photo credits @ La Vuelta
Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) finally made his defining move along the summit finish of the Alto de Moncalvillo in today’s stage 19 of the Vuelta a España, not only netting the defending champion a solo victory, but moving him into the overall lead.
Roglič was paced along the early slopes of Alto de Moncalvillo by teammates Daní Martinez and Aleksandr Vlasov before setting off alone with just under 5km to go, cresting the summit some 46 seconds ahead of his closet rival David Gaudu (Groupama–FDJ), who swept in ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar) for second place, while Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl–Trek) also got the better of Mas in the last 100 meters to take third.
Meanwhile, race leader Ben O’Connor (Decathlon–AG2R La Mondiale) could only watch as his 13-day red jersey streak and GC lead disappear, but he battled to remain within two minutes of the Slovenian rider.
Race Highlights
The peloton fended off numerous attacks during the opening 25km, before the five-man group containing Isaac Del Toro (UAE-Team Emirates), Simone Petillo and Vito Braet (both Intermarché-Wanty), Fran Miholjević (Bahrain Victorious) and Eddy Plankaert (Alpecin-Deceuninck) finally rode clear.
From there, the escapees’ gap quickly swelled to more than five minutes, but not for long, as their advantage began to fall as race reached the first climb of the Pradilla.
With 50km to go, Braet fell back into the peloton, while the gap to the break was below two minutes.
The break was still out front at the start of the climb of the Montcalvillo, with the leaders attacking each other as they began the ascent. However, a fast pursuit on the part of Red-Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe saw the lead group reined in within the first 2km of the climb.
With the German team amassing at the front, Roglič was successfully launched by his teammates, while O’Connor and the rest of the Slovenian rider’s top rivals could only look on.
Roglič quickly opened up a 30-second gap, while Mas and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) sensed weakness in O’Connor, gapping the Australian rider with attacks of their own.
In the meantime, the imperious Roglič pushed on with his trademark high cadence, solidifying his victory with every turn of the pedal.
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