La Vuelta a Espana 2020 Stage 13 - As it happened

Updated 03/11/2020 at 16:48 GMT

La Vuelta LIVE - A 33.7km race of truth with a sting in the tail produced a closer-than-expected result with Primoz Roglic rallying to take the win and red jersey - but his rivals Richard Carapaz and Hugh Carthy keeping within striking distance of the top.

Primoz Roglic of Slovenia and Team Jumbo - Visma Green Points Jersey / during the 75th Tour of Spain 2020, Stage 13 a 33,7km Individual Time Trial stage from Muros to Mirador de Ézaro.

Image credit: Getty Images

Still tight at the top in the new top 10

Roglic will swap green for red once again but his lead over Carapaz is just 39 seconds with Carthy in third at 47 seconds. Martin drops further back but stays in fourth at 1:42 while Mas, too, retains his fifth place but is now 3:23 down.

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26/08/2021 at 15:20

Stage 13 victory for Primoz Roglic

So, there is it, the Slovenian specialist from Jumbo-Visma pulls it out of the bag on the Mirador de Ezaro to win a fourth stage on this Vuelta by just one second on the American Will Barta of CCC Team.

Carapaz seventh... and out of red

Richard Carapaz comes home for seventh place 49 seconds down on Roglic - so he'll lose the race lead but keep his second place, just, from Carthy. A solid ride from the Ecuadorian.

Roglic into the lead!

Well, well, well... The Slovenian in green has put in a monster climb there. Roglic crosses the line a slender second faster than Barta - and that will be enough for both a fourth stage win and the red jersey.

Provisional third for Carthy

Hugh Carthy groans and gurns his way over the line to set the third best time 26 seconds down on Barta. A huge effort from the Briton.

Solid from Dan Martin

The Irishman is over and his podium dreams are still alive. He's only 1:16 down which is a great effort from the Israel Start-Up Nation rider.

Mas comes home after his testing TT

The Spaniard looks a picture of pain as he crosses the line 1:42 down on the leader Will Barta. He won't drop out of the top five but he won't make any inroads in his bid to make the final podium.

Roglic with a fast change

Primoz Roglic approaches his change with much more speed, dismounting less cautiously and then getting on his new steed far quicker than Carthy. But his helper perhaps pushes him beyond the marked line - could there be an infraction there?

That said, Carapaz, too, is pushed well beyond the line when he comes through for his, otherwise slick change.

Carthy changes in the zone

It's a slightly tentative change for Huge Carthy - but it's without any drama and he's on his way up this final 1.8km climb. We're hearing from Brian Smith that Mas's change was fine - you're allowed to change it anywhere, not just in the designated zone (unlike the World Championships).

No bike change for Mas... until...

The Spaniard practiced his change this morning but doesn't appear to have opted for one during the actual TT. He starts the climb on his TT steed, but then swings to the side of the road after the first hairpin to do his change in an entirely different place - requiring a new bike from the back of his following Movistar car and now in the zone. Is that allowed? We could see a fine for Enric Mas.

Third best time at second check for Carthy

The Briton is 18 seconds down on the leaders Oliveira and Barta at the 24.5km checkpoint. He's almost a whole minute quicker than Dan Martin. Just Roglic and Carapaz to come... and the man in green is still one seconds down on Carthy. Wow.

Mas, meanwhile, is five seconds slower than Martin and so 1:04 down on Carthy. And the last man on the road, Carapaz, is 20 seconds down on Carthy... which would, for now, put Roglic into the red jersey by nine seconds (they are separated by 10 seconds on the current GC).

Carthy sustaining his pace

Around half way into this race of truth and Hugh Carthy is still two seconds clear of Roglic and 17 seconds faster than Carapaz. What a ride this is - and he should be able to sustain it on the climb given his weight.

Carapaz 17 seconds down

Which puts him only four seconds slower than the man in green... so it's all getting tighter at the top. And we're hearing reports of storm clouds gathering over the finish. Could we see showers making that final climb even harder for the race's leading men?

