Extended Highlights - Stage 18 | La Vuelta 26

We're heading into the decisive final stretch of La Vuelta 26, starting with today's individual time trial. This is a major test for the race leader Enric Mas, who's by no means a specialist, even if he was at Spain's junior time trial champion once upon a time. The Movistar man is defending a lead of just over two minutes. It's quite flat, not a lot of corners, so we have to concentrate on the power, on the position, and that's it. What result would make you happy compared to your rivals on GC? To keep the jersey, I think. We have to be happy. Meanwhile, the specialists have a big opportunity to take a grand tour stage win. Apart from Primoz Roglic, Stefan Küng is the only man in the field with an ITT victory at La Vuelta, but he is not the only contender. Who are the other favourites? Wout van Aert, you can never count him out. He's one of the best cyclists of our generation. And Jervis and Hayter, who can beat everyone on a good day. And then you have also many other guys who can ride fast. Then it's up to me to beat them all. This is also a chance for the emerging generation to make their mark. 23-year-old Callum Thornley finished fourth at the opening time trial in Monaco, but the Scot is aiming higher today. I think if I had to design a course, it's probably perfect for me. I think the first one was a little bit too punchy and too short for me, but this one being longer, 35 minutes, it's perfect for me really. To be honest, I would like to go out there and try and win the stage. There's still some super strong guys here in the race and a podium, but in the back of my mind, I just want to win this stage. I mean, this would be amazing. It's a big dream. Stage 18 is a 32.1 kilometre individual time trial from El Puerto de Santa Maria to Jerez de la Frontera. No climbs and not too many changes of direction. This is a real power effort, which could have a big impact on the final result. There were several TT specialists among the early starters, