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Vuelta a España stage 13 - Live coverage

By Patrick Fletcher
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All the action from the pivotal time trial

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Stage 13 time trial start times

Preview: Roglic the reference point in Vuelta a España’s third week

Vuelta a España still COVID-free: Fourth round of mass tests all negative

Vuelta a España stage 13

(Image credit: La Vuelta / Unipublic)
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Hola, buenos días, and welcome to our live coverage on a pivotal day of the 2020 Vuelta a España. Everyone has passed their COVID tests so into the final week of this 18-stage Grand Tour we go, starting with an individual time trial that should really up the battle for the overall title. It's 33.7km long and largely flat, but for a stupidly steep climb at the end (this is the Vuelta, after all), and is set to shape the GC with just one summit finish to come. 

Mickaël Delage (Groupama-FDJ) will be the first rider down the start ramp, at 13:47 local time. He has the honour given he's the lowest placed rider overall, and the rest of the field will set off in reverse order of the general classifications at intervals of one minute, all the way down to the top 20, who'll be separated by two minutes. Race leader Richard Carapaz (Ineos Grenadiers) is last off at 16:36.

Here are the GC standings ahead of the stage

Roglic, an expert time triallist, is the favourite here, and on paper should reap the 10 seconds needed to reclaim the red jersey, plus enough of a buffer to take it to Madrid. 

For more on Roglic, plus a really detailed preview of the parcours - in particular that savage final climb - here's Alasdair Fotheringham's preview of this stage and the final week. 

The Vuelta is COVID-free. While the Tour and Giro had their nervy run-ins with positive tests, the Spanish Grand Tour has so far kept its bubble pristine, with all 681 tests on yesterday's rest day coming back negative. Full story. 

Here's Delage just a moment ago. He's now fully dressed and heading for the start ramp. 

Here's an interesting video from the rest day. It's Mas practising a bike change at the foot of the final climb. It's so steep that you're not getting up there on a TT machine, and you would think everyone will be switching to a standard road bike. Bike changes can range from the sublime to the ridiculous and should provide plenty of drama later on. 

We're off!

Here are the early starters

Looking beyond Roglic and the GC contenders, there aren't a huge amount of TT specialists here. Remi Cavanga (Deceuninck-QuickStep), however, is one. He's more suited to the flat but was really impressive on La Planche des Belles Filles to finish 6th in that Tour de France TT, so don't count him out today. He's off at 14:36.

Here's where we are on the map - tracking the Galician coastline up from Muros to Ezaro. There's a stiff breeze coming from the north so it's mostly a headwind out there. 

Chris Froome is here and would ordinarily be among the favourites for today's stage, but this is a different story as he continues his comeback from career-threatening injury. We spoke to him yesterday about his progression, the route for next year's Tour de France, and his role in helping Carapaz try and win this Vuelta. All in the link below. 

Harry Tanfield (AG2R) has the fastest time so far at the first checkpoint. And here are his shoes. They appear to relate to the Mixed Relay TTT at last year's World Championships, where GB won bronze in Tanfield's native Yorkshire. Jon Archibald was in the squad that day, but who's Piggy...? 

Tanfield could use a decent ride today, as I believe he's still looking for a contract for next year. He hasn't raced all that much in this interrupted season, which came after a really rough first WorldTour campaign with Katusha in 2019. AG2R took him for 2020 on a cut price given he was still under contract at Katusha, who have had to pay part of his wages even after folding. 

Tanfield is fastest at the second checkpoint after half an hour or so in the saddle - 10 seconds up on Alex Edmondson. But the climb's coming soon. I interviewed Tanfield last year, I've just remembered, and he was interesting on how Katusha left him 'high and dry' and how he wound up at AG2R. A natural talent who's road career hasn't really taken off so far. Link to the piece here if you're interested.

The intermediate checkpoints, by the way, come after 12km and after 24.5km. Why they've not put one at the foot of the climb, we will never know...

