Spain's Pablo Castrillo pushed through the pain barrier to take stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana on Sunday, his second stage win, while Primoz Roglic took more time off race leader Ben O'Connor.
What. a. stage. @pablocastrillo_ becomes the first Spanish rider to win 2 mountain stages in an edition of La Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014 🥹
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 1, 2024
Qué. etapa. @pablocastrillo_ se convierte en el primer español en ganar dos etapas de montaña en una edición de La Vuelta desde… pic.twitter.com/Lpn9wXdDRM
Castrillo (Kern-Pharma) was part of a leading trio on the gruelling Cuitu Negru climb to the finish and made his move with three kilometres to the end of the 143-km ride from Infiesto to Valgrane-Pajares.
In the final kilometre he glanced over his shoulder to see Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) appear through the fog, but Castrillo found another burst of energy to hold off the Russian, with Pavel Sivakov of France coming in third.
Three-time former champion Primoz Roglic finished fifth, coming in 38 seconds ahead of the red jersey, Australia's Ben O'Connor, who now holds a slender 43-second lead going into the final week.