Rigoberto Uran won stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday after a swashbuckling high-altitude struggle to a mountaintop monastery in Extremadura as defending champion Primoz Roglic withdrew injured.
Aiming for a fourth straight Vuelta Roglic was a non-starter due to injuries from a fall Tuesday when he was trying to gain time on race leader Remco Evenepoel, who Wednesday lost five seconds to his closest rival Movistar’s Enric Mas.
The Belgian leads by 2min 01sec with 19-year-old Juan Ayuso of UAE in third.
“We have to do something,” Mas, a two-time Vuelta runner-up said, already thinking about the four peaks on Thursday’s stage 18.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do tomorrow, but if we have good legs and a good feeling, and the atmosphere in the team is super good, we have to do something,” he added.
Colombia’s Uran was completing a collection of stage wins in all three of cycling’s Grand Tours.