Küng Won the Vuelta Time Trial by Three Seconds, but Enric Mas Kept a Lead of One Minute Thirty-Seven
Stefan Küng won the Vuelta a España stage 18 time trial in Jerez as Enric Mas limited his losses to Primož Roglič and kept the red jersey.
The final individual time trial of the 2026 Vuelta a España was expected to be the day Enric Mas lost control of the race. Instead the Movistar rider came through the 32.1-kilometre stage from El Puerto de Santa María to Jerez de la Frontera on 10 September still wearing the red jersey.
Stefan Küng of Tudor Pro Cycling won the stage in 35 minutes 22 seconds, three seconds faster than Callum Thornley of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe. João Almeida of UAE Team Emirates-XRG was third, nine seconds down. It is the Swiss rider's second Grand Tour stage victory.
The general classification battle was the main story. Primož Roglič finished fourth on the stage, 19 seconds behind Küng, while Mas was 12th at 52 seconds. Roglič therefore gained 33 seconds, cutting the gap from 2 minutes 10 seconds to 1 minute 37 seconds.
Félix Gall of Decathlon CMA CGM, who started the day second overall, lost ground on the flat course and dropped to third, 3 minutes 1 second behind Mas. Richard Carapaz of EF Education-EasyPost is fourth at 5 minutes 17 seconds and Oscar Onley is fifth at 6 minutes 3 seconds.
Three stages remain. Stage 19 on 11 September runs 205.1 kilometres from Vélez-Málaga to Peñas Blancas, and stage 20 on 12 September is a mountain stage from La Calahorra to Collado del Alguacil, the last mountain stage of the race. The race ends with a 99.4-kilometre circuit stage in Granada on 13 September.