CUITU NEGRU, Spain: Pablo Castrillo has claimed his second stage win in the Spanish Vuelta, while Primož Roglič has moved closer to overall leader Ben O’Connor despite a 20-second penalty for drafting behind a team car.

Race officials have penalised Roglič, a three-time Vuelta champion, after reviewing footage and determining he had illegally sheltered behind the car.

Castrillo, a 23-year-old rider from team Kern Pharma, grabbed the 15th-stage victory on Sunday after a mountainous 143-km route over three peaks to the special-category summit finish atop the infamous Cuitu Negru.

The win came three days after Castrillo prevailed at the Manzaneda summit to honour team founder Manolo Azcona, who passed away that day.

“The truth is I didn’t expect it,” Castrillo said after the race on Sunday. “This morning I came with the intention to make the break and see how it would go but I didn’t expect to get there in a position to win. The first victory was unbelievable but to get a second one is a dream. I think it’s the best Vuelta possible. I don’t know what else to say.”

Castrillo surged ahead to outpace Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Aleksandr Vlasov and UAE Team Emirates’ Pavel Sivakov, securing victory as the general classification (GC) contenders battled on gruelling slopes.

Enric Mas of Movistar and Roglič of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe were the strongest among the GC rivals. The Slovenian was not able to grab the red jersey from O’Connor but moved closer to the overall lead with another strong climb. He is 1 minute, 3 seconds behind O’Connor.

Eight riders, including Jay Vine of UAE Team Emirates and Kasper Asgreen of T-Rex Quick-Step, launched an early breakaway but were caught with 95 km remaining. Twenty-one riders then broke away toward the second ascent, the category-3 Alto de Santo Emiliano.

Marc Soler of UAE Team Emirates then set a punishing pace, with seven riders, including Vine, Sivakov, and Vlasov, reaching the summit at the end of 87.6km. Vine established a gap of 3 minutes 5 seconds’ at the base of the final climb to the Cuitu Negru.

In a dramatic finish, Castrillo attacked with 3 km remaining, eventually leaving Vlasov behind. Among the GC contenders, Roglič made the first move, but Mas responded, and they finished together—1 minute 4 seconds behind Castrillo and 38 seconds ahead of O’Connor.

“I guess I’ve proven wrong the people who expected me to lose the jersey. I had a pretty good day,” O’Connor said. “It’s a bit of a shame that I exploded a bit at the end but that’s gotta be one of the most horrible endings to a climb that I’ve ever done, it was disgusting. It was kind of only one attack and that was Primož, super impressive, then it was very much man against man that climb.”

Riders will have a rest day on Monday before heading into a final week filled with intense battles, culminating in the grand finish in Madrid on September 8. (With inputs from agencies)