As it happened: time trial specialist wins stage while red jersey is successfully defended at stage 18 of the Vuelta a España

Hello and welcome to stage 18 of the Vuelta a España.

Today might just be the biggest day in the career of Enric Mas. A pro for ten years, the Spaniard has been one of the best climbers in the peloton for most of that time, but has never quite managed to deliver the big result that matches his talents.

Now, with just four more stages left to complete, he’s on the verge of taking one of the biggest prizes there is in cycling (especially for a Spaniard) - the Vuelta a España. But to do so, he can’t just rely on his climbing, but will today need to call up on his more limited time trialling skills.

The man looking to depose Enric Mas from the top of the classification is Primož Roglič. While Mas has never won a race of this calibre before, Roglič has made a career of doing so; rather than hunting his first ever Vuelta title, he instead is looking to break the record for the most ever.

As an elite time trialist, this is the day he has been waiting for to make a move on the red jersey, and will hope he can make Mas crack under the considerable pressure he is under.

It’s a flat course, and therefore one that should help the better time trialists among the GC contenders (ie, Roglič) maximise their time gain, while also giving the specialists further down the ranking a great shot at winning the stage. Have a read of our full preview here.

Vuelta a España 2026 stage 18 preview – Can Primož Roglič produce vintage time trial performance to maximise pressure on Enric Mas in race for red jersey?

Mathias Sunekær Norsgaard will be the rider to get us underway in just a few minutes after which the riders will set off at one minute intervals, until we reach the top twenty on GC, from which point they’ll set off every two minutes; Enric Mas in the red jersey will be the last to start, at 16:55 local time.

Vuelta a España 2026: Stage 18 time trial start times

OFFICIAL START

And they're off! Mathias Sunekær Norsgaard rolls off the start ramp to get this crucial, potentially race-defining time trial underway.

One of the favourites it also one of the first riders to set off - Ethan Hayter. The Brit was one of the protagonists of the first week of the race, starting with an agonising second-place finish behind Tadej Pogačar in the opening stage time trial.

He's struggled since then, as evidenced by how far down he is on the GC, but if he's well-rested and feeling fresh for this time trial, he's one of the favourites for the stage.

Another contender for the stage has just begun, and it's another Brit - Callum Thornley. The 23-year-old was fourth in the opening stage, and as well as taking notes for teammate Primož Roglič, he'll also be going all in for himself to set the fastest possible time.

Today's stage is held in El Puerto de Santa María, where the riders are setting off in turn from the town's bull ring. It's making for a spectacular backdrop.

Thornley has just gone through the first time check, and he's the quickest so far - 19 seconds quicker than his compatriot Hayter. They're both going for it, and are a long way up on the rest of the field. Theirs is the fight to be the early pace-setter, and so far Thornley is winning it.

Oscar Chamberlain, who was seventh on the opening stage time trial, is on the course, but is a little down at the first time check, 27 seconds slower than Thornley and 8 seconds slower than Hayter.

Meanwhile Hayter is currently the quickest at the second time check - but Thornley is yet to pass through it.

Hayter has just arrived at the finish with a time of 35:54, having passed a few of the minute men who started before him.

He's in the hot seat - but may not want to make himself too comfortable, as Thornley is still looking good to beat his time. At the second time check he retained his lead over Hayter, posting a time 23 seconds quicker.

NEW FASTEST TIME - CALLUM THORNLEY

Thornley maintains his pace all the way until the finish, and has put 29 seconds into Hayter. That could put him in the hot seat for sometime.

That said, seasoned time trialist Ivo Oliveira is out on the course now and looking good, just 7 seconds down on Thornley at the first check. Watch this space.

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The winner of both the previous two stages, Matthew Brennan, has started his ride. He won't be making it a hat-trick today, and will be taking it easier around the course, but whatever happens he's astounded with his performances at this Vuelta. His Visma-Lease a Bike has enjoyed great success in Grand Tours over the years, but this is their most prolific in history.

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Ivo Oliveira has just posted the second fastest time at the finish, but he's a long way off Thornley's time, who was 27 seconds faster.

The Scotsman's next threat looks set to come from Xabier Mikel Azparren, who has posted a time at the first check that's just 5 seconds slower.

