Epic battle in Vuelta as Roglic gains time, but his teammate is beaten!

The second full weekend of the Vuelta was a tough one. After Michael Woods won a challenging mountain stage on Friday, Kaden Groves pulled off a surprise victory the following day. The Australian rider from Alpecin-Deceuninck took advantage of the hard work done by Visma | Lease a Bike, survived a grueling 22-kilometer climb, and managed to outsprint the green jersey holder Wout van Aert. However, Sunday was another day for the pure climbers: the uphill finish to Cuitu Negru had long been marked as a key stage for the general classification contenders. The 19-kilometer climb averaged a 7% gradient, but the last three kilometers were especially brutal, with sections as steep as 24%!

From the very start, it was a fierce battle. Many riders were eager to get into the breakaway. After a while, seven riders broke clear, including Jay Vine (UAE Team Emirates), Max Poole (dsm-firmenich-PostNL), and eventual stage winner Pablo Castrillo (Equipo Kern Pharma). But the action was far from over: on the first climb of the day, the steep Alto de la Colladiella, Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) launched an attack. He was joined by Michael Woods (Israel-Premier Tech), and their move posed a threat to the overall standings. As a result, the peloton picked up the pace, bringing everything back together after the climb.

As a result, there was a flurry of attacks, leading to a group of 21 riders breaking away. Among them were Vine once again, along with his teammates Marc Soler and Pavel Sivakov, Steven Kruijswijk (Visma | Lease a Bike), Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe), Bruno Armirail (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious), Quentin Pacher, and Stefan Küng (Groupama-FDJ). The riders from the UAE team had a plan and kept the pace high. This caused a split during the second pass over the Alto de la Colladiella. As a result, seven riders reached the base of Cuitu Negru: Vine, Sivakov, Castrillo, Vlasov, Küng, and Pacher.

The peloton never let the breakaway get too far ahead; the gap never exceeded three minutes. Mikel Landa had his team, Soudal Quick-Step, set the pace. Just before the start of the final climb, Roglic switched bikes: this turned out to be a tactical move by the Slovenian from Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe. He took a proper climbing bike, fitted with a tiny gear ratio. With the help of his team, he rejoined the peloton in plenty of time. Meanwhile, the breakaway group was reduced to three riders: Sivakov was setting the pace, with Vlasov and Castrillo still able to follow. The real hard work was yet to begin. The Frenchman from the UAE team managed to keep the gap around three minutes.

Halfway up the climb, the pace increased in the group of favorites—by this point, it could hardly be called a peloton. A strong Mattia Cattaneo was riding for his leader Landa, causing the back of the group to open up. Notably absent was Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale). The Austrian, a key support rider for red jersey holder O'Connor, was no longer there. Meanwhile, the favorites were closing in rapidly on the leading three. Six kilometers from the finish, it was over for Cattaneo, prompting Landa to make a break for it. He accelerated but was followed by most of the favorites. Among others, Matthias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek) and Carlos Rodriguez (INEOS Grenadiers) were left struggling to keep up.

After Landa's acceleration, Lipowitz took the lead for his team leader, Roglic. The pace wasn’t too high initially, which allowed Skjelmose, Rodriguez, and Eddie Dunbar (Jayco AlUla) to catch back up. Meanwhile, the breakaway riders continued pushing hard, starting the last three kilometers with a two-minute lead. Castrillo, who had been hanging on at the back, suddenly launched a spectacular attack, leaving his breakaway companions behind. At the same time, Lipowitz ramped up the pace with Roglic right on his wheel. The tempo was so intense that only Roglic could keep up. O'Connor tried to respond but couldn't stay with the two riders from the German team for long.

As the red jersey wearer, O'Connor took the lead among the chasers, but they could only watch as Roglic pulled further ahead. The three-time Vuelta winner climbed steadily, putting more distance between himself and O'Connor. The Australian couldn't keep the pace, allowing Mas to close in on his Slovenian rival. A determined Skjelmose also tried to bridge the gap. Up front, Castrillo was joined by Vlasov, and with a comfortable lead over the main contenders, they were free to battle it out for the stage win.

In the punishing final kilometer, where gradients reached over 20%, neither of the two leaders gave an inch. Castrillo launched a fierce attack, but Vlasov held on. The Spaniard attacked twice more, but Vlasov wouldn't crack. It wasn’t until the last few hundred meters, with a final burst of speed, that Castrillo managed to break away. This secured his second stage win of the Vuelta in a spectacular fashion. Behind them, Mas and Roglic were the first of the favorites to cross the finish line. O'Connor eventually lost 35 seconds to them but managed to keep his leader’s jersey.