Woods wins stage as Roglic decimates O'Connor's lead

Michael Woods wins stage from the breakaway as Wout van Aert takes a big lead in the King of the Mountains competition on La Vuelta Stage 13 in the Spanish Mountains

Canadian champion cyclist Michael Woods clinched victory on the 13th stage of the Vuelta a Espana on Friday with a decisive late breakaway in the difficult mountains of northwestern Spain.

At the same time, Primož Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) hacked two minutes off race leader Ben O’Connor’s lead on the summit finish of Puerto de Ancares.

The Slovenian attacked on the final first category climb, dropping O’Connor (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale) who struggled on the steep gradients.

Tthe Australian battled to keep himself in red and lost near two minutes to leave his lead at just 1m 21s.

Five riders from the orginal 23 man breakaway went away including Michael Woods and Wout van Aert who was collecting KOM points to extend his lead.

The leading group of five riders remained tightly packed as they approached the final, gruelling ascent. However, Woods broke free 4.5km from the finish line, to secure his fourth Grand Tour stage win and his third in La Vuelta.

Switzerland's Mauro Schmid finished second, unable to match Woods's uphill pace, while the locals cheered as Spaniard Marc Soler claimed third place.

The 37-year-old Canadian pointed to his country flag on his jersey as he crossed the finish line, celebrating his hard-fought win.

This is IPT’s first Grand Tour stage victory since Woods soloed to win on Puy de Dôme at the Tour de France last year. Also, how good is it seeing Mike win in *that* Canadian champion’s jersey?

“I’m on cloud 9 right now,” says Woods. “My big goal was to win a race with this Canadian jersey. I’ve had a tough season this year with illness and I’ll have a tough race with some bad luck, a lot of mechanicals, crashes, and mistimed moments. So, this is a big moment of catharsis, a big moment of relief. The pressure has been building and to get this win now, I’m on cloud 9.”

2024 La Vuelta GC after Stage 13

1 -  O'CONNOR Ben DAT 52:10:15
2 -  ROGLIC Primož RBH 1:21
3 -  MAS Enric MOV 3:01 
4 -  CARAPAZ Richard EFE 3:13
5 -  LANDA Mikel SOQ 3:20 
6 -  RODRÍGUEZ Carlos IGD 4:12 
7 -  LIPOWITZ Florian RBH 4:29 
8 - GALL Felix DAT 4:42 
9 - GAUDU David GFC 4:44 
10 - YATES Adam UAD 5:17