Roglic slower than Carthy!

And Primoz Roglic can only set the fifth fastest time at the first check - two seconds down on Carthy. What a turn up for the books. Early days, mind.

Carthy on course

This is a fast time from Hugh Carthy who is only 11 seconds down on the top at the first check. How does it compare to Roglic and Carapaz? Stay tuned...

Mas needs more - as does Martin

The Spaniard Enric Mas is 44 seconds down on Barta and Oliveira's leading time at the first check after 12km. Dan Martin next up... and he's 36 seconds down. Of course, this means nothing until we can compare it to Roglic's time in a few minutes...

Barta the new best time!

A superb ride from Will Barta puts the American into the hot seat. The CCC rider was 15 seconds down on Nelson Oliveira after his bike change at the bottom of the hill - but he came home nine seconds faster after a huge effort on that 30% gradient.

Last man Carapaz gets going

The red jersey gets his time trial under way. The Ecuadorian looks focused as he bids to limit his losses to keep his hopes of a second Grand Tour win in as many years alive.

Roglic in green down the ramp

The Slovenian will be hoping to trade in the green for red at the end of today's stage and - let's be honest - it's not a question or if, but by how much. Even if he blows like he did in the Tour's final time trial he should finish considerably better than any of his rivals.

Carthy on call

It's top three time as Hugh Carthy attends his prolonged rendez-vous with destiny. Can he emulate Tao Geoghegan Hart and put himself in the frame to win a Grand Tour out of the blue?

Will Barta, meanwhile, has carried out a rather stuttered bike change at the foot of the climb and is now going uphill in a bid to knock Oliveira off his perch.

Damage limitation for Martin

For Ireland's Dan Martin - not a renowned time triallist - today will be all about limiting his losses. He already has his stage win and anything else is a bonus. He's never finished on the podium of a Grand Tour before - and in an hour we'll know if that can possibly change this week.

Enric Mas wants more

The man in white is hungry for more. Mas is 1:50 down on Carapaz on GC but he's a very strong time triallist - considerably stronger than all of those above him except Roglic. It's not inconceivable that the man currently fifth could well be in second place in an hour.

Just the top 5 left

Alejandro Valverde, Felix Grossschartner and Wout Poels have gone down the ramp to get their efforts under way. So now we're onto the final five - in reverse order on GC: Mas, Martin, Carthy, Roglic and Carapaz.

Barta off to a flyer

Will Barta from CCC Team is level on time with Oliveira at both the first and second time checks - this is a superb effort from the American. Will he fade on the climb - there's always that chance given how fast he's gone off. All will be revealed soon.

New best time for Nelson Oliveira

The Portuguese TT specialist from Movistar comes home in a time of 46:49 - that's a huge 48 seconds quicker than Remi Cavagna.

Meanwhile, we're onto the top 10 now with both Mikel Nieve and Aleksandr Vlasov down the ramp. It's show time.

Harry Tanfield on today's TT

He set the best time earlier but hadn't a chance to sit down in the hot seat before Alex Edmondson dethroned him. Here's what the Briton from Ag2R-La Mondiale thought of today's test...

Harry Tanfield - 'I couldn't even get to the hotseat before I was knocked out of it'

Oliveira onto the climb

The Movistar man has swapped his bike and is onto the tough double-digit gradient of the Mirador de Ezaro climb. He's still around 26 seconds faster than Cavagna so he's on course to take over the hot seat. But he'll be in a world of pain right now as he passes under the kilometre-to-go banner.

Vaughters confident or bluffing

It's hard to read Jonathan Vaughters. The EF Pro Cycling manager has been very vocal these past few days, talking up the prospects of his man Hugh Carthy while piling on the psychological mind games with his rivals, most notably Primoz Roglic - whom he had ribbed for "always fading in the third week" of Grand Tours.

