Roglic is already chasing Ben O'Connor in the general classification of La Vuelta 2024

As predicted, significant differences in the ascent to Ancares that culminated the thirteenth stage of La Vuelta a España where, once again, leader Ben O'Connor showed his weakness and Primoz Roglic consolidates his position as the boss of the race more each day. Today, the Slovenian once again opened gaps to all his rivals and now is less than a minute and a half behind the Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale cyclist. All in a stage with two races in which Michael Woods added another great victory to his record by successfully completing the day's breakaway.

Ben O'Connor resists but is running out of credit

Another mountainous day in La Vuelta a España 2024 to say goodbye to Galicia and enter León through the beautiful region of El Bierzo and culminate in a summit that, with only its third appearance in La Vuelta, is already acquiring that aura of a tough climb. We are talking about Ancares, undoubtedly one of the hardest ascents that can be faced in Spain.

Stage of 176 kilometers between Lugo and Ancares that was divided into a first third with ascents to Campo de Arbre and O Portelo. The first of them was enough to consolidate a numerous breakaway with many of the usual names of these days, including Wout van Aert who seems to not be satisfied with three stage victories and the almost secured points classification that now, in addition, has his eyes on the mountain jersey. The peloton completely ignored the breakaway despite the 23 cyclists that composed it, as the closest in the general classification was more than half an hour behind, reaching a disadvantage of more than 17 minutes.

After the second climb, a long transition terrain towards Ponferrada where, once again, the road began to gain altitude to enter a hilly terrain and face, as an appetizer before Ancares, the Lumeras pass. It was from here that the breakaway began to be selected with movements from Campenaerts, Mauro Schmid, or even Wout van Aert himself who would be responsible for creating the definitive split that would arrive at the two climbs in the lead. And let's not forget Marc Soler, once again riding against the grain as the other day and expending a lot of energy and showing a lack of race vision that is not typical of what he usually shows.

In any case, UAE Team Emirates was the team that, a priori, had the best cards to play in the resolution of the stage by having three cyclists: Jay Vine, Brandon McNulty, and the aforementioned Soler. However, on the descent of Lumeras, when they were leading the group, McNulty and Vine suffered a nasty fall, suddenly losing all their chances of contention.

Despite the strength shown by Wout van Aert throughout the day, as predicted, Ancares was too tough for him and as soon as the last 5 infernal kilometers began, he inevitably fell behind, with Marc Soler staying with him. At the same time, it was Mauro Schmid who accelerated the pace with Michael Woods on his wheel. The Canadian would not take long to take the lead and set a pace that would eventually drop the Swiss rider. He was on his way to a great victory that he needed as he had not achieved a major triumph, apart from the Canadian Championship a few months ago, since over a year ago when he won the Tour de France on the Puy de Dome summit.

With the race completely decided among the leaders, it was time to focus on a peloton that was approaching uncontrollably at the beginning of the climb, at which point Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe made its appearance to set a very strong pace that shattered the group, especially with a huge effort from Daniel Felipe Martínez, who even blew up his teammate Vlasov, who had nothing left to give when it was his turn as the last man.
However, the damage was done and, by that point, Adam Yates and leader Ben O'Connor had already fallen behind, with O'Connor becoming desperate with his teammate Felix Gall, who was unable to set a steady pace to minimize losses.

After Primoz Roglic took the lead, the group was completely shattered and only Enric Mas and Sepp Kuss managed to stay on his wheel, with Mikel Landa and Lipowizt a little behind and, even further back, a small group with Carlos Rodríguez, Skjelmose, or Richard Carapaz who were making a comeback.

Kuss fell behind from the front and a struggling Mikel Landa managed to reach Enric's wheel, moments to dream that the two Spanish cyclists could try to play their cards. But it was an illusion because, a few meters later, Primoz Roglic accelerated and easily left both behind to go in search of the maximum possible seconds that would bring him closer to the desired red jersey.

Mikel continued upwards while Enric Mas found the end of the stage very tough, losing quite a bit in the last kilometer. Carlos Rodríguez was also making progress, reaching Landa, the Andalusian also experienced a crisis, or Richard Carapaz who managed to catch up with Enric. Finally, significant time differences at the finish line but not definitive, with Landa and Skjelmose finishing 35 and 38 seconds respectively behind Roglic. Carlos Rodríguez lost 44 seconds while Richard Carapaz and Enric Mas fell behind by 58 seconds with the Slovenian.

On the other hand, Ben O'Connor gave his last bit of strength, making a very remarkable final part to minimize the losses and contain the time bleeding to 1 minute and 55 seconds, so his credit in the general classification is now only 1 minute and 21 seconds, clearly insufficient with the Asturian mountain just around the corner and the sensations that the Australian has been transmitting in the last few days of La Vuelta 2024.

Stage 13 Classification

1. Michael Woods (Israel-PremierTech) 4h19'51''
2. Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla) +45''
3. Marc Soler (UAE Team Emirates) +1'11''
4. Sam Oomen (Lidl-Trek) +1'25''
5. Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike) +2'56''
6. Gijs Leemreize (DSM-firmenich-PostNL) +3'33''
7. José Felix Parra (Kern-Pharma) +5'19''
8. Mikel Bizkarra (Euskaltel-Euskadi) +5'38''
9. Luca Vergallito (Alpecin-Deceuninck) +5'59''
10. Mathis Le Berre (Arkéa-B&B Hotels) +6'15''

General Classification

1. Ben O'Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) 47h37'35''
2. Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +1'21''
3. Enric Mas (Movistar Team) +3'01''
4. Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) +3'13''
5. Mikel Landa (TRex-QuickStep) +3'20''
6. Carlos Rodríguez (INEOS Grenadiers) +4'12''
7. Florian Lipowitz (Red Bull-BORA-hansgrohe) +4'29''
8. Felix Gall (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) +4'42''
9. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) +4'44''
10. Adam Yates (UAE Team Emirates) +5'17''