Canada’s Michael Woods won stage 13 of the Vuelta a Espana as Primoz Roglic gained significant ground on race leader Ben O’Connor in the battle for the red jersey.
On a difficult day in the mountains of north-western Spain, Israel-Premier Tech’s Woods made a decisive late surge away from the remnants of the breakaway to clinch his fourth Grand Tour stage win and his third in La Vuelta.
The Canadian, who was forced out of the Giro d’Italia earlier this year amid a difficult season, crossed the finish 45 seconds ahead of Switzerland’s Mauro Schmid, with home favourite Marc Soler in third.
However, the real drama unfolded further down the punishing climb up the Puerto de Ancares at the end of the 176km route from Lugo, with Slovenia’s Roglic able to distance O’Connor and take almost two minutes out of the Australian’s lead at the summit finish.
Britain’s Adam Yates, who was also dropped, finished just ahead of O’Connor, whose advantage over Roglic now stands at one minute and 21 seconds.
Following the win, Woods said: “I’m on cloud nine right now. My big goal was to win a race with the [Canadian champion’s jersey].
“I’ve had a tough season this season. It’s been a tough race. And this is a big moment of catharsis, a big release. The pressure has been building and to get this win now, I’m on cloud nine.”
Saturday’s 14th stage will be the longest in the race this year at 200.5km, over another mountainous route from Villafranca del Bierzo to Villablino.
Stage 13 results
1. Michael Woods (Can/Israel – Premier Tech) 4hrs 19mins 51secs
2. Mauro Schmid (Swi/Jayco – AlUla) +45secs
3. Marc Soler (Spa/UAE Team Emirates) +1min 11secs
4. Sam Oomen (Ned/ Lidl – Trek) +1mins 25secs
5. Wout van Aert (Bel/Visma – Lease a Bike +2mins 56secs
6. Gijs Leemreize (Ned/DSM-Firmenich PostNL) +3mins 33secs
7. Jose Felix Parra (Spa/Equipo Kern Pharma) +5mins 19secs
8. Mikel Bizkarra (Spa/Euskaltel – Euskadi) +5mins 38secs
9. Luca Vergallito (Ita/Alpecin – Deceuninck) +5mins 59secs
10. Mathis le Berre (Fra/Arkea – B&B Hotels) +6mins 15secs
General classification after stage 13
1. Ben O’Connor (Aus/Decathlon-AG2R-La Mondiale Team) 52hrs 10mins 15secs
2. Primoz Roglic (Slo/Red Bull – BORA-hansgrohe) +1min 21secs
3. Enric Mas (Spa/Movistar Team) +3mins 01secs
4. Richard Carapaz (Ecu/EF Education-EasyPost) +3mins 13secs
5. Mikel Landa (Spa/Soudal – Quick-Step) +3mins 20secs
6. Carlos Rodríguez (Spa/Ineos Grenadiers) +4mins 12secs
7. Florian Lipowitz (Ger/Red Bull – Bora-hansgrohe) +4mins 29secs
8. Felix Gall (Aut/Decathlon – AG2R – La Mondiale Team) +4mins 42 secs
9. David Gaudu (Fra/Groupama – FDJ) +4mins 44secs
10. Adam Yates (GB/UAE Team Emirates) +5mins 30secs