His latest piece of naive social media gamesmanship has Vaughters suggesting Carthy could become the first rider from Lancashire to win the Vuelta - just two years after Simon Yates did just that. Now I'd love to see Carthy win this race - but the way Vaughers is talking him up so much suggests that it's all just a bit of fun for him and, deep down, he doesn't believe the 26-year-old can do it.

Oliveira going strong

Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) is on course to set the best time. The Portuguese was 12 seconds clear at the first check and 24 seconds clear at the second - so he's looking like the most likely to dislodge Remi Cavagna at the top.

Looking back to La Planche

Can that Tour TT tell us anything today? Let's compare the performances of the men who, today, are vying for red. Richard Carapaz was almost six minutes down on Roglic that day, while Carthy was exactly five minutes in arrears - although neither rider had anything to ride for so perhaps did not push it as much as the Jumbo-Visma man.

Roglic hoping to avoid a repeat

A decisive time trial with a steep climb after a flat opening 30km segment... sound familiar? A month ago, in the Tour de France, Primoz Roglic looked on course for Tour de France glory before he had a day to forget on the climb to La Planche des Belles Filles on the penultimate stage of the race.

Roglic finished fifth on the day but looked all over the shop in his yellow skinsuit and ill-fitting helmet as he finished 1:56 down on compatriot Tadej Pogacar to lose the Tour de France. The 30-year-old from Slovenia will want to put that nightmare to bed today in his bid to return to red and lay down the foundations of a successive victory in the Vuelta.

Top 20 time

The riders are now going at two-minute intervals as we reach the top 20 on the general classification. It's the Colombian Esteban Chaves who get us under way ahead of Spain's Marc Soler, who plummetted out of the top 10 on the Angliru on Sunday, a day after Chaves did the same on the Alto de Farrapona.

Froome almost five minutes down

Chris Froome crosses the line to set, for now, the 29th best time of 52:17. That's exactly 4:50 down on the leader, Cavagna. Not vintage Froome at all. He is either somewhat short or keeping himself fresh ahead of the final week in support of his teammate Carapaz. Perhaps both. But, let's remember, it's a miracle that he's here at all.

In any case, at least his sense of humour remains intact: the Ineos Grenadier rider there putting on a sprint-finish show with his minute man...

Wellens onto the climb

Tim Wellens, who should be motivated by some of the next stages (prime breakaway terrain), is onto the climb. The Belgian does a bike change ahead of a long unseated effort before he gets back into a seated rhythm. He was 11th place 1:36 down at the second check so he won't be a factor but he's nevertheless giving it some Wellens welly. And he comes across the line 1:38 down which is quite solid.

Steimle into second

It's a Deceuninck Quick-Step one-two at the finish for now as Germany's Jannik Steimle comes over the line an impressive 30 seconds down on teammate Cavagna. Chris Froome, meanwhile, is onto the climb and - like most so far - pedalling squares on the double-digit gradient. That may have something to do with his decision to eschew a bike change...

Can Hugh Carthy win La Vuelta?

Quite possibly. His boss, Jonathan Vaughters, certainly thinks so - although you can't help but think that if JV was really convinced of Carthy's chances of dislodging the likes of Roglic and Carapaz, he wouldn't be shouting it from the rooftops. After the Lancashire Hotpot's win on the Angliru on Sunday, I wrote this about Carthy's chances for red:

Can Angliru slayer Carthy win La Vuelta?

Victory on the legendary Alto de l'Angliru saw Hugh Carthy move up into third place in the general classification on Sunday. It will take something special from the rangy Briton to dislodge Richard Carapaz or Primoz Roglic from the red summit – but, in this year of all years, anything is possible...

And here's his manager's thoughts at his prospects, plus the man himself on how he almost didn't come to race in Spain:

Vaughters warns Roglic: Carthy can do something 'really special' in Tuesday time trial

Froome almost three minutes down before climb

The Briton is 2:52 behind Cavagna at the second intermediate check after 24.5km. He's clearly taking it easy today; either that or it really doesn't bode well for his chances of returning to the big time - time trials being, once, one of the biggest pieces in his armoury.

