Stage 18

The road

At the start

Roglič is gone, and the Piornal twice

Primož Roglič does not start. The three-time champion, hurt in the crash at Tomares, leaves the Vuelta from second place, and Remco Evenepoel now has two minutes on Enric Mas with four days to ride, Juan Ayuso third at 4:51. Today crosses Extremadura in mid-thirties heat and 3,500 metres of climbing, taking the Alto del Piornal twice in the last sixty kilometres, from two different sides.

How it was won

1. 190 km to go

   UAE roll the dice

   With ninety kilometres left, UAE Team Emirates take over from QuickStep and wind the pace up with real intent. Out of it comes João Almeida with McNulty for company — a long-range assault designed to spread panic among the podium contenders.

2. 283 km to go

   Alone at the foot of the Despera

   Almeida sets out on his own. Carapaz leads a thirty-eight-man break over the top, the Portuguese trailing by four minutes and the bunch another minute back — but the gaps are tightening fast.

3. 341 km to go

   First time up the Piornal

   Almeida ploughs a lone furrow again while Astana commit everything to bringing him back. Soler drops out of the break to pace him; Nibali drops all the way to the red jersey group to help López. Gesink, Pinot, Carthy, Carapaz, Gesbert and Higuita emerge as the strongmen, and the leader's group is down to ten at the summit.

4. 49 km to go

   Mas throws half a dozen punches

   On the gentler second approach, with nine kilometres left, Mas begins attacking and does not stop. The efforts bring the red jersey group up to Almeida, and from there the group splinters and reforms again and again — López and Ayuso shaken loose, then back, the Colombian even attacking himself.

5. 53 km to go

   The double effort that ends it

   Three kilometres from the summit Evenepoel goes twice in quick succession. Rodríguez, already suffering from his crash, has no answer, and the Belgian answers every one of Mas's remaining accelerations without visible strain.

6. 61 km to go

   Evenepoel outsprints Mas

   Mas's last dig at 700 metres brings the top two on GC clear of everyone and across to a spent Gesink, who had been alone at the front. Within sight of the line they swallow him — and the red jersey outsprints his closest rival to win the stage and extend the lead.

The result