00:02We're heading into the decisive final stretch of La Vuelta 26, starting with today's individual
00:08time trial.
00:09This is a major test for the race leader Enric Mas, who's by no means a specialist, even
00:15if he was at Spain's junior time trial champion once upon a time.
00:18The Movistar man is defending a lead of just over two minutes.
00:25It's quite flat, not a lot of corners, so we have to concentrate on the power, on the
00:34position and that's it.
00:36What result would make you happy compared to your rivals on GC?
00:40To keep the jersey, I think we have to be happy.
00:45Meanwhile the specialists have a big opportunity to take a grand tour stage win.
00:49Apart from Primoz Roglic, Stefan Kuhn is the only man in the field with an ITT victory
00:54at La Vuelta, but he is not the only contender.
00:58Who are the other favourites?
01:01Wout van Aert, you can never count him out, he's one of the best cyclists of our generation.
01:06And if he is a hater who can beat everyone on a good day, and then you have also many
01:13other
01:13guys who can ride fast, then it's up to me to beat them all.
01:20This is also a chance for the emerging generation to make their mark.
01:2423-year-old Callum Thornley finished fourth at the opening time trial in Monaco, but the
01:29Scot is aiming higher today.
01:32I think if I had to design a course, it's probably perfect for me.
01:35I think the first one was a little bit too punchy and too short for me, but this one
01:40being longer, 35 minutes, it's perfect for me really.
01:44To be honest, I would like to go out there and try and win the stage.
01:48There's still some super strong guys here in the race and a podium, but in the back of
01:53my mind, I just want to win this stage.
01:54I think this would be amazing.
01:55It's a big dream.
01:57Stage 18 is a 32.1km individual time trial from El Puerto de Santa Maria to Jerez de la
02:03Frontera.
02:04No climbs and not too many changes of direction.
02:07This is a real power effort which could have a big impact on the final results.
02:15There were several TT specialists among the early starters, including the runner-up in
02:19Monaco, Ethan Hayter.
02:21He missed out by just nine hundredths of a second that day, beaten at the death by Tadej Pogacar,
02:26but he wouldn't spend long in the hot seat on this 18th stage.
02:29The four-time British champion setting the benchmark, but he was quickly beaten by his
02:34compatriot Thornley.
02:37The Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe man doing a fantastic job and putting 29 seconds into Hayter, clocking
02:44an average speed of 54.4km an hour.
02:48Thornley set to feature at the sharp end of the standings today and ready to share some
02:52useful tips with his team leader, Primoz Roglic.
03:03I think you can do a lot of damage in the second half of the course.
03:05We all know that the corners here are super slippy, especially in the villages and the towns,
03:09so I'll probably phone him just now or maybe go back to the start bus and give him some
03:14advice, but he'll do well.
03:17Thornley clearly did a solid job over the final part of the course because other riders who
03:21were matching him at the intermediate checkpoints faded by the end.
03:24Joao Almeida, Finn Fischer-Black and Xavier Asperin all finishing in the red.
03:33Two of the big contenders for the stage win set off just two minutes apart.
03:38Bruno Amirai, the three-time French champion who was looking to give Wisma their eighth win
03:42of the race and the six-time Swiss champion Stefan Kung.
03:47It quickly became clear that Kung was having one of those days.
03:51The two-time European champion quicker than Amirai and more importantly quicker than Thornley.
03:56By the second checkpoint he was 11 seconds up on the British rider but could he hold that
04:01advantage all the way to the finish line.
04:06Stefan Kung is piling into the finish, it's going to be very very close now between him
04:12and Thornley, closer than he wanted, is it going to be the fastest time?
04:17It is, by three seconds, wow that was close, Thornley rode superbly the last bit, Kung goes
04:25into the hot seat.
04:29Well there weren't many riders still to come who could realistically beat Kung but he was
04:33no doubt keeping an eye on the performance of Wout van Aert.
04:36The Belgian's been on superb form at this race but could he take a first time trial win
04:40in over three years?
04:43He's lost some time on the run-in, he's going to be outside the top places, Wout van Aert struggling
04:50a little bit to the line, fourth fastest.
04:55Careful Richie.
04:58It was soon time for the overall favourites to roll down the ramp.
05:02We've got used to seeing the top GC riders at Grand Tours fighting for victory in the
05:06time trials but Kung was unlikely to be troubled by most of the riders in the top ten, not too
05:11many TT specialists among them.
05:13The notable exception was of course Primoz Roglic, Slovenian champion and winner of four individual
05:20time trials at La Vuelta. But how much time could he put into the riders ahead of him, Felix
05:25Gal and especially Enric Mas. The two men have shared 22 time trials and Roglic has always
05:32come out on top.
05:37Well Gao was rapidly out of the running and he would lose second place overall but Mas was
05:42resisting superbly perhaps thanks to the red jersey effect, although to be fair he does
05:47boast a handful of top tens in Vuelta time trials. Roglic never seriously threatened Kung's
05:52time finishing fourth just ahead of Van Aerts.
05:55Well meanwhile Mas was set to lose under a minute. The Spaniard will take the red jersey
06:00into the mountains after passing this time trial test with flying colours.
06:06This is impressive from Mas. The time of Roglic 35-41. Mas isn't going to lose that much time.
06:15This is a rider who has transformed himself. Enric Mas reaches the line now and he's going
06:23to finish inside the top 12 riders.
06:27Stefan Kung producing a superb effort to claim his 24th time trial victory. After a drought
06:33of nearly two years, the Swiss powerhouse got back to winning ways at the Tour of Poland
06:37last month and carried that form into La Vuelta. It's his second stage win at this race after
06:43the closing time trial in Madrid in 2024. It's also a second win of this edition for Tudor
06:49after Kung's roommate Marco Brenner triumphed on stage 14.
06:53In the end you have to win. It doesn't matter by how big of a margin. Yes, okay, 24th victory.
07:01Probably a few that I lost. Also by only two seconds or even less. So in the end I'm just
07:08super happy to take the win here. I'm alone on the podium today but it's a victory of the
07:14whole team and thanks to the guys also behind me working hard behind the scenes.
07:20Kung celebrating his 32nd career victory, only the second at a Grand Tour, by three seconds
07:26from Thornley. Almeida, Roglic and Van Aert all finished within 20 seconds with Mas in 12th place.
07:33The Spaniard should be very satisfied with today's showing. He will head to the mountains
07:37with a lead of a minute and 37 seconds over Roglic, with Gall now over three minutes back.
07:46Van Aert took 11 points for fifth place today and has essentially secured the green jersey.
07:50He just needs to reach the finish line in Granada on Sunday.
07:55After three quiet days our king of the mountains, Santiago Buetrago will no doubt be itching to
08:00get back to the climbs. He still leads by 29 points from Van Aerts.
08:05And Oscar Onley has increased his lead in white to 57 seconds after gaining a bit of time today
08:11on Jakob Omrazel.
08:15Tomorrow we hit the heights again with a summit finish on Penas Blancas where Carapace won
08:20in 2022. Do join us for that on Friday.
08:24And thanks for watching.
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