Mas exposes Roglič and moves more than two minutes clear

Enric Mas keeps collecting seconds, and the latest haul has taken him more than two minutes clear of Primož Roglič in the Vuelta a España. On the Sierra de la Pandera, the Movistar rider gained another 25 seconds as Roglič cracked in the closing section.

The climb had already carried memories of an earlier race. Four years ago, it brought a stage win for Richard Carapaz and allowed Roglič to take 50 seconds from then-leader Remco Evenepoel. But the article presents the past as a poor guide to the current contest. Carapaz and Roglič are older, with Roglič now 36, and Mas has turned each opportunity into another small gain.

He had taken seconds at Aitana and Calar Alto before adding a larger haul at La Pandera. The time matters because the race is heading toward a 32-kilometer time trial in Jerez, a discipline considered highly favorable to Roglič. Even so, Roglič lost second place to Gall after the climb.

Carapaz attacked on the steepest section inside the final five kilometers. Roglič then tried to show strength, but Raúl García Pierna, Mas's teammate, spotted his weakness and drove the pace. García Pierna had come from the breakaway, where Brenner won ahead of the Colombians Buitrago and Sosa and Spain's Cristian Rodríguez, before being caught with two kilometers remaining.

Roglič and Carapaz began to suffer and lose contact, while Mas and Gall pressed their advantage. Mas took the final 25 seconds at the finish, then embraced García Pierna and thanked his teammates for their work. He has now held the red jersey for a week since Tadej Pogačar's departure.

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We always embrace each other, but I have to thank them for what they are doing for me.