Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) moved back into the overall lead of the Vuelta a España after he won stage 17 atop Lagos de Covadonga. Roglič placed a hefty down payment on final overall victory after he dropped breakaway companion Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) with 7.6km of the climb remaining. He reached the summit 1:35 of teammate Sepp Kuss, who was part of a chasing group that caught Bernal just shy of the final kilometre.
In the overall standings, Roglič is now 2:22 clear of Enric Mas (Movistar) and 3:11 ahead of Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar).
Bernal launched an ambitious offensive with 61km remaining after his Ineos Grenadiers team had splintered the red jersey group on the second ascent of Collada Llomena. Only Roglič could match Bernal’s seated acceleration almost 5km shy of the summit, and the pair had 43 seconds in hand on the rest of the podium contenders by the time they reached the top.
Roglič began to collaborate with Bernal on the treacherous descent and in the long valley road that followed, and they stretched their advantage over the chasers out to two minutes on the approach to Lagos de Covadonga.
By then, maillot rojo Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert) had been long dropped by the chasing group and he then suffered the indignity of crashing on the descent of Collada Llomena. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis), who had faint ambitions of inheriting the red jersey, was in turn distanced once the climb of Lagos de Covadonga began.
Ahead of the final ascent, Bahrain Victorious led the pursuit of the Roglič-Bernal tandem on behalf of Jack Haig, and they cut the deficit to 1:20 come the foot of Lagos de Covadonga, but the race took on another guise once the road climbed again.
Roglič took over from Bernal with 12km to go, and his determined forcing would eventually prove too much for the Giro d’Italia champion, who allowed a gap to open with 7.6km to go. Impassive of expression and metronomic of pedalling, Roglič quickly expanded his advantage over Bernal to a minute and it was immediately clear that the stage and the red jersey would be his at day’s end.
Enric Mas (Movistar) sparked the attacking from the chasing group midway up the climb, with Adam Yates (Ineos) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Movistar) also active, but they were competing in a different race to the untouchable Roglič.
The succession of attacks and counter-attacks brought an elite group of chasers up to Bernal with 1500m remaining, with Kuss proving the strongest in the final reckoning, and he outkicked Lopez, Yates, Haig, Bernal and Gino Mäder (Bahrain Victorious) to second place.
More to follow…
| Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma | 4:34:45 |
| 2 | Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma | 0:01:35 |
| 3 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team | |
| 4 | Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | |
| 5 | Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious | |
| 6 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | |
| 7 | Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers | |
| 8 | Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious | |
| 9 | Louis Meintjes (RSA) Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert Matériaux | 0:02:29 |
| 10 | Clément Champoussin (Fra) AG2R Citroën Team | 0:02:44 |
| Pos. | Rider Name (Country) Team | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Slo) Jumbo-Visma | 68:42:56 |
| 2 | Enric Mas Nicolau (Spa) Movistar Team | 0:02:22 |
| 3 | Miguel Angel Lopez Moreno (Col) Movistar Team | 0:03:11 |
| 4 | Jack Haig (Aus) Bahrain Victorious | 0:03:46 |
| 5 | Guillaume Martin (Fra) Cofidis | 0:04:16 |
| 6 | Egan Bernal Gomez (Col) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:04:29 |
| 7 | Adam Yates (GBr) Ineos Grenadiers | 0:04:45 |
| 8 | Sepp Kuss (USA) Jumbo-Visma | 0:05:04 |
| 9 | Felix Grossschartner (Aut) Bora-Hansgrohe | 0:06:54 |
| 10 | Gino Mäder (Swi) Bahrain Victorious | 0:06:58 |
