Primoz Roglic continues to close in on the red jersey at the Vuelta. The Slovenian takes 36 seconds off Australian Ben O'Connor in Sunday's mountain stage and is still 0:43 minutes behind.
Roglic is therefore well on his way to winning the Vuelta for the fourth time after 2019, 2020 and 2021. However, the Slovenian did not launch an all-out attack before the rest day on Monday. On the final climb to Cuitu Negru, which pushed the riders to the limit with up to 24% gradients in the finish, he pulled away from O'Connor in the final kilometers and then showed a controlled ride to the summit.
The stage win was out of reach, as a breakaway group of climbers decided the victory among themselves. The 23-year-old Spaniard Pablo Castrillo proved to be the strongest and celebrated his second stage win of this year's tour. Roglic finished fifth, 1:04 minutes behind.
With three mountain top finishes and the final individual time trial next Sunday in Madrid, there are still some challenges ahead for the professional cyclists.
