Roglic’s victory came about through fantastic work by his teammates. Team Jumbo-Visma, together with a few other teams, controlled the entire stage and never let a group of escapees get a big margin. Robert Gesink took the lead in the final phase after which Sepp Kuss attacked at five kilometres from the finish. A reduced group with George Bennett and Roglic quickly made the connection. After several new attempts by the strong American, the Slovenian national champion went away in the final kilometre. As a result, he took a handful of seconds on his closest competitors.

After victories in, amongst others, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, the Tour, the Tour de l’Ain and the Dauphiné, Roglic clinched his eighth victory of the season already.

“This is a fantastic start”, a happy Roglic said. “I am very happy with this victory. The team has shown that we are very strong. They did a perfect job throughout the stage. It is great that I can reward them for their efforts with this stage victory. We went full gas on the final climb. Sepp rode really fast. I will wear this leader’s jersey with great pride again. Hopefully we can provide the people at home even more spectacle. In any case, I’m going to enjoy this Vuelta. Day by day, we definitely have to do that this season.”

The impressive Kuss, who won a stage in last year’s Vuelta, claimed the first mountain jersey. “We knew the climb would be very steep and difficult. It was suitable for attacks, so we attacked. It was nice to see that Primoz could finish it in this way. Defending the red jersey is our number one priority for now. The Vuelta is the best race of the year for me.”