After twenty kilometres the breakaway of the day emerged. A sizeable group of around twenty riders got away but were unable to get a convincing lead due to the high tempo of the peloton. The breakaway riders were not discouraged and rode at high speed all day long. A group of seven remaining breakaway riders eventually battled for the day’s victory. Twenty seconds behind them, red jersey wearer Roglic crossed the line in the peloton.

Roglic, who put on the leader’s jersey in a grand tour for the fiftieth time today, said that it was not a glorified rest day. “From the start to the finish the pace was good. The race was hard right away. For us as a team it was good that a large group got away. The Vuelta is slowly coming to an end. The chances are getting smaller. A lot of teams are still aiming for success, which is why a lot of teams didn’t have it easy. In the end, we didn’t run into any problems. I wasn’t aware of the fact that it was my fiftieth time in the leader’s jersey in a grand tour today. I don’t pay attention to statistics much. Though I think this number is nice to hear and it surprises me in a positive way. Hopefully I can add a few more days.”

"Tomorrow’s stage is anything but easy”, the Slovenian looked ahead. “Also in Sunday’s time trial we will have to stay alert. We know like no other that the venom of a grand tour is often in the tail. We will have to stay focused and do our utmost to take home the red jersey. Hopefully we’ll have enough energy left to seal the past three weeks with the desired result.”