Eddie Dunbar holds on for second stage win as Roglic leads Vuelta into final day

Ireland’s Eddie Dunbar hung on to win stage 20 of the Vuelta a España on Saturday, his second stage win of the race, with three-times former champion Primoz Roglic coming in third and extending his overall lead ahead of Sunday’s final stage.

Dunbar, who also won stage 11 for his Team Jayco-AlUla, took off in pursuit of the leader Pavel Sivakov with five kilometres to the finish on the final climb of this year’s Vuelta to Picón Blanco and held off the chasing group by just seven seconds on the line after overtaking the Frenchman.

Spain’s Enric Mas came in second, with Roglic, who took control of the red jersey after winning Friday’s stage, close behind. The Slovenian now has an overall lead of two minutes and two seconds over Australia’s Ben O’Connor.

Sunday’s final stage is a 24.6km individual time trial in Madrid, where Roglic is set to be crowned champion for the fourth time, barring a catastrophe. “Definitely one day closer than yesterday, so the right direction,” Roglic said. “But tomorrow is a GC [general classification] day, so we have to finish it off.”

The 172km ride from Villarcayo contained seven categorised climbs to test the riders on the penultimate stage, and it was Dunbar who proved strongest, while Roglic, of the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team, did all that was needed to strengthen his grip on the red jersey.

Dunbar, who has struggled with crashes and injuries in recent times, made his break from a small group of riders containing the top five in the general classification.

“I knew this climb from a few years ago and knew there were steep bits and parts where it levelled out, and that it was a bit different to what was shown on the profile,” Dunbar said. “I rode the steep parts pretty hard and rode the flat bits pretty conservative to make sure I had enough left in the tank.”

Asked if this victory would really launch his career, Dunbar said: “I wouldn’t say that. I’ve had good times and I’ve had bad times, and it’s all part of the process. There’s going to be more ups and more downs, that’s just the way life is – I have learned that throughout my career. Moments like this don’t come around too often, and I’m just looking forward to sharing them and celebrating them with friends and family.”

Roglic, who won three consecutive Vueltas from 2019, came into this year’s race as clear favourite, with the likes of Tadej Pogacar, Jonas Vingegaard and Remco Evenepoel all opting not to ride in Spain. But he had risked losing out to O’Connor, who took the red jersey from Roglic after winning stage six, opening up a gap of almost five minutes. But the Slovenian slowly chipped away at the lead, and seized control in style when winning stage 19.