(Photo: Primož Roglič seals the GC on Stage 17 of la Vuelta – David Ramos/Getty Images)
Pretty sure I wasn’t the one with my heart in my mouth for the last 3km of today’s stage… When Sepp Kuss cracked, I really got worried. The American has always been there for Roglič in the mountains, but today, in the third week of a cold, wet, and horribly hard Vuelta, his legs finally gave way.
When Richard Carapaz shot away on the final climb of the Alto de la Covatilla, Roglič looked to be crawling up the 12% slopes, trying in vain to spin up his 39×30 gear, but almost going nowhere. When Hugh Carthy attacked, I thought we would see a repeat of the 2020 Tour, with Roglič cracking on the final mountain of the race and losing the overall lead.
But not today.
The Slovenian looks to have paced himself perfectly, accelerating all the way over the line, and limiting his losses to Carapaz and Carthy to just 21 and 6 seconds, respectively.
Today’s nail-biting finish reminds me of the 2020 Tour of Flanders, and the duel between Mathieu Van Der Poel and Wout Van Aert in the closing kilometers. Different situations, of course, but in the end, it all came down to the final few hundred meters. Fans on both sides watching in awe as two of the best bike riders in the world duel on the empty slopes and the Belgian streets.
During a year of Liege-Bastogne-Liege drama, Tour de France heartbreak, and anything and everything being said about him in the social media vacuum, Primož Roglič is one helluva deserving winner of the 2020 Vuelta a España.
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Of course, the race is not quite over. Tomorrow is the part-ceremonial, part-sprint stage finishing in Madrid that will feature the likes of Sam Bennett, Pascal Ackermann, and Jasper Philipsen.
22 year-old Gerben Thijssen of Lotto-Soudal will be up there as well, having already earned his first Grand Tour stage podium by finishing runner-up on Stage 9. It’s hard to see anyone else challenging for the win tomorrow. The 140km kilometer stage has no classified climbs and finishes with four flat circuits around Madrid. I give the breakaway (if there is one) a 0.0001% chance of succeeding.
Sam Bennett is the fastest man at la Vuelta, and maybe the fastest man in the world right now. With the help of his Deceuninck-Quickstep leadout train, I think the Irishman will win the final stage tomorrow in dominant fashion, while Roglič will cross the line moments later to be crowned Vuelta Champion for the second year in a row.