BECERRIL DE LA SIERRA, Spain – Primoz Roglic took a step closer to winning the Spanish Vuelta with a strong second-place finish on the 18th stage Thursday, as he icnreased his overall lead entering the final stretch of the three-week race.
Colombian Sergio Higuita won the 110.3-mile stage after breaking away and fending off a late charge by Roglic and Alejandro Valverde.
It was the first Grand Tour stage win for the 22-year-old rider from team EF Education First.
“I didn’t have any energy left, but I had my heart set on those dreams I’ve chased for so long,” Higuita said. “I was very emotional at the finish line because there were so many Colombian fans there.”
Roglic, a Slovenian riding for team Jumbo-Visma, increased his lead to 2 minutes, 50 seconds going into the final two competitive stages before the finale in Madrid on Sunday.
“It was another hard day and the team was super strong again,” Roglic said. “We need to continue our good job. Every day is important, we learned our lesson yesterday and I expect full-gas racing every day.”
Once again, Durango’s Sepp Kuss played a key role in support of Roglic. The 24-year-old who won Stage 15 finished the stage 12th, 3:47 behind the time of Higuita. Fellow American Jumbo-Visma rider Neilson Powless also was strong, as he finished 22nd, 4:50 behind the winning time.
“Everything went right today,” Jumbo-Visma team director Addy Engels said in a team news release. “Neilson was in the dangerous break. The other guys did also a tremendous job. We always had control of the race. On the last climb, Primoz showed us that he still has all of his good shape. Teamwork of the highest level.”
Kuss has starred in his third Grand Tour start and second Vuelta appearance. He is now 22nd in the overall standings with several key climbing performances to go with his win on Stage 15.
Valverde, the veteran Spaniard from team Movistar, moved back to second overall after this third-place finish Thursday.
“There are two hard days left,” the 39-year-old Valverde said. “We can still win it or lose it.”
Nairo Quintana, Valverde’s teammate, had been 2:24 behind Roglic after a strong charge in Wednesday’s stage. But the Colombian ended up losing ground and dropped to third overall.
Fellow Colombian Miguel Ángel López made several attacks on Thursday but couldn’t keep up with Roglic. He was fourth overall, more than four minutes off the lead.
“There is a lot of terrain left, with two interesting stages on which, being strong, we can pull off something interesting,” López said.
On Friday, riders will face a flat 102.6-mile stage that will end in Toledo.
The Durango Herald contributed to this report.
