Primoz Roglic wins La Vuelta a España 2024

Road 08/09/24 20:17 Migue A.

La Vuelta a España 2024 is over, the last grand tour of the season in which Primoz Roglic, despite the bad luck that follows him in the Tour de France, continues to add three-week tours to his palmares. If last year it was the Giro d'Italia, now he reigns again in La Vuelta, the fourth time he has won the red jersey, putting him in the history of the race as the cyclist with the most victories. A Vuelta that ended with a time trial with little to decide and in which Stefan Küng once again showed his prowess as the great time trialist we are used to.

Stefan Küng crashes Primoz Roglic's party by winning the last stage of La Vuelta 2024

The last stage of La Vuelta a España 2024 ended with an atypical time trial through the streets of Madrid, connecting the so-called Telefónica District, the business area that the communications company has in the north of the city, with the historic headquarters of the firm on Gran Vía in Madrid. The route was mostly downhill and passed through large avenues with no technical difficulties.

With this scenario, surprises were unlikely, even though the battle for the second and third place in the general classification was very tight, with just 9 seconds separating Ben O'Connor and Enric Mas. Further back, 49 seconds behind, was Richard Carapaz, who started the day with a vague hope of making it to the podium.

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Victor Campenaerts set the first reference time, a former great time trialist who has neglected this specialty in recent years to focus on his abilities in the classics. His lead was short-lived as he was surpassed a few minutes later by UAE Team Emirates cyclist Filippo Baroncini.

However, their times were not definitive as an in-form Stefan Küng was coming from behind, a true specialist who dominated each split to finish a remarkable 43 seconds ahead of the Italian. An excellent time that ultimately earned him the stage victory.

It was then the turn for the leaders in the general classification, but the excitement quickly faded as Ben O'Connor improved Enric Mas's time from the first split, and Mas, in turn, beat Richard Carapaz's time. It was also evident from this point that Primoz Roglic would not be able to beat Stefan Küng's time in terms of the stage victory.

The results remained the same at the finish line, with Carapaz and Mas clocking the same time, and O'Connor outperforming both by 28 seconds. Meanwhile, Primoz Roglic conceded 31 seconds, far from being able to challenge Stefan Küng for the stage victory, giving Küng a morale boost ahead of the World Championships in Zurich where he will aim for gold in the time trial on home soil.

Thus, as mentioned, Primoz Roglic achieves his fourth overall victory in the Vuelta a España after those in 2019, 2020, 2021, and this one in 2024, in an edition where he did not arrive in the best condition due to the fall suffered in the Tour de France, which forced him to be more calculated than ever, especially after the race was turned upside down with Ben O'Connor's sudden rise to the top of the General Classification.

The Australian had already proven to be a solid contender for the general classifications with a 4th place in the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia this year. With all these days defending the lead and his first podium, at 28 years old, he takes a step up that should make him more ambitious.
On the other hand, Enric Mas, despite showing a more offensive attitude in this race, remains a gray cyclist who fails to convey the feeling of being able to shake things up or propose something different at any moment.

Will he consider rebranding himself as a stage hunter, as Marc Soler has been for some years, one of the most prominent cyclists in La Vuelta 2024 and the rider with the most kilometers in breakaways in this edition, or will he continue to strive for a grand tour victory? An enigma that we will have to wait until 2025 to solve.

With the end of La Vuelta 2024, the season is coming to a close, with only the Canadian classics, the Zurich World Championships which still promise strong emotions, the Italian classics, and the last monument with the dispute of Il Lombardia remaining.