Madrid, Sep 14 : Sepp Kuss (Jumbo Visma) kept the overall leader's red jersey by just eight seconds over his team-mate Jonas Vingegaard, while Primoz Roglic won the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain cycle race.
Although Kuss finished 19 seconds behind Roglic and Vingegaard, he was able to cling onto the leader's jersey on the day he celebrated his 29th birthday, reports Xinhua.
As expected, the climb up the mythical Altu de L'Angliru produced tension and drama as the riders struggled up the steepest climb in the race. Although Kuss looked as if he would surrender the lead to his team-mate, he was able to find the strength to remain in touch with Vingegaard and Roglic in the last two kilometers.
With his chances of repeating last year's overall triumph gone, Remco Evenepoel (Soudal Quick Step) set his sights on winning the jersey as the best climber and launched a solo attack early in the stage to hoover up the points on the two first category climbs that came before the Algliru in the short, but demanding 124-kilometer stage stage.
The Bahrain Victorious team led the chase working for Mikel Landa, who finished fourth on the day, finally catching the Belgian six kilometers from the top of the brutal Angliru climb, which contains gradient of over 20 per cents, slowing the race to almost walking pace.
Riders kept falling off the back until there were just six in the lead group, with three Bahrain Victorious riders and the Jumbo Visma trio of Sepp Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic, with the three-riding clear with two kilometers left to ride.
It was Kuss' turn to lose ground as his two team-mates inched ahead into the mist, with Roglic crossing the finish line just ahead of Vingegaard. Kuss beat Landa in the sprint for third to take the last time bonus, which could be decisive as the race gets ever tighter.
Kuss leads Vingegaard by eight seconds, with Roglic third overall, a minute and eight seconds behind.
/IANS