[Asked about the 19th stage of the Vuelta a España, Enric Mas was hopeful Thursday evening that “it could be a perfect day.” For him, however, it was not. Primoš Roglic was moving on another level on the Alto de Moncalvillo, and when he broke away on the climb with 6km to go, there was little Mas or anyone else could do.

Mas caught up with Roglic briefly on the climb, but the Movistar man must have known that his resources were dwindling fast. In the last 2 km or so, his gap doubled quickly, and he finished in fourth place, about 50 seconds behind Logrich, the newcomer in the red jersey.

“I couldn't sprint, I finished empty,” said Mass, who was caught and passed by David Gaudoux and Matthias Skjelmors just before the finish. Primoz won and set a good time. All I can say is congratulations.”

This curious tactical configuration of the Vuelta means that Roglic's Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe teammates have often shirked their collective policing responsibilities. [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] [...] We have to do something different from today. Tomorrow we have 5,000 meters of climbing to do and I want to enjoy that.”

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