A breakaway gained a four-minute lead following a quick opening phase. In an equally fast final phase, the escapees' lead quickly dwindled after Robert Gesink and Chris Harper, among others, had made an effort at the head of the pack on behalf of the Dutch team. After his teammates’ work, it was Roglic's turn, who attacked from the considerably thinned group. Only escapee Richard Carapaz managed to stay ahead of Roglic and Miguel Angel Lopez. The three-time Vuelta champion caught up to the red jersey holder by 52 seconds.

Roglic also hopes to make up time in the coming days. “It was a beautiful day for us. Sometimes you lose time; sometimes you gain time. Today it was me who gained time. Hopefully I can continue this trend because I'm starting to feel better. My teammates have done a great job and I am happy to be part of this team. Madrid is still a long way to go and we must keep fighting.”

Harper kept up his speed well into the final. The Australian looked back on a good ride and is happy with his contribution to his leader’s performance. “Primoz asked us to make the final tough. It was up to me to ride at a fast pace on the final climb. Seeing Primoz become stronger inspires everyone. The whole team believes in him.”

Sports director Grischa Niermann did not anticipate catching up to the classification leader today. “It is a very nice bonus to have diminished the time difference. I saw a solid squad along the way. Primoz rode the final well. I look forward to tomorrow because, in my view, that is the queen stage. Primoz is still quite far behind, but it is good to see we are still fighting.”