VITORIA-GASTEIZ, Spain: Urko Berrade made a late move to escape the breakaway group and win the 18th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Thursday, with Ben O’Connor holding on to a five-second lead over three-time champion Primoz Roglic.

It was the third stage win for team Kern Pharma, whose founder — Manolo Azcona — passed away last week. Pablo Castrillo, another Spaniard, had won twice following Azcona’s death.

Spanish riders have won four Vuelta stages so far, their best tally since 2019.

“Without a doubt, it’s a dream,” Berrade said. “The stage closer to home, with all my family watching me, friends, in the last stages of La Vuelta… When there are so few opportunities left it seemed complicated to get a stage. I’ve been close in others, but it’s incredible. At the end, that last climb, with everyone pretty cooked, they told me: ‘You all have a chance, try it.’ I tried from there, almost without looking back, I tried not to look back. I didn’t see myself as the winner until I crossed the finish line.”

Berrade made his move to the front with about five kilometres to go in the 179.5-km mid-mountain stage through Basque Country roads.

O’Connor and Roglic finished together again, and the gap between the two remained at five seconds entering the decisive stages and the weekend finish in Madrid. Enric Mas was also in contention, 1 minute, 25 seconds off the lead.

“It wasn’t an easy stage at all, to be honest. There are no easy days this year,” said O’Connor, an Australian. “But somehow, I’m still managing to crack out some pretty good numbers, so I don’t think it makes any difference now. And I’m still in the lead. It’s nice to have it for another day. I don’t know if it’s 13 or 14 days, a long time. I’ve loved it and I enjoyed it a lot.”

On Friday, riders will face a 173.5-km route that includes a challenging climb of nearly 10 km. (AP)