Primož Roglič ‘better’ on Cuitu Negru in Vuelta a España, closes gap to Ben O’Connor

In Spanish, ‘estar en Babia’ roughly means to be distracted or oblivious to what is at hand. The curious expression derives from the craggy green dreamscape of the Babia area, a stone’s throw east of Cuitu Negru, where the men vying to win the Vuelta a España were riding to within an inch of oblivion on Sunday afternoon.

On the wickedly steep upper reaches of Cuitu Negru, each rider was condemned to his own private nightmare, and the solitary nature of the effort was heightened by the thick, pea-soup fog that swathed the mountaintop. They could scarcely see the reading on their power meters, far less keep track of all their rivals.