Stage 21

The road

At the start

Thirty-four kilometres to the cathedral

Yesterday's stand-off cost Miguel Ángel López his podium and then his race: he stopped riding on the road to Santiago and abandoned. Roglič carries 2:38 over Enric Mas and 4:48 over Jack Haig into a hilly 34-kilometre time trial that climbs, descends and climbs again to the Plaza do Obradoiro. He won the opening test in Burgos three weeks ago; a third Vuelta in a row now asks only that he stays upright.

How it was won

1. 122 km to go

   First check

   Twelve kilometres of flat before the long drag, and Cort has set a time that will hold the hotseat almost all afternoon.

2. 210 km to go

   The climbs decide it

   Through the second check, past the sharp climb and onto the plateau. Bernal is producing one of the best time trials of his career and overtakes Kuss in the overall.

3. 3At the line

   A third Vuelta

   Roglič stops the clock at 44:02 to beat Cort by fourteen seconds, taking his fourth stage of the race and bookending three weeks that began with a time trial win in Burgos. Three Vueltas in a row, at the end of the most famous pilgrimage in Christendom.

The result