Jakob Fuglsang soloed to a summit-finish win on stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana on Monday as Primoz Roglic extended his advantage at the top of the overall standings.
Fuglsang broke away late on the final climb into the thick clouds at 1,600m altitude in northern Spain.
Tao Geoghegan Hart of Ineos came close for a second straight day, digging in to finish second on the third stage in the spectacular Cantabrian Mountains.
Protecting a sizeable overall lead, Roglic ended up stretching his advantage by 23 seconds over his closest challenger Alejandro Valverde to 2min 48sec with just five stages to go.
The former ski-jumper took advantage of a last-climb struggle for the best young rider’s white jersey between Miguel Angel Lopez and Tadej Pogacar who are also fourth and third in the overall standings.
Lopez launched a series of aggressive assaults, with Pogacar stoically sticking to his wheel. Roglic did likewise as the 39-year-old Valverde eventually wilted as the race rose into the cloud-line and the temperatures plunged.
“I pulled a few seconds back, and that’s a good thing,” said Lopez.
“It looks very equal between us all, in terms of who has the most energy,” said world champion Valverde, who remains second. “I won 40 seconds yesterday and lost 20 today. On a stage like that, 20 seconds is nothing.”
Tuesday brings the second rest day in Burgos, before Wednesday’s 17th stage stretches 219.6km south from Aranda de Duero to Guadalajara.
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – stage 16 results (Pravia – Alto de La Cubilla):
| 1 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | 4:01:22 |
| 2 | Tao Geoghegan Hart (Team Ineos) | +22” |
| 3 | Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) | +40” |
| 4 | James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +42” |
| 5 | Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) | +01’12” |
| 6 | Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) | +02’09” |
| 7 | Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias) | +02’15” |
| 8 | Amanuel Ghebreigzabhier (Dimension Data) | +02’21” |
| 9 | Philippe Gilbert (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +02’32” |
| 10 | Geoffrey Bouchard (AG2R La Mondiale) | ,, |
| 11 | Romain Seigle (Groupama-FDJ) | +02’46” |
| 12 | Fernando Barcelo (Euskadi-Murias) | +03’49” |
| 13 | Rémi Cavagna (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +05’49” |
| 14 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +05’58” |
| 15 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | ,, |
| 16 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | ,, |
| 17 | Imanol Erviti (Movistar) | +06’21” |
| 18 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | ,, |
| 19 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +06’24” |
| 20 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) | ,, |
Vuelta a Espana 2019 – general classification after stage 16:
| 1 | Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) | 62:17:52 |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +02’48” |
| 3 | Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) | +03’42” |
| 4 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +03’59” |
| 5 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +07’40” |
| 6 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +07’43” |
| 7 | Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) | +10’27” |
| 8 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +10’34” |
| 9 | Carl Fredrik Hagen (Lotto Soudal) | +10’40” |
| 10 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) | +12’05” |
| 11 | James Knox (Deceuninck-Quick-Step) | +13’26” |
| 12 | Sergio Higuita (EF Education First) | +14’24” |
| 13 | Jakob Fuglsang (Astana) | +16’33” |
| 14 | Marc Soler (Movistar) | +16’53” |
| 15 | Ruben Guerreiro (Katusha-Alpecin) | +17’26” |
| 16 | Ion Izagirre (Astana) | +17’28” |
| 17 | Mikel Nieve (Mitchelton-Scott) | +17’32” |
| 18 | Dylan Teuns (Bahrian-Merida) | +17’48” |
| 19 | Kilian Frankiny (Groupama-FDJ) | +24’37” |
| 20 | Esteban Chaves (Mitchelton-Scott) | +28’38” |
