It now seems as commonplace for Primoš Roglic to take the podium by the fountain in the Plaza de Cibeles as it does for him to celebrate the Real Madrid trophy in the neo-classical square. On Sunday evening, he was once again celebrated here after winning the Vuelta a España for the fourth time in the final time trial in the Spanish capital.

With Roglic already holding a commanding lead over Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale), there was little suspense ahead of the final stage and no alarms or surprises in the 24.6km stage. The Slovenian finished second in the stage, extending his lead over O'Connor to 2:36.

But this final night of the Vuelta was not as routine and comfortable for Roglic as it appeared. He revealed after the awards ceremony that he was affected by the illness that struck many of his Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates on the final weekend of the Vuelta.

“I mean, I went to the bathroom 20 times already today,” Roglic told reporters in the mixed zone on Sunday evening.

“But in the end, the distance was too long. Yeah, that's the way it is. It's definitely a challenge for all of us to make sure that these things don't happen, but yeah, these things happen in the aftermath. Now it's time to enjoy the victory a little bit.”

On stage 20 to Picon Blanco, Daniel Martinez and Patrick Gamper retired and Nico Denz finished outside the time limit.

However, the final mountain stage of the Vuelta did not seem to affect Roglic, who comfortably chased his podium rivals and nearly secured the final overall win in Madrid. He wore a face mask on the podium at the top of the Picon Blanco, but told reporters after the stage that he still felt good

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That situation changed on Sunday, when Roglic downplayed his illness in the final time trial, finishing 30 seconds ahead of winner Stefan Kühn (Groupama-FDJ). When asked if he had the same illness as his teammate, Roglic refused to elaborate.

“Yes,” he said. That's just the way it is."

”That's the way it is. Like I said, I don't really want to talk about it. Just enjoy it, because it all ended well.”

Like Roglic, Florian Lipowitz did not suffer from any physical problems on stage 20 and, along with Roger Adrià, played an important role in supporting the red jersey on the final climb of the day. After finishing the Vuelta in Madrid, Lipowitz admitted to feeling ill on Saturday evening.

“I had a stomach bug last night and couldn't really sleep, so I was tired today,” Lipowitz said. I was super tired this morning because I had the same thing [with my teammates].”

Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe's illness came a day after the team pulled away from its rivals in the Alto de Moncalvillo with Vlasov and Martinez to take the stage win and red jersey on its own. The team's sudden weakness on stage 20 was also seen in the 1996 Vuelta. Final winner Alex Zulle was left alone on the road to Avila as the rest of the Onse riders fell ill.

After Saturday's stage, Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe released a statement from sport director Patisi Vila. Villa said, “We are currently investigating whether food poisoning was the cause.”

By Sunday evening, Martinez and his teammates had recovered sufficiently for Red Bull-Bohra-Hansgrohe riders and staff to celebrate their Vuelta victory with Roglic on the podium.

“It's normal to have ups and downs,” said Roglic. The most important thing is to always stay focused on your task.”

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