"I won't say who, but they didn't listen": stage win for Rogic wasn't just his doing

It finally happened. The long-awaited Primoz Roglic takeover. That was the story on Friday in the Vuelta a España, where the Slovenian rider from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe won the stage on the Alto de Moncalvillo and took over the lead in the general classification from the Australian Ben O'Connor of Decathlon AG2R.

Roglic claimed his third stage win, although for him, it wasn't necessary. "I said: I don’t need the stage win. But other guys, I won’t say who, decided they wouldn’t listen to me and started pulling at the front." In other words: teammates like Nico Denz and Patrick Gamper wanted to push hard.

"In the end, I had to go along with it, so we would all be on the same page," joked Roglic, who now has a two-minute lead over O'Connor. Enric Mas (Movistar, 2 minutes and 20 seconds behind) and Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost, at 2 minutes and 54 seconds) follow right behind.

"I am a bit surprised by the size of the lead. It’s certainly better than being five minutes behind. I’m happy with how things are going and the guys around me," Roglic complimented his teammates. Roger Adria, Giovanni Aleotti, Daniel Felipe Martinez and Aleksandr Vlasov put Roglic in a perfect position on Friday, while Florian Lipowitz created the crucial gap that left Mas and Carapaz trailing.

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Roglic is not claiming the win yet

Saturday’s tough mountain stage to Picon Blanco is still on the agenda, so Roglic isn’t celebrating just yet. "It’s not over. I keep saying that the queen stage is still coming. Saturday’s stage is the big one. It’s an incredibly tough stage, and on Sunday, I still have to stay sharp for the final time trial," he referred to the chrono in and around the Spanish capital, Madrid.