Before the three decisive stages of the Tour of Spain, top favorite Primoz Roglic remains in waiting position. The three-time Vuelta winner reached the finish line on the 18th stage over 179.5 kilometers from Vitoria-Gasteiz to Maestu 6:40 minutes behind the Spanish stage winner Urko Berrade together with the overall winner Ben O’Connor in a chasing group. This means that Roglic is still only five seconds behind the Australian, who was able to collect his 13th red jersey in a row.
However, Roglic is likely to regain the lead in the two mountain finishes on Friday and Saturday. The Red Bull captain had already steadily reduced his deficit on the last mountain stages. In addition, as an outstanding time trialist, he holds all the trump cards in his hand in the final battle against the clock in Madrid on Sunday.
The loser of the day was the Spaniard Mikel Landa, who lost more than three minutes to the group of favorites and thus had to give up his fifth place. This also meant that the German youngster Florian Lipowitz moved up to eighth place overall.
On Friday, the 19th stage ends with the first category mountain finish at Alto de Moncalvillo. The route then climbs an average gradient of 8.9 percent over 8.6 kilometers.
© dpa-infocom, dpa:240905-930-224310/1
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