La Vuelta 2022 Stage 15 LIVE - Can Remco Evenepoel hang on to the red jersey on Sierra Nevada?

MATT WINSTON (TEAM DSM) - THYMEN ARENSMAN'S DS: WE JUST NEEDED TO TIME THE EFFORT RIGHT

"The plan was we’d look in the start and see how big the breakaway was, and when there were more GC guys in there, we’d go for it. We knew Thymen was in really good shape - he had a couple of off-days a few days ago - we just needed to time the effort right, and that’s what we did."

"As soon as we got to altitude, Thymen really showed his strength. He made a nice move and got a nice victory."

1. Remco Evenepoel (Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl) 56'40'49
2. Primož Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) +1'34
3. Enric Mas (Movistar) +2'01
4. Juan Ayuso (UAE Team Emirates) +4'49
5. Carlos Rodriguez (Ineos Grenadiers +5'16

No change in the top three, but Mas and Roglic edge ever closer to Evenepoel.

1. Thymen Arensman (Team DSM)
2. Enric Mas (Movistar), +1'23''
3. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Qazaqstan) +1'25''
4. Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck), +1'30''
5. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma), +1'44''

Remco finishes in 10th place, 15 seconds behind Primoz Roglic. Far less than many predicted, you'd have to call that a good day for Remco.

Enric Mas crosses the line to take second place, six bonus seconds and gain some more on Primoz Roglic. The Slovenian himself wants as much time as he can get on Remco Evenepoel. It won't be much but every second counts.

And immediately distances Remco Evenepoel. How much damage can be done on the little road that remains?

Angel Lopez and Mas have dropped everyone from that group except Jay Vine (Alpecin Deceuninck) who is on course to collect a few more mountains points. The stage will not go to Lopez as he'd hoped, but he will jump up a fair few places in the GC, which is not for nothing.

They're now well above 2000m, so very much on the Colombian's terrain. He and Mas have caught the Vine/Hindley group, but it can only be a matter of time before they say adios. They still have less than 30 seconds to Roglic and Remco, even after all this effort, and still Roglic sits on. "Maybe he doesn't have it?" says Robbie McEwan.

Is he riding to a big stage win? Evenepoel has stopped the bleeding, but Roglic hasn't had to do anything but ride in the wheels for the last ten minutes. Has he been biding his time? If he's as comfortable as Robbie McEwan suspects, when will he make his move?

The DSM rider is 15 seconds behind and closing.

Angel Lopez, who has been joined by Enric Mas, has found a team-mate to pull for them, David De La Cruz. Those three are catching the Hindley/Vine group and themselves have about 30 seconds on the red jersey trio. Vervaeke is long gone and Remco continues to ride at the front of that group.

10KM TO GO - SUPERMAN ATTACKS

Miguel Angel Lopez couldn't be more at home on this terrain and altitude. At 6 minutes down on GC, it's not a move that Remco has to worry about, but it could threaten the podium places of Mas and Roglic. It's down to them to one of them close it down, surely. Indeed, Enric Mas is the one to go in pursuit, which puts Roglic under particular pressure.

Or up to six, depending on how you look at it, but only because the red jersey's team-mate Louis Vervaeke has fallen back to ride with them. How much help can he be?

I'm not sure when we lost Geoghegan Hart from this group, but we did. Only Evenepoel, Roglic, Mas, Angel Lopez and O'Connor left, in that order in the GC. The time from Soler is down below two and a half minutes.

17KM TO GO - EVENEPOEL HITS THE FRONT

As Roglic falls to the back. The young Belgian is looking very strong. WHAT DID I SAY EARLIER?

Juan Ayuso struggling in the white jersey; Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) and Carlos Rordiguez both dropped. The red jersey group is down to seven.

Meanwhile, three minutes up the road, Marc Soler presses forwards.

Jumbo-Visma have really blown up the bunch, with Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) the biggest casualty so far. The breakaway's advantage is melting like ice in the stockings down the backs of some of these riders. In the ten-strong favourite's group Roglic has one colleague left, Chris Harper, and Remco is all on his own, but still riding i the front three.

The boys in yellow are jumping about all over the place, making it really difficult, and Chris Harper's efforts almost immediately force a crash by one of Remco's team-mates, Fausto Masnada, who would probably have been his most handy colleague on this climb.

22KM TO GO - ONTO SIERRA NEVADA

On the steep early slopes, Craddock drops back to the rest of the break, then falls straight out the back of the group. Marc Soler decides it's now or never, and attacks right from the bat.

Adding to the firepower at Primoz Roglic's disposal. If you remember what Dennis did for Tao Geoghegan Hart a few years ago on the Stelvio at the Giro d'Italia, you'll know how handy he can be on a long, steady climb.

The Trek-Segafredo rider almost comes to a sudden arboreal stop, but just about keeps it rubber side up. (Credit to Hannah Wilks for the West Wing reference.)

Pure coincidence that that rhymes. We see Primoz Roglic riding back through the cars, suggesting something went wrong, somewhere out of shot. He's on the same bike, so it can't have been a mechanical. That forces his team-mates, riding on the front, to knock off the pace somewhat. Tao takes advantage of the lull to stretch his legs a little.

Which is the first I've seen of Bala in more than two weeks. Indication that Enric Mas fancies a bit of Sierra Nevada? Everyone is now descending, on silky smooth roads, at speed.