A pleasant ride in the sunshine with panoramic shots of sandy Cantabrian seashores, sweeping cliffs and verdant countryside, finished with a 2km climb. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), scenting bonus seconds going begging, his third stage victory and quite possibly the red leader’s jersey, attacked the leading bunch to solo across the line just ahead of the other GC contenders. Felix Grossschartner (BORA) and Andrea Bagioli (QuickStep) finished respectively second and third on the stage. Crucially for Roglic, his 10 bonus seconds and three-second advantage put him on the same time as former race leader Richard Carapaz (INEOS) who, on count back, now sits in second spot. That aside, the top ten on general classification remained unchanged.

Not one for the sprinters

Conventional wisdom had this stage as one for the break, the puncheurs or maybe even the sprinters. Ahead of this weekend’s dastardly double-header, few had considered the GC contenders.

To be honest, it was a slow boil and I was almost tempted to copy yesterday’s stage review and just change a few of the names.

Yes, it was that thrilling until the final 12km when a number of riders livened things up by launching what were ultimately unsuccessful attacks.

INEOS lead the much-reduced bunch screaming and streaming into the final obstacle.

The race was red-hot in the final 500 metres as KOM Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) fired off the front, stringing out the bunch but, much to the despair of the French commentary team, the Frenchman was slowly reeled in as the gradient increased, before Roglic came flying through, leaving everyone flailing in his wake. He had enough time to check behind him before lifting his arms as he crossed the line for his third stage win and took back the red jersey from Carapaz.

Who’s in red?

Initially Roglic and Carapaz, who finished 14th, were given the same times for the stage but this was quickly corrected.

Let’s enjoy that last kilometre again!

After his victory, the Slovenian stage winner said:

I’m super happy. It’s never easy but I had the legs and this is really really nice. I’m one year older [after turning 31 years old on Thursday] so I’m stronger. It’s like wine, the older the better. I’m back in red. It doesn’t really change things for my team. We need to keep the momentum going. We have a weekend in the mountains. It will be fun to watch and we’ll do our best.

The Last Word

Stage 10 Results

1 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 4:14:11

2 Felix Grossschartner (BORA-hansgrohe) same time

3 Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck -QuickStep) s/t

4 Alex Aranburu (Astana) s/t

5 Robert Stannard (Mitchelton-Scott) s/t

GC Top 10

1 Primoz Roglic (Jumbo Visma) 40:25:15

2 Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) same time

3 Dan Martin (Israel Start Up) +0:25

4 Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling)   +0:51

5 Enric Mas (Movistar) +1:54

6 Felix Grossschartner (BORA-hansgrohe) +3:19

7 Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) +3:28

8  Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +3:35

9 Wout Poels Bahrain-McLaren) +3:47

10 Marc Soler (Movistar)+3:52

All the jerseys

Leader’s jersey  Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

Points jersey Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma)

King of the Mountains Guillaume Martin (Cofidis)

Best Young Rider Enric Mas (Movistar)

For full race reviews, go to cyclingnews

Official race website: Vuelta a Espana

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