Primoz Roglic is getting closer to his fourth overall victory and thus the record success at the 79th Vuelta a España. The Slovenian cycling star from the top German team Red Bull took the lead in the overall standings on the 19th stage. Two days before the final stage in Madrid, the 34-year-old is leading with a solid lead of 1:54 minutes over Ben O’Connor.
The Australian had snatched the red jersey from Roglic on the sixth stage and did not give it up until his opponent’s powerful attack on the Alto de Moncalvillo on Friday. On the 173.5 kilometers between Logroño and the mountain finish, Roglic won ahead of the Frenchman David Gaudu and the Dane Mattias Skjelmose. The young German professional Florian Lipowitz came tenth.
Red Bull with strong team performance
With just under six kilometers to go, Roglic and his noble helper Alexander Vlasov pulled away powerfully. Shortly afterwards, he was on his own and celebrated on the mountain Alto de Moncalvillo, which was very familiar to him. In 2020, he won the eighth stage there ahead of his then rival Richard Carapaz. Roglic later took his second overall victory at the Vuelta.
The decision will be made this weekend as to whether Roglic can lift the Vuelta trophy for the fourth time. With victory he would become the sole record winner.
Before that, the final climb with seven climbs, including three in the first category, is still to come on Saturday. The Tour of Spain ends on Sunday with an individual time trial in Madrid. That should not be a problem for the strong time trialist Roglic.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240906-930-225426/1
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