Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) put the hammer down on the brutal slopes up the Alto de Moncavillo to take it all on day 19 of La Vuelta 24. The Slovenian 3-time winner of the Spanish Grand Tour claimed his 15th stage win in the event (including a previous victory atop Moncalvillo in 2020), the third this year, as well as La Roja, the 40th in his stellar record. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) is now 2nd overall, with a gap of 1’54’’, ahead of Enric Mas (Movistar), who trails by 2’20’’. The final week-end promises hard battles with a queen stage towards Picon Blanco on Saturday, ahead of the closing ITT in Madrid.
The riders of La Vuelta 24 head to the last battles, with two mountain showdowns and the closing ITT in Madrid. Today’s stage, from Logroño to Alto de Moncalvillo (173.2km) features 2,550m of elevation and a brutal finish: 8.6km at 8.9%, with gradients up to 16%.
Roglic’s teammates control
Attackers want to make the most of this terrain, as there are less and less opportunities. Edward Planckaert (Alpecin Deceuninck), Fran Miholjevic (Bahrain Victorious) and Vito Braet (Intermarché-Wanty) attack at km 38. Isaac Del Toro (UAE Team Emirates) and Simone Petilli (Intermarché-Wanty) set off in pursuit.
The 5 attackers get together around km 43. Eduardo Sepulveda (Lotto Dstny) tries to join them but he’s unsuccessful. The peloton trail by 5’17’’ at km 57. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe take the reins of the bunch to try and set Primoz Roglic for the stage win on a climb he ruled in 2020.
Roglic takes off
The gap is down to 2 minutes as the riders enter the last 50 kilometres. Braet waits for the bunch. His companions are reeled in at the bottom of the climb up Alto de Moncalvillo.
Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe set a brutal pace from the beginning of the ascent. With 6 kilometres to go, Dani Martinez, Aleksandr Vlasov and Primoz Roglic open a gap. The Slovenian continues solo into the last 5 kilometres.
Enric Mas (Movistar) sets off in pursuit but he’s caught in the final kilometre by David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) and Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek), who cross the line with a gap of 46’’. Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) loses 1’49’’ and La Roja.
