Villarcayo. Slovenian Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) consolidated his position in the red jersey of the overall lead of the Vuelta a España with one day to go by finishing third in stage 20, where Irishman Eddie Dumbar (Team Jayco-Aula) was the first to cross the finish line.
Mexican Isaac del Toro (UAE Team Emirates), who is competing in his first elite cycling competition, recovered in this stage after having fallen to 44th place on Friday following an unfortunate performance in the penultimate stage.
Now, the tricolor improved its performance and was number 20 to reach the goal of climbing the ladder in the general table and placing 37th.
Roglic (Bora-Hansgrohe) crossed the finish line of the queen stage 10 seconds behind Dunbar and three behind the Spaniard Enric Mas (Movistar Team), second in the stage and third overall.
The Slovenian will go into the final stage 2 minutes and 2 seconds ahead of Australian Ben O’Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale).
The final stage will be held on Sunday in the streets of Madrid in a 24-kilometre time trial, in which, barring any incident, Roglic will fly towards a fourth Vuelta a España title thanks to the comfortable lead he has managed to hold on the day of the finale.
Roglic has already done the most difficult part. The demanding stage on Saturday in the province of Burgos, 172 kilometres long but with seven climbs on the route and 5,000 metres of positive gradient, was the main obstacle before his Madrid crown.
Things were not looking easy for Roglic’s team on Saturday. Colombian Daniel Felipe Martinez and Austrian Patrick Gamper both retired due to illness, while Russian Alexandr Vlasov soon found himself in trouble.
Food poisoning could have caused these problems, which could have destabilized the leader of the Vuelta, but Roglic did not give up and continued flying high.
Colombian Richard Carapaz remains the best Latin American in the competition, placing fourth in the overall standings, three minutes behind the leader.
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– 2024-09-10 12:35:57
