Vuelta: treble number two for Primoz Roglic, Ben O’Connor retains red jersey

Primoz Roglic wins in Cazorla, Ben O'Connor stays in red

Despite having one of the most challenging stages of the entire Vuelta a España 2024 on Sunday, Primoz Roglic decided not to spare himself on Saturday, in the eighth stage of the Spanish race that took the peloton from Ubeda to Cazorla after a 158.4-kilometer route and a couple of interesting climbs such as the Puerto Mirador de las Palomas (second category) and the final climb to the finish line, which is third category.

The Slovenian from the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team was ahead at the finish line of Enric Mas (Movistar Team), the only one to stay with him until the very last meters. Third, at 14", Mikel Landa (T Rex-Quick Step), who ruled the chasing group. Good performance for Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck), twelfth and first of the Italians, but above all among the protagonists of the day’s breakaway and ahead of everyone until the last climb.

In the general classification, Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Team) resists in the red jersey, losing a total of 56" from Roglic (46" in the race and 10" of bonus) but retains a gap of 3'49" in the standings, which forò does not leave him calm in view of Sunday’s big stage that will bringà the group to Granada after a stage from the total elevation gain of more than 4 thousand meters.

Remains white jersey Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain Victorious): the rider from Ciociaria, on the eve of the first Vuelta’s tappone, has 15" of advantage on Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) and 24" on Mattias Skjelmose (Lidl-Trek). Sunday’s stage will tell a lot about the real ambitions of the 23-year-old capable of imposing himself this year in the young classification of the Giro d'Italia.