Vuelta a España: Primoz Roglic wins stage 13 time trial

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The red jersey of the Vuelta a España traded hands once more after the stage 13 time trial in Galicia, with Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) enjoying a third spell in the race lead after overhauling the 10-second deficit to Ineos Grenadiers' Richard Carapaz on the Mirador de Ézaro.

Roglič took the stage win with a time of 46:39 on the 33.7-kilometre course, which was flat all the way to the brutal 1.8-kilometre final climb. His victory came by just a single second ahead of CCC's young American Will Barta, who had sat in the hot seat for an hour and a half, waiting for the possibility of taking his first pro win.

"It's beautiful eh," said Roglič after the stage. "It's nice – it was a long time since I won a time trial – it's a super nice day. I feel strong – surprisingly. I thought I would suffer a lot more, but I went quite fine and it was quite good."

Last year, Roglič stamped his authority on the Vuelta with his time trial performance in Pau but in the Tour de France this summer, he famously cracked on a somewhat similar course and lost the maillot jaune to Tadej Pogacar on the penultimate stage.

Jumbo-Visma came into the stage confident that Roglic would take time on Carapaz,.

"Everyone said you will take time – but we all start on the same time from zero. We all know it's not really a fun thing to do a time trial but today I had the legs and I could do a nice time trial," Roglič said.

Carapaz would end up shedding 49 seconds to Roglič at the finish, less than expected but still leaving himself a mountain to climb ahead of the final mountain to climb – the Alto de la Covatilla on Saturday. EF Pro Cycling's challenger Hugh Carthy had a better day, limiting his loss to just 25 seconds, having earlier gone quicker than Roglič at the first checkpoint.

It was a worse day on the bike for Israel Start-Up Nation climber Dan Martin, however. The Irishman put in a good ride to finish 13th overall but lost 1:17 to Roglič, and now lies 55 seconds off a podium spot.

Heading into stage 14, likely an uphill sprint in Ourense, and possibly a chance for Roglič to grab an extra second or two given his finishing burst, he leads Carapaz by 39 seconds in the general classification. Carthy lies 47 seconds down, with Martin at 1:42 and Enric Mas (Movistar) a distant 3:32 in fifth place.

"It's better [to be] 39 in front than 39 behind. We need to keep the focus, the guys are really strong and we will fight for it," Roglic said.

How it unfolded

The 33.7-kilometre time trial from Muros to Mirador de Ézaro in the westernmost province of Spain, Galicia, would prove to be one of the final chances for the general classification men to influence the final rankings, ahead of an uphill finish at Ourense and then a far more challenging summit finish at the Alto de la Covatilla on Saturday.

Though it would be a largely flat run for over 30 kilometres, the parcours had a sting in the tail in the form of the Mirador de Ézaro climb, a 1.8-kilometre wall with an average gradient of 14.2 per cent.

Vuelta debutant, AG2R La Mondiale's Harry Tanfield set the early running with a time of 48:52, with Mitchelton-Scott rider Alex Edmondson besting the Briton's time soon after. Edmondson set a time of 48:24 at the finish, a time that would stand for around half an hour before Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-QuickStep) came home.

The Frenchman, nicknamed the TGV of Clermont-Ferrand, blew the times of the first 49 men to head out, putting in a time of 47:37 at the finish. He was one of the pre-stage favourites. Riders came and went, with Jasha Sütterlin (Sunweb) coming closest to pushing Cavagna out of the hot seat with a time of 47:46.

It wasn't until Movistar's Nelson Oliveira completed his run, the Portuguese rider having a great ride to take over half a minute off Cavagna's time, crossing the line with a time of 46:49. Groupama-FDJ's Bruno Armirail also deserved a hat tip for his ride, coming in 31 seconds down on Oliveira.

Barta, a Hagens Berman Axeon alumnus racing the final Grand Tour of the CCC Team's 14-year history, was the next man into the hot seat at the finish. The 24-year-old set the quickest times at both intermediate checkpoints – at 12 and 24.5 kilometres – before taking nine seconds off Oliveira at the line.

With Barta sitting 25th overall heading into the stage, it wasn't long before the top general classification contenders set off to begin their runs. Marc Soler (Movistar) and Mattia Cattaneo (Deceuninck-QuickStep) both put in strong runs from 19th and 18th places, registering times well under 48 minutes to move into the provisional top 10.

UAE Team Emirates leader David de la Cruz staked his claim for the top 10 overall, going sixth-fastest with a time of 47:38, while back on the course the podium contenders had already started their efforts.

It was a close-run thing at the first checkpoint as Carthy went through the first checkpoint in a time of 14:48, surprisingly two seconds up on Roglič. Carapaz was holding up well a further four seconds back, while the fourth-placed man overall Martin had lost 25 seconds to Carthy.

At the second check 12.5 kilometres later, the Irishman was 59 seconds down, while Roglič had sped up, gaining three seconds on Carthy and 19 on Carapaz to vault him into the virtual race lead. The Slovenian was still 17 seconds down on Barta at that point though, with the American facing a nervous wait over the final nine kilometres for what would possibly be his first professional win.

With bike changes necessary for the GC men on the steep slopes of the finishing climb, it was good to see that none of the big names were held up during the changeover at the bottom. Wout Poels (Bahrain McLaren) was the first of the top 10 to finish with a top 10 time, crossing the line in 47:51 to solidify his sixth place overall.

Back down the climb and all eyes were on Martin, Carthy, Roglič and Carapaz as the quartet battled their way up the double-digit gradients, which reached towards 20 per cent in places. Martin finished first, setting a time of 47:56 – solid, but a time that would see him cede a chunk of time in the fight for the podium.

Carthy went third fastest at the top, his 47:04 time 24 seconds down on Barta. Roglič, meanwhile, had fully turned it around since the first checkpoint, gaining 25 seconds over Carthy at the line and breaking Barta's heart to beat the American to the stage win by a solitary second.

Only Carapaz remained out on course at that point, the Ecuadorian seeking to limit his losses to Roglič ahead of a final chance to retake red on the Covatilla. He would end up losing 30 seconds between the second checkpoint and the finish as Roglič grabbed the race lead back, possibly for the final time, by 39 seconds.