Tanfield, who started fifth, is the first to the top of the Mirador de Ezaro and is our first finisher. His time is 48:52, which is an average speed of 41.3km/h. Delage, the first starter, comes to the top soon after, his time nearly five minutes slower. 

Edmondson has outclimbed Tanfield and knocks 28 seconds off his time to move into the hotseat. 

Froome starts his ride. A reminder that our interview with him is here. 

Cavagna's on a roll. The French champion has just caught Jonathan Hivert, who set off three minutes earlier, so he has caught three riders now and counting. 

Cavagna is two seconds down on Edmondson's time at the first checkpoint. 

Ivo Oliveira (UAE Team Emirates) comes to the line. He's 29 seconds down on Edmondson, so third as it stands. 

Cavagna comes to the second checkpoint (24.5km) and now he has the fastest time - 8 seconds up on Tanfield's benchmark and 18 seconds up on Edmondson. 

Cavagna comes to the bottom of the climb and gets a decent change onto his road bike. 

1.8km uphill now for Cavagna, with an average of 15% and ramps of up to 30%. 

Here's the final climb. It's unrelenting. 

Cavagna comes into the final 300m and he has more than 2 minutes to play with, so he's heading into the lead. 

Cavagna stops the clock on 47:37. That's 47 seconds faster than Edmondson. 

Decent ride from 25-year-old Scott Davies, who's fifth fastest so far. He won the British U23 TT title four times, regularly beating Tanfield as well as a certain Giro d'Italia winner.

Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) starts his ride, and he's capable of a high placing today. 

In this strange season, nothing is sacred, and the traditional Tour de France route presentation in Paris' Palais des Congrès was scrapped in favour of a mere television announcement from Christian Prudhomme. Anyway, Peter Cossins has gone through the 21 stages and looked in detail at five of the most important. 

No bike change for Froome at the foot of the climb. He looks over his shoulder as he hits the double-digit gradients on his TT machine, but there doesn't seem to be an Ineos mechanic in sight. 

Meanwhile Jannik Steimle has taken the second fastest time at the finish, 48:08, which is 31 seconds down on his teammate Cavagna. So two Deceuninck-QuickStep riders in the top two positions so far. 

Froome reaches the top on his TT bike, finishing nearly 5 minutes down on Cavagna's time. 

EF also seem to be using TT bike for the final climb, which is partly concreted. That won't be the case for Hugh Carthy, who was practising his change earlier on, and can't afford not to change. 

Jasha Sutterlin (Sunweb) threatens Cavagna's time as he fights his bike all the way to the line. 47:46 for the German, so nine seconds down but still good enough for second place so far. 

Nelson Oliveira has the fastest time at the first checkpoint (12km), with 14:37. That's 18 seconds up on Cavagna.

Vaughters sailing very close to the wind there, but presumably he knows full well that Bury (hometown of 2018 Vuelta winner Simon Yates), while formerly in Lancashire, is technically now part of Greater Manchester. 

Nelson Oliveira extends his advantage at the second checkpoint (24.5km). His time of 30:17 is 25 seconds better than Cavagna's. How much has he left in the tank for the climb?

Here's a word from Cavagna, as he watches Oliveira approach the climb. 

Oliveira reaches the foot of the climb and sees his mechanics. He gets off his TT bike and lets it crash to the ground as he reaches for his road bike. He's back on his way pretty quickly, and has 1800 savage metres to go.

David De la Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) sets off now. He's 13th overall and decent against the clock. 

Oliveira looks good on the climb. While Cavagna spent a lot of time out of the saddle, the Portugese rider is mostly seated, but obviously as I write that he gets out and onto the pedals. He's on the concrete section now with 1km to go and there's really no other choice. 

David Gaudu (FDJ) and George Bennett (Jumbo-Visma) are off now and we're on the brink of the top 10. 

Oliveira is looking good for this. He enters the last 300m with 1:55 in hand. Cavagna gets ready to leave the hotseat

46:49 for Oliveira! A full 48 seconds faster than Cavagna. 

Nieve and Vlasov set off now, so the GC battle starts here. A reminder of the overall standings...