French champion into the hot seat

Remi Cavagna is spinning the most forgiving gear possible as he crests the summit of this climb and crosses the line to set a new target time of 47:37 - a huge 47 seconds quicker than Edmondson. So we have a new leader - but I'd be surprised it that stands the test of time. He really struggled on the climb.

Cavagna onto the climb

The French champion undergoes a pretty slick and quick bike change as he swaps his TT steed for a regular road bike ahead of the 1.8km climb with its 14.8% average gradient.

Froome well down at the first check

Oh dear. It looks like Chris Froome is only going through the motions - he's a huge 1:40 down on Edmondson's time at the 12km mark.

Cavagna leads at second check

The Frenchman knocks eight seconds off Tanfield's time at the second check after 24.5km so he's improved on his opening third. It's quite windy out there and that could well be a factor as the riders hug the coast on their way north to the final climb.

Blimey, that looks steep...

A sneak peak at the final kilometre today from Oscar Pereiro... look at that rider weaving up to ease the gradient!

Froome down the ramp

It will be interesting to see how Chris Froome goes today. He's usually rock solid in time trials but his comeback season has been a real struggle for the former double Vuelta champion. He's currently 84th in the standings almost two and a half hours down. But he's riding very much in a domestique role for Ineos teammate Richard Carapaz - although today is a chance for him to ride for himself and see where he is in his recovery from that injury.

Froome, meanwhile, has responded to favouable comments from Eurosport's Bradley Wiggins and Sean Kelly and said he is "far from done" after returning from his injury nightmare. The Ineos star is battling hard at La Vuelta and Wiggins and Kelly both said on the latest episode of the Bradley Wiggins Show podcast that he is on the way back to form.

Froome: 'Believe me when I say I'm far from done'

Froome - 'This is a process I have to go through to get back to the top level'

Cavagna down on Edmondson at first check

The Frenchman is two seconds down on the Australian at the first check after 12km but perhaps it is one of those famous negative splits with Cavagna set to come through in the second half. He's a big man, though, so he'll perhaps stuggle on the 30% ramp on the climb.

Edmondson leads at the finish

Tanfield may have caught Delage but he faded on that climb compared to the Australian Edmondson, who is the current leader. His target time at the finish is 48.24:54.

Remi Cavagna on course

The Frenchman from Deceuninck Quick-Step is one of the favourites for today's stage - along with the man in green, who hopes to be in red, Primoz Roglic. Cavagna has just got his TT under way. He should set a time that will put him in the hot seat until some of the big guns get going later on. Here's the French TT champion arriving at the starting house...

First riders onto the climb

Harry Tanfield set the fastest time at the second check. His 30:50 was 10 seconds quicker than Alex Edmondson. The Briton has indeed caught and passed Delage, the first man down the ramp, on the climb so he could well be our first rider to finish today.

Two intermediate time checks

The time checks will come at 12km and 24.5km today. No one has yet to reach the second time check but the early leader at the first is the Australian Alex Edmondson in a time of 14:53. Harry Tanfield is in second place for one, one second back. But it's early days. The first man down the ramp, Mickael Delage, is approaching the second check.

Bike-change area at foot of the climb

Given the difference in terrain between the pan-flat opening 31.9km of this time trial and the brutal final 1.8km it perhaps comes as no surprise that many riders may opt for a bike change at the foot of the Mirador el Ezaro. Here's footage of Enric Mas practising his change-over earlier today...

Mirador de Ezaro

Today's final ramp may only be 1.8km long but it has an average gradient of a whopping 14.8%. Indeed, with ramps up to 30% it has been described by some as the steepest climb in pro cycling - an accolade which seems to get bandied around pretty much everywhere (except Box Hill, to be fair) but one which at least gives you an idea of the test in store.

