PUERTO DE ANCARES, Spain: Michael Woods won the mountainous 13th stage of the Spanish Vuelta on Friday, while Primož Roglič took another bite out of the race lead held by Ben O’Connor.

Woods dropped the other breakaway riders and finished the 176-km route from Lugo to a category-one finish at Puerto de Ancares 45 seconds ahead of runner-up Mauro Schmid.

It was the fourth career win in the Grand Tour stage and third at the Vuelta for the 37-year-old Canadian cyclist. This triumph comes a year after he conquered the formidable Puy-de-Dôme slopes in the Tour de France.

Roglic of the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team attacked the group of title challengers and opened up gaps in the general classification group. He carved almost two minutes out of O’Connor’s lead, who has seen the nearly five-minute lead he established on Stage 6 shrink to 1:21 over the three-time Vuelta champion.

Vine and McNulty suffered a significant crash on the downhill segment, forcing both riders to drop out of contention for the stage win despite their efforts to recover. With the race dynamics shifting, attention turned to the final ascent where Van Aert, Soler, Oomen, Woods, and Schmid were poised for a thrilling battle for the stage victory.

Schmid sets off with 5km to go, with Woods on his wheel. And the Canadian went solo 500 metres later.

The three-week race stays in northwestern Spain on Saturday for Stage 14, a mountainous 200-km ride from Villafranca del Bierzo to Villablino. It finishes in Madrid on September 8. (Agencies)