Will Barta (CCC) now has the fastest time at the first checkpoint, a fraction of a second up on Oliveira. 

For those just tuning in for the GC action, Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) has the fastest time so far on this 33.7km course, which is flat for the first 31.9km but then rises up at 15% for the final 1800m up to the Ezaro viewpoint. Bike changes are a must at the foot of the climb. We have two checkpoints, both on the flat, at KM12 and KM24.5. Roglic is the favourite, looking for redemption after La Planche des Belles Filles, but Carapaz, Carthy, and Mas are no slouches against the clock. It's all to play for. 

Valverde, Grossschartner, and now Poels set off. The latter is certainly among the stronger time triallists in the top 10. 

Also for the latecomers, you've still got time to read this in-depth preview from my colleague Alasdair Fotheringham. 

Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) gets going. The final climb is very much his terrain but the previous 31km are anything but, and it's hard to see him getting any closer to the podium. 

I've just realised I didn't call Mas off. He's in the white skinsuit and has a strong TT in his locker on his day. At the Tour de France TT to the Planche des Belles Filles, he placed ninth. 

And now Carthy sets off. He won on the Angliru and is widely known as a top climber but don't underestimate his TT skills. As his former manager John Herety told Alasdair for that preview, "We signed him because he was a climber who could time trial well. Even back in the day he was doing 19 minutes for 10-mile TTs."

Roglic sets off now. He's the hot favourite both for the stage, and by extension the overall title. But what sort of Roglic have we got today? 

Barta is still matching Oliveira's time, by the way, as he changes bikes ahead of the final climb. 

And now for the race leader, Richard Carapaz. He'll know he's likely to lose the red jersey today, but will be hoping to limit his losses to Roglic. 

And that's it. All the riders have either finished or are out on course. We're around 40 minutes from knowing the full extent of the shake-up. 

Barta comes to the line. It's close, but he's going to do it!

46:40 for Barta! What a ride that is - nine seconds quicker than Oliveira. 

Some more on Carthy from his current team boss Jonathan Vaughters, via Eurosport. 

15:21 for Mas at the first checkpoint after 12km. That's 44 seconds down on Barta's fastest time. 

Dan Martin clocks 15:13 at that same checkpoint, so he's looking good and Mas' performance looks disappointing by comparison. 

14:48 for Carthy at the first checkpoint! Third fastest so far. Herety and Vaughters were right...

Marc Soler (Movistar) crosses the line for the sixth fastest time so far. A decent ride in the Spaniard's topsy turvy Vuelta but he's already well down on GC again after the Angliru. 

14:50 for Roglic at the first checkpoint! Not slow, by any stretch, but it's slower than Carthy...

Carapaz's time at the checkpoint will give us a real indication as to Roglic's progress. 

14:54 for Carapaz - four seconds down on Roglic and six seconds down on Carthy. 

12km is early days, and there may be big differences in pacing, but the story so far is Roglic is underperforming compared to pre-race predictions. 

Here's the virtual GC after 12km

Live timings suggest Roglic has just lost a further three seconds to Carthy. 

It looks like Roglic might be starting to turn the tables. He finds another six seconds on Carapaz and is now just two seconds down on Carthy. 

Mas reaches the second checkpoint after 24.5km. He's on 31:39, which is 1:22 short of Barta's benchmark. 

6th fastest time for De la Cruz, who catches Sepp Kuss on the line. 

31:34 for Dan Martin at that checkpoint, so he's still up on Mas, and defending his fourth place nicely. 

30:35 for Carthy at the checkpoint! Third fastest of the day. He's not slowing up yet. 

Carthy started the day third overall, three seconds up on Dan Martin, but he's already put a minute into the Irishman, and a little more into Mas. 

Here comes Roglic... and now he's up on Carthy, but only by one second. 30:34 for the 2019 Vuelta champion.

How is Carapaz getting on? Here he comes to the checkpoint.

30:53 for Carapaz at the second checkpoint (24.5km)

As it stands, Carapaz has lost the red jersey and Roglic is the virtual Vuelta leader again. 

