Stage 9

The road

At the start

The Velefique, and 4,700 metres

The hardest day of this Vuelta so far: 188 kilometres into Andalucía with almost all the climbing stacked into the final third, and the race's first special-category summit at the end, the Alto de Velefique. Roglič leads Großschartner by eight seconds and Mas by 25, and Bernal, sixth at 41, has yet to show what he brought from the Giro.

How it was won

1. 171 km to go

   Caruso goes with 71km left

   Thirteen kilometres from the summit of the Collado Venta Luisa, the Italian blows the breakaway apart and rides off alone with more than seventy kilometres still to race. It is an absurd distance to commit to — and it is exactly what he did to win at Alpe Motta three months ago.

2. 257 km to go

   Over the top, 1:30 clear

   Caruso crests with ten points and a minute and a half on Majka and Bardet, and dives down the steep descent while the peloton crosses two minutes back.

3. 329 km to go

   Still alone

   Two climbs later the Italian is 2:25 up on the chase and 4:20 on a peloton that has knocked off the pace entirely. Jumbo-Visma have decided the stage is not worth having.

4. 49 km to go

   Yates opens the GC battle

   Nine kilometres from the top of the Velefique the Englishman jumps and López and Kuss follow. The group of eleven does not stay together long.

5. 58 km to go

   Roglič answers

   A kilometre later the red jersey accelerates and takes only Bernal and Mas with him. Yates goes again, and again, but each time it is Roglič leading the chase and Bernal further back, unable to respond to the big moves.

6. 6At the line

   Alto de Velefique

   Caruso survives to win alone, 1:05 clear. Roglič leads Mas home and extends his overall lead after dispatching the rest of the contenders.

The result