The steep mountain road rises up from the Galician town of Ezaro and overlooks the mouth of the river Xallas from the slopes of the granite Mount Pindo. From the top you can see the outline of Cape Fisterra with its Atlantic backdrop. The climb was said to have been "discovered" by local rider Joaquim Rodriguez who, fittingly, beat Alberto Contador to the top when the Vuelta first used it in 2012. A year later, Frenchman Nicolas Edet was the winner, and in 2016 another Frenchman, Alexandre Geniez, took the spoils. This will be the fourth time the Vuelta has used the climb.

Noteworthy start times

Britain's Harry Tanfield and Ireland's Sam Bennett are among the early starters who are already on the road. In terms of the GC picture, Esteban Chaves will be the first of the top 20 to get going today at 15:58 CET (deduct one hour if you're in the UK).

The top five, in reverse order of GC, are as follows:

Enric Mas (Deceuninck Quick-Step): 16:28
Dan Martin (Israel Star-Up Nation): 16:30
Hugh Carthy (EF Pro Cycling): 16:32
Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma): 16:34
Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers): 16:36

And a quick reminder of the general classification following Sunday's stage on the Angliru, with the top four currently separated by just 35 seconds...

No positive Covid-19 tests

It was confirmed this morning that all 681 of the Vuelta rest day coronavirus tests came back negative, which was a boost for everyone concerned. It looks like nothing will stop this race reaching Madrid now - and for that, the organisers, teams, staff and riders should all be applauded.

First rider has rolled down the ramp

And we're under way for this Stage 13 time trial with Frenchman Mickhael Delage (Groupama-FDJ) the first of 151 riders to leave the start gate and ride against the clock. He will be followed by the rest of the field in reverse order of general classification with each rider leaving at one minute intervals until the top 20, who will have two minutes in between them.

Some more info on today's ITT courtesy of our partners at GCN...

Hola, amigos! Que tal?

Right, after the sixth and final rest day of this disjointed, belated, but oh so welcome Grand Tour season, we're about to get under way with the final phase of this intriguing Vuelta a Espana. And it's a 33.7km race of truth that kicks things off - a flat ride which pitches up with the brutal 1.8km ramp of Mirador de Ezaro overlooking the river Xallas towards the Atlantic coast.

VAUGHTERS WARNS ROGLIC: CARTHY CAN DO 'SOMETHING SPECIAL' IN TUESDAY TIME TRIAL

EF Pro Cycling team boss Jonathan Vaughters told Eurosport's Orla Chennaoui that he thinks that Primoz Roglic has shown signs of tiredness after a long season - and his rider Hugh Carthy could surprise him at Tuesday's time trial.

Carthy pulled off a spectacular maiden win on the Angliru on Stage 12 to cross the line 16 seconds ahead of the pack and move into third place in GC, 32 seconds off race leader Richard Carapaz, and 22 seconds behind time trial specialist Roglic. And Vaughters thinks his rider could do something equally impressive when racing resumes on Tuesday with an individual time trial.

"He's a very under-rated TT rider," Vaughters told Eurosport's Orla Chennaoui on The Breakaway. "I think the two top guys [Primoz Roglic and Richard Carapaz, in the top two places of the GC after Stage 12] have a little bit more to worry about than they might know.

I think Roglic showed signs of cracking, he's had a long season. Historically he always fades in the final week of Grand Tours and we have seen that. Even though on paper Roglic is the best time trial rider, if his recovery is bad and he is a little bit tired, he might not be as good as we anticipate on Tuesday.

"Carapaz is a bit of a wildcard for me...Dan Martin [in fourth place in the GC] I don't view as much of a factor at all. I am cautiously optimistic that Hugh could pull off something really special in the time trial and then we will see from there."

Vaughters on Hugh Carthy’s gutsy Angliru win and why it’s good for riders to stand up to the UCI

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