Spain’s Enric Mas held off his rival Primož Roglič in the Vuelta’s individual time trial and took a major step towards overall victory. Over the 32.1-kilometre route from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera, Mas – starting 12th – lost just over half a minute to the Slovenian (4th), but defended his red jersey. The 31-year-old now holds a lead of 1 minute and 37 seconds. Roglic has moved back up to second place overall. The Austrian Felix Gall is third, 3:01 minutes behind Mas.
There are more mountain stages coming up in the next few days, where Mas has so far outperformed Gall and four-time Vuelta champion Roglic. For the Spaniard, it would be his first overall victory in one of the three Grand Tours.
Two more tough mountain stages
The stage victory went to the Swiss-Liechtenstein professional Stefan Küng. The best German rider was Georg Steinhauser in 11th place. The course was relatively flat, with only a few small hills breaking up the fast route. It was the only longer individual time trial in the Vuelta. The tour had begun with a short time trial over nine kilometres in Monaco.
The battle for the red jersey will be decided over the next two days. On Friday, the 210-kilometre stage ends with a mountain finish at Peñas Blancas. The following day sees the queen stage, on which the riders will have to climb a total of 4,850 metres in altitude. On Sunday, the Tour of Spain finishes in Granada.
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