STA, 3 September 2019 - Slovenian cycling star Primož Roglič won on Tuesday the tenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana race, the 36.2-km individual time-trial in France's Pau, taking the race leader's red jersey. The 29-year-old has thus become the first Slovenian to have won a stage at all three Grand Tours.
Roglič, who was the top favourite for today's victory, was ahead of his rivals the whole time during the stage, which started in Jurancon and ended in Pau.
The Jumbo-Visma rider was 21 seconds ahead of his fellow countrymen Tadej Pogačar at the first time measurement and 19 seconds ahead of New Zealand's Patrick Bevin, who took second place, estimating his losses to 25 seconds across the line.
"The time trial was difficult and I tried to beat it as quickly as possible. I'm happy about today's performance. I aimed to ride as fast as possible the whole stage and luckily it was enough for the win," Roglič said after his victory.
He gained a lot of advantage over his rivals at the top, having a minute and 52 seconds before the second-placed Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde, and could be another step closer to winning the Spanish Grand Tour.
"We'll see about that in Madrid. I won today, let's take it one step at a time," Roglič told the press.
He is currently also wearing the green jersey, worn by the leader in the points competition.
Pogačar, who was successful at the start of the dynamic time trial, eventually took the 11th place.
This is Roglič's 20th win in the world series, 10th this year, and 8th in time trial stages.
He won two stages at this year's Giro d'Italia, and won four of the six time trials he took part in this year.
The previous owner of the red jersey, Colombian Nairo Quintana, has 3 minutes and 6 seconds in losses behind Roglič.
Roglič has also become the second Slovenian to be wearing the Vuelta red jersey - before him only Janez Brajkovič managed the feat in 2006 and 2013.