There's just over an hour and a half to go until Enric Mas sets off for the most important time trial of his life. He's trying not to worry about how other people will ride, but focus instead on delivering the fastest time that he is capable of.

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João Almeida appears to have found some form! He's just become the first man to post a time quicker than Thornley at the first time check, albeit by just the two seconds. As a man who knows how to pace himself, you'd back him to go on to set the best time at the finish.

Roglič might be the better time trialist than Mas, so much so that he has beaten him in all 22 of the stages they’ve competed in throughout their careers; but, looking back over all those previous results, Mas has reason to be optimistic. In none of those past stages has he lost as much as 2:10 to the Slovenian, which is all he needs to defend today in order to protect the red jersey.

That said, at 32.1km, this is a longer time trial than most of those 22. Here is how much time he’s lost in every previous time trial the two have competed in that were over 30km.

2025 Tour de France: 1:38 (33km)

2022 Vuelta a España: 1:04 (31km)

2022 Dauphine: 1:11 (32km)

2021 Vuelta a España: 2:04 (34km)

2020 Vuelta a España: 1:43 (34km)

2020 Tour de France: 0-49 (36.2km)

Before the GC race gets going, there’s a stage win to be won, and a couple of top favourites have just begun their rides - Bruno Armirail, and Stefan Küng. Both these riders have spent most of this Vuelta waiting for today, and have rolled off the ramp with the look of men on a mission.

João Almeida has finished his ride - and he's narrowly slower than Thornley! Having been 2 seconds up at the first check, and on the same time at the second, the Portuguese slowed in relation to the leader and must settle for second at the clubhouse, 6 seconds down.

Stefan Küng is looking good, arriving at the first time check one second up on Thornley, though Armirail is further down, 10 seconds slower.

Thornely is coming under pressure from all angles now. Having been 7 seconds down at the first check, Finn Fisher-Black is a mere 1 seconds off at the second; and another major candidate for the stage win, Wout van Aert, have just begun.

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Fisher-Black has just finished, and he slowed down in the final third, fading to third place behind Almeida and his teammate Thornely.

Still, that means there are two Red Bull riders in the top three, which bodes well for their team leader Primož Roglič. The word among them going into today's stage is that he believes he can win the red jersey.

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Stefan Küng is absolutely flying! He's done a scintillating second third of the route, and is a whole ten seconds faster than Thornley. He's putting his all into it, to, and nearly overshot a corner. He'll be at the finish soon, so we'll know soon if he's going to maintain this speed...

NEW FASTEST TIME - STEFAN KUNG

Küng has done it...just! He slowed a little in relation to Thornley in the final phase, but still had two seconds to spare once he got to the finish.

Could the Swiss rider be on the brink of claiming the second Grand Tour stage of his career? So far things are looking good, as rival Van Aert is a substantial 8 seconds slower at the second check.

We're getting near to the GC riders. 20th on GC (and King of the Mountains) Santiago Buitrago has just started, and the riders have started setting off in two minute intervals.

Van Aert is at the finish...and he's slower than Küng. He slowed down a lot towards the end, and must settle for fourth place.

He was one of the few riders left who could realistically challenge the Swiss rider. Unless Roglič can better, he might be poised to take the stage win.

It's only been two years since Stefan Küng won a Vuelta time trial, his first at Grand Tour level after a career of frustrations and near misses. Could he be on the brink of adding a second?

We're now into the top ten, with Sepp Kuss starting his ride. This is where the riders have serious positions on GC that they will want to defend - no holding back from anyone from here on in.

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Mattias Skjelmose has just started. As well as Roglič, he's the other member of the GC top ten who's an elite time trialist. He'll hope to move from his seventh place today, potentially as high as fifth if he has a really good day.

Oscar Onley is off. Carapaz’s fourth-place is a distant 1:20 ahead of him, so he might be looking over his shoulder instead at Jakob Omrzel in sixth, who is just 30 seconds behind and will also have his eye on the white jersey.

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Here we go then, Primož Roglič is off, to a big cheer from the crowd! He’s already won 15 stages at the Vuelta in his career, and may need to win another if he’s to gain the time he needs to depose Enric Mas at the top.

There is one rider starting in between Roglič and Mas: Felix Gall, who has historically struggled against the clock. The Austrian has just started his ride, and is expected to lose the slender four second lead he has over the former, but will want to ride as strong a time as possible to keep himself in with a shot of the red jersey going into the final climbing stages.

And that’s it - now Mas starts, every rider is either on the road or already finished. Red always feels like a dangerous colour to wear on a bullring where this time trial route sets out from, and indeed he is a target today for Primož Roglič. But he looks calm on the ramp as he begins the most important time trial of his career.

Skjelmose i through the first check, and he's not quite as quick as anticipated, setting the 22nd best time there. But he's still 10 seconds faster than Omrzel, so is in the running to take his 6th place on GC.

Onley is going well, the quickest of the top ten so far at the first check, and the 14th quickest of anyone all day. His white jersey and 5th place are looking safe therefore, but he's still got a lot of ground to make up on Carapaz in 4th, who was just 10 seconds slower than him at the check.

The top three riders are through the first check, and Roglič is making gains - but not at the rate needed to take red! He’s put 21 seconds into Mas at the first split, and 22 into Gall. So far it’s looking OK for Mas, who is being roared along by fans on the roadside.

All the riders up to fourth overall have gone through the second time check. There's set to be no changes in the top ten as things stand, with Onley the quickest of all of them so far, building a lead over Omrzel and Skjelmose, but not enough to challenge Carapaz, who is limiting his losses to him to 21 seconds for now.

Roglič is through the second check with the 6th fastest time of the day, almost a minute quicker than Gall. That's easily enough for the Slovenian to take second-place, but he isn't quite having the sublime day needed to really put Mas under pressure.

Mas is through the second time check...and he's 36 seconds slower than Roglič. At this rate he will still be wearing the red jersey on the podium tonight, and still with a decent buffer, too.

Meanwhile Skjelmose has reached the finish, with the 22nd fastest time of the day.

Onley has finished, and it's a very good time - the 11th best of the day so far, 1:15 slower than Küng. That'll see him extend his lead over Omrzel, and keep the white jersey on his shoulders.

Roglič is giving it his all, coming out of the saddle sometimes to try to find extra reserves of strength to find what he needs to defeat Mas. But it doesn't appear likely to be enough - he arrives at the finish with the 4th fastest time, 19 seconds slower than Küng.

Gall finishes his ride, 1:47 down on Küng, meaning he loses his second place on GC to Roglič. It's not a bad time by his standards, though - only two seconds slower than Carapaz, in fact, so he'll remain in third place with a big buffer.

MAS DEFENDS RED, KUNG WINS

Enric Mas finishes, to a mighty roar from his home fans. And he's lived up to the occasion! He finishes with the 12th best time of the day, losing little more than half a minute to Roglič. So he'll remain on top of the GC with a lead still in excess of 1:30. The Vuelta's is his to lose.

All that also means Stefan Küng has won the stage, a huge day in his career, in which he matches the biggest win of his career, from the Vuelta two years ago.

1:37 is Mas' lead over Roglič as a result of this time trial, and an even healthier 3:01 over Gall, 5:17 over Carapaz and 6:03 over Onley. He'll still come under pressure in the upcoming mountain stages, and will need his Movistar team to protect him against attacks from those riders, but today confirms him as the clear favourite to the win the red jersey.

A look at the results suggest that Felix Gall is the big loser of the day, as they only man in the top six on GC to fall down the rankings.

But given that he was always expected to lose ground to Roglič, he might be relatively pleased with how he managed to limit his losses, and is still within striking distance of taking is second place back, if he climbs as well as he has been in the upcoming couple of mountain stages.

Thanks for joining us today. Enric Mas looked more like a prospective leader than he has at any point so far at this Vuelta, and is now, having overcome his biggest challenge, on the cusp of sealing the red jersey.

It's not over yet, though. There are a lot of quality riders behind him on GC, and, as a mixture of seasoned champions (Roglič), quality climbers (Gall) and irrepressible attackers (Carapaz), he is sure to come under attack in the upcoming mountain stages - starting with tomorrow. So be sure to tune in again for stage 19, where this thrilling race for the red jersey will continue.