Here's the virtual GC after 24.5km

6 more kilometres on the flat before they hit the climb, where everything can change again. Remember, 15% average gradient on the last 1.8km, with ramps of 30%

No bike change for Mas, who's not having a good day.

Oh no, wait. There is a bike change for Mas, but it’s on the climb itself, just around the first bend. Everyone else has been changing at the bottom.

Valverde comes to the line to finish in 20th place but our main focus here is on the GC battle - at a push the top five but mainly those top three, who could be setting up a dramatic final few stages. 

Carthy comes to the foot of the climb and gets a bike change in the more common place. It's a clean one, and he's away quickly. This terrain will suit him, too, with similar gradients to the Angliru, where he won in style on Sunday. 

Live timings suggest Roglic is continuing to gain. He's 24 seconds up on Carapaz now. 

Roglic gets a decent bike change and begins the climb. 

Poels finishes with the eighth fastest time so far.

Roglic puts in a huge out-of-the-saddle acceleration. This looks like a different rider to the one that suffered on the Planche des Belles Filles. He looks to have something in the tank for these final ramps. 

Carapaz hits the climb now. Again, it's a bike change in the normal place and again it's a clean one. 

Mas reaches the top with a grimace. He stops the clock on 48:22 and will only move further away from the podium. 

Live timings have been taken away so it looks like we'll have to wait for the finish line to know the differences. 

47:56 for Martin. He's losing time to the three above him but he's moved further ahead of Mas in the overall standings.

Three left to finish: Carthy, Roglic, Carapaz

And Carthy is already approaching the finish!

Out of the saddle, grimace, one final effort, and he crosses the line...

Carapaz looks laboured as Roglic comes towards the finish

Roglic’s helmet is dead straight this time, and he has well and truly turned this one around.

46:39 for Roglic!

Roglic ended up putting 25 seconds into Carthy, after being slower through the first checkpoint and only a second quicker at the second. 

The gap to Carapaz will be interesting. He has 15 seconds in hand heading into the final 300m. 

Carapaz slips out of red. What will the final damage be? More than 45 seconds i think

Carapaz stops the clock on 47:28.

That's 49 seconds down on Roglic, so he's now 39 seconds down on GC. He was 24 seconds slower than Carthy, so he's now just eight seconds ahead of the Brit. 

Top 10

General classification after stage 13

Another genuinely exciting Grand Tour TT (what's got into me). Roglic won the stage - his fourth of the Vuelta - and regained the red jersey, so the headlines are all good for the Slovenian, but he didn't put as much time into Carapaz and Carthy as you might have expected. Roglic started slow and very much backloaded his efforts, perhaps cautious not to blow like he did on La Planche des Belles Filles. He certainly allayed fears of fatigue by getting stronger as that TT went on but did he do enough on the early part of the course? Carapaz and Carthy are still within a minute on GC, so while Roglic is in the driving seat, this Vuelta is still not a foregone conclusion. 

Team Jumbo rider Slovenias Primoz Roglic competes during the 13th stage of the 2020 La Vuelta cycling tour of Spain a 337km individual timetrial from Muros to Mirador de Ezaro Dumbria on November 3 2020 Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA AFP Photo by MIGUEL RIOPAAFP via Getty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images)

Let's hear from Roglic

Here's our report page, with write-up, results, and photos

Team Jumbo rider Slovenias Primoz Roglic celebrates on the podium regaining the red jersey of the overall leader after winning the 13th stage of the 2020 La Vuelta cycling tour of Spain a 337km individual timetrial from Muros to Mirador de Ezaro Dumbria on November 3 2020 Slovenian Primoz Roglic claimed victory in the Vuelta a Espana time trial on today to regain the lead in the overall classification Roglic took back the red jersey from Ecuadors Richard Carapaz while Britains Hugh Carthy sits third ahead of the races climax on November 1 2020 Photo by MIGUEL RIOPA AFP Photo by MIGUEL RIOPAAFP via Getty Images

(Image credit: Getty Images)

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