Primož Roglič (Jumbo-Visma) appeared to have dismissed the pre-race doubts that followed his early exit from the Tour de France with his victory on the first uphill finish of the Vuelta a España, but the first mountaintop finish flipped the narrative again.
The three-time Vuelta champion had calmly handed the leader's red jersey over to a breakaway rider on stage 5, but by the top of the Pico Jano on stage 6 it was on the shoulders of Remco Evenepoel (QuickStep-AlphaVinyl), who looks a major danger to his chances of a fourth straight title.
Evenepoel effectively rode his rivals off his wheel one-by-one on the steep early section of Thursday's final climb, with Enric Mas (Movistar) the only one able to follow. Roglič survived the preliminary eliminations but was forced to relent some 7.5km from the summit.
Roglič was then forced to shoulder the workload in a regrouped cluster of GC favourites who crossed the line 1:37 down on stage winner Jay Vine (Alpecin-Deceuninck) and crucially 1:22 down on Evenepoel.
"Not much," Roglič said when asked what he had to say about the stage.
"I didn't really have the legs for the win, so just fight all the way to the finish."
Roglič didn't look for excuses, although he did note the "untypical conditions" with rain all day and next to no visibility on the final climb.
He also didn't hold any grudges at being leant on in the final few kilometres of the climb, in a group where Ineos Grenadiers and Bora-Hansgrohe had numbers but decided to sit in.
"It was on me at the end, but on the other hand, all the others probably want to win the race, or fight for it," he said.
As for what he made of his rivals: "They go strong. But I didn't really need that proof.
"There's still a long way to go. Today we lost a bit but hopefully we will gain a bit later on."
Despite appearing to wave them away, question mark's over Roglič's form and fitness are set to resurface after he left the Tour a week early with a still-undisclosed back injury from the first week.
His preparation for the Vuelta was compromised and his participation was only confirmed a few days ahead of the start, but he didn't show any hint of concern.
"Everything is fine," he said. "Onto the next stages."
