Primoz Roglic overtook Remco Evenepoel and won a sprint for the line to claim victory on the eighth stage of the Vuelta a Espana.
Roglic went past his rival at the final corner before winning the 165km stage from Denia to Xorret de Cati.
“In the sprint it’s always a bit of a gamble but I had the legs and I could do it,” said Slovenia’s Roglic.
Belgium’s Evenepoel said he did not know they had caught a breakaway and were vying for victory.
“I didn’t realise we were fighting for the win,” said Evenepoel. “I feel a bit stupid to be honest.”
Spanish rider Juan Ayuso finished in third place.
American Sepp Kuss, in seventh, replaced Lenny Martinez, who came in 70 seconds adrift of the stage eight finish, in the overall lead of the race.
Kuss now leads the standings by 43 seconds from Spain’s Marc Soler, with France’s Martinez one minute behind in third.
Evenepoel, Roglic and Jonas Vingegaard are sixth, seventh and eighth respectively in the general classification as they trail Kuss by just more than two and a half minutes.
Stage eight results
1. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) 4hrs 13mins 52secs
2. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick-Step) Same time
3. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates)
4. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar Team) +2secs
5. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) Same time
6. Joao Almeida (Por/UAE Team Emirates)
7. Sepp Kuss (USA/Jumbo-Visma)
8. Marc Soler (Spa/UAE Team Emirates)
9. Wout Poels (Ned/Bahrain Victorious) +34secs
10. Alexsandr Vlasov (Rus/Bora – Hansgrohe) +39secs
General classification
1. Sepp Kuss (USA/Jumbo-Visma) 30hrs 51mins 06secs
2. Marc Soler (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +43secs
3. Lenny Martinez (Fra/Groupama-FDJ) +1min
4. Wout Poels (Ned/Bahrain Victorious) +2min 05secs
5. Mikel Landa (Spa/Bahrain Victorious) +2min 29secs
6. Remco Evenepoel (Bel/Soudal-Quick-Step) +2min 31secs
7. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Jumbo-Visma) +2min 38secs
8. Jonas Vingegaard (Den/Jumbo-Visma) +2min 42secs
9. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar Team) +2min 42secs
10. Juan Ayuso (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +2min 52secs