Slovenian Tadej Pogacar claimed his second stage win of this year’s Vuelta a España at the top of Los Machucos today.
The final kilometre of the 166.4km 13th stage came down to a battle between the UAE Team Emirates rider and fellow countryman, as well as overall leader, Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma).
Pierre Latour (AG2R LA Mondiale) finished third, 27 seconds later.
The 20-year-old Pogacar, who also claimed victory on stage nine, became the youngest rider ever to win two mountain stages in a Grand Tour.
“At the start I didn’t know I would feel so good on the last climb,” said the stage winner.
“In fact, I just wanted to survive because after stage seven I just really wanted to not lose too much, but in the end it was an incredible day for me.
“I heard on the radio that nobody was following me and Roglic, and I realised it was a good opportunity. With Roglic it’s difficult if you’re up against him because he’s really strong, but I could do it today and I’m really happy.”
Earlier Latour, who was in an initial 29-man breakaway group, led the race on the Los Machucos climb with 4.5km to go.
Roglic then attacked the GC group, which was one minute behind the leader. But Pogacar, who was also part of the group, managed to push on.
The two favourites caught Latour with 1.5km to go and dropped him as they fought their way to the finish.
Roglic also extended his lead over Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who finished fourth today, to 2:25.
Tadej Pogacar won stage 13 of the Vuelta a España atop Los Machucos today. Photo: Unipublic/Photogomez Sport
View the results below.
Stage 13 results
1. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates 4:28:26
2. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma
3. Pierre Latour (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale +0:00:27
4. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team
5. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team
6. Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe
7. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team +0:01:01
8. Gianluca Brambilla (Ita) Trek-Segafredo +0:01:08
9. Marc Soler (Spa) Movistar Team
10. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
*Selected
104. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data +0:21:17
128. Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin +0:24:39
137. Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data +0:25:28
138. Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data
General classification
1. Primoz Roglic (Slo) Team Jumbo-Visma 49:20:28
2. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar Team +0:02:25
3. Tadej Pogacar (Slo) UAE Team Emirates +0:03:01
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team +0:03:18
5. Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar Team +0:03:33
6. Rafal Majka (Pol) Bora-Hansgrohe +0:06:15
7. Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits +0:07:18
8. Carl Fredrik Hagen (Nor) Lotto Soudal +0:07:33
9. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb +0:07:39
10. Dylan Teuns (Bel) Bahrain-Merida +0:09:58
*Selected
44. Louis Meintjes (RSA) Dimension Data +1:05:02
96. Nicholas Dlamini (RSA) Dimension Data +1:52:13
101. Willie Smit (RSA) Katusha-Alpecin +1:56:22
134. Jaco Venter (RSA) Dimension Data +2:25:00
