The roads to the foot of Lo Port were relatively flat, but that changed when the peloton hit the climb with just under nine kilometres to go. The road climbed an average of nine percent towards the finish line.

Remco Evenepoel launched an attack halfway up the ascent. Roglic jumped right onto his closest rival's wheel. The Belgian accelerated again in the last kilometre, but Roglic held on. The leader of the overall standings tapped into his Slovenian grit, went for it, and won for the sixth time this year. It is the 17th victory for Team Jumbo-Visma so far this year.

"I'm overjoyed", Roglic admitted. "It's been a while since I rode a race with such a tough climb. Looking back, I am happy that I seem to be able. The legs felt particularly good today. It was another great battle for me. Despite the pain, I was able to enjoy it. After my shoulder operation, this is yet another step in the right direction."

Roglic enters the final weekend of the Catalan stage race with a ten-second lead. "Nothing has been decided yet. Today's difference was small once more, fortunately to my advantage. But we shouldn't get ahead of ourselves because we still have two challenging days. Sunday will be particularly tough. The formula is the same as always. I'll enter the race fired up and convinced, and we'll see what happens. In any case, this win gives me confidence for the future."