La Vuelta a España
Roglič seizes Vuelta lead after stage 19 triumph
With a dominant uphill finish, the Slovenian rider overtakes O'Connor, pushing closer to a fourth Vuelta title ahead of the mountain showdown.
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ALTO DE MONCALVILLO, Spain: Primož Roglič has taken a big step towards winning a fourth Spanish Vuelta title after claiming the race lead from Ben O’Connor with two stages left.
Roglič entered Stage 19 five seconds behind O’Connor but the Australian could not keep up as his rival powered uphill to the finish atop the category-one Alto de Moncalvillo in northern Spain.
Roglič’s 15th career stage win at his favourite race left him with a commanding lead of 1 minute, 54 seconds over O’Connor. Enric Mas is third overall, 2:20 behind. Richard Carapaz is 2:54 behind and within striking range of the podium.
Roglič won the 173.5-km stage that started in Logroño in 3 hours, 54 minutes. David Gaudu was second, while O’Connor finished 12th.
O’Connor had led the three-week race since the Australian won Stage 6 and established a lead of nearly five minutes over Roglič. But Roglič has since taken successive bites out of that advantage before moving ahead with his third stage win of this edition of the race.
Saturday’s 20th stage is a gruelling mountain ride of 172-km over seven categorised peaks.
The Vuelta concludes on Sunday with a time trial in Madrid. (AP)
