minutes behind.

Küng is not in contention for the overall classification. The 32-year-old therefore celebrated his 32nd victory as a professional and his second this year, having won a few weeks ago had won the time trial at the Tour of Poland. “It doesn’t matter how close it is in the end. You have to win,” he said, referring to the narrow lead that secured him the victory. “I had a difficult moment after the second climb, but then I got back into my rhythm. That’s when I made up the crucial time,” said the two-time European time trial champion.

2026 Vuelta a España – Results of Stage 18

Here’s how the 18th stage of the 2026 Vuelta a España unfolded

148 riders took on the time trial. Mathias Norsgaard (Lidl - Trek), a professional who has already won time trials, got things underway from inside a bullring. The Dane, however, took it relatively easy and didn’t even need to make himself comfortable in the hot seat, as Ethan Hayter (Soudal Quick-Step) – the man who had missed out on the red jersey by just nine hundredths of a second at the start of the Vuelta almost three weeks ago – was already fifth to start.

Hayter clocked a time of 35:55 minutes, though this too was not to last long. Thornley, who had finished fourth in the opening race and had also started early, managed to beat that time by just under 30 seconds. Several professionals found Thornley a tough nut to crack. Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates – XRG) temporarily moved into second place, 26 seconds behind the Scot, whilst Georg Steinhauser (EF Education – EasyPost) was 45 seconds behind in fourth.

Almeida clocked the fastest time at the first timing point

Almeida closed the gap on the Scots to six seconds. At the first split time, the Portuguese rider still had a two-second lead; at the second timing point, the two were level. Then, at the first timing point, Küng slipped in between Almeida and Thornley.

By the second intermediate time check, the Swiss rider had built up a ten-second lead. This cushion proved enough to see him through to the finish, even though it came down to the wire and he ended up with just a three-second lead. Meanwhile, Wout van Aert (Team Visma | Lease a Bike) also joined the fray for the stage win. At the second timing point, the Belgian was eight seconds behind the leader, Küng. However, he was unable to maintain that pace all the way to the finish; Thornley and Almeida were also faster in the end.

Only Roglic can keep up with the specialists

Whilst the first riders set off at one-minute intervals, the last 20 took to the course two minutes apart. However, there was no change in the leading positions at the intermediate checkpoints for some time. It was only Roglic who managed to rejoin the front group at the first checkpoint, nine seconds behind Almeida. Gall’s time was recorded 31 seconds behind the leader – as was Mas’s.

Roglic reached the second split time 14 seconds behind the leader there, Küng, whilst Gall was 1 minute and 11 seconds behind. Mas’s time remained at 50 seconds behind. The trend remained unchanged right up to the finish. Although Roglic lost hardly any more ground to Küng, it wasn’t enough for victory. However, the same applied to Mas, who once again put in a strong performance.