Roglic cuts into O’Connor’s Spanish Vuelta lead with 2nd stage win

CAZORLA, Spain (AP) — Primoz Roglic grabbed his second stage victory of the 2024 Spanish Vuelta as the three-time champion cut Ben O’Connor’s race lead on Saturday.

Roglic attacked on the final ascent of the 159-kilometer (99-mile) hilly ride from Ubeda to Cazorla to claim the eighth stage and add to his win on the fourth leg.

The Slovenian cyclist for Red Bull-Bora hansgrohe, who won the Vuelta from 2019-2021, now has 14 stage victories in the three-week race.

Roglic broke away from the leader’s group on the category-three climb and passed the three breakaway riders to cross the finish line in 3 hours, 38 minutes. Only Enric Mas of Movistar could keep pace but he was no match for the stage winner in their mini-sprint. Mikel Landa was third, a few seconds behind.

Roglic took a 55-second bite, including the 10-second winner’s bonus, out of O’Connor’s lead. The Australian leads Roglic by 3 minutes, 49 seconds overall.

João Almeida entered the day in third place overall but he faded on the last climb and tumbled in the standings. Mas moved into third, at 4:31 back.

Sunday’s ninth stage is a mountainous 178.5-kilometer (110-mile) rider from Motril to Granada that includes three category-one climbs. That will be followed by a rest day, after which the race moves to Spain’s cooler northwest.

The 21-stage race finishes in Madrid on Sept. 8.

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