Rohan Dennis and Sam Oomen were initially part of a large group of escapees. The two dropped back to the peloton at the right moment and, together with Chris Harper and Robert Gesink, made the race hard. At the base of the hill, Roglic was launched by his teammates and the GC riders then engaged in a man-to-man fight.

Just below the top of the Sierra Nevada, Roglic managed to put Evenepoel behind. At more than two thousand meters altitude, the three-time Vuelta winner created a gap. "In the end, I got a little bit tired. I didn't have my best legs; unfortunately, I couldn't attack earlier. Nevertheless, I'm happy with the time gained on Remco. Tomorrow is a rest day and we are all looking forward to it. Today I was able to make another step towards my big goal, to wear the red leader's jersey in Madrid", a motivated Roglic said.

"We wanted to make the race hard", Chris Harper explained Team Jumbo-Visma's plan. "Primoz was eager to take this opportunity to once again win back time. He said he felt okay at the beginning of the day. We already expected that it wouldn't be easy to ride away on this climb. I'm glad he managed. We intended to send some riders off in the breakaway. They dropped back and on the climb's steep part, we decided to increase the pace. I don't think it was too early because we managed to drop a big group of strong riders. I think it gives Primoz the confidence that he will make up time again today. The third week will be exciting. We'll see if there are opportunities to catch up. Primoz is in good shape. He's also very motivated to make the most of it. It's going to be a great final week."