The Primož Roglič era at the Vuelta a España isn’t over yet. When the Slovenian conceded over a minute to Remco Evenepoel on Pico Jano two days ago, it was tempting to couch the moment as a passing of the torch. Roglič’s performance at Colláu Fancuaya on stage 8 confirmed that such an assessment was a touch premature.
Evenepoel was, once again, the strongest of the general classification contenders on the first part of the Vuelta’s arduous weekend in Asturias, a point he underlined with a defiant effort to win the sprint for fifth on the stage after shredding the red jersey group in the final 4km of the climb. The Belgian, as the Clásica San Sebastián suggested and Pico Jano confirmed, is the man of the moment, and he passed his first real test as Vuelta leader with consummate assurance here.
As at Pico Jano, Enric Mas (Movistar) turned himself inside out to hold Evenepoel’s wheel, and he remains 28 seconds down in second place overall. But this time out, they had Roglič for company. The pre-race favourite moves up to third overall, 1:01 off Evenepoel. He’s still here.
“It was good to see Primož being really strong today: it’s nice to see him like this, it’s good for the race,” Evenepoel said afterwards. Perhaps, but it’s hardly good for Evenepoel – his most dangerous rival remains resolutely in the fight for final overall victory.
The low cloud that swept over Colláu Fancuaya caused live television footage to cut out just as Evenepoel was beginning his show of forcing with 4km remaining. At that point, there were over a dozen riders lined up behind the Belgian. By the time he emerged from the mist at the finish, he had only Mas and Roglič for company.
Beyond the line, Evenepoel looked strikingly fresh as he chatted amiably with his QuickStep-AlphaVinyl soigneur before being ushered towards the podium. “Whoooh,” he exhaled after a swig from his recovery drink.
Roglič, by contrast, was more haggard of expression as his soigneur pushed him away from the finish area, but the winning – and losing – of Grand Tours comes in managing the bad days as much as taking advantage of the good ones.
The jury is still out, of course, as to Roglič’s true condition in the aftermath of the fractured vertebrae that ended his Tour de France prematurely. Victory at Laguardia on stage 4 suggested the recovery was complete, but Pico Jano highlighted that he is not pedalling with the vim of twelve months ago. Sunday’s stiff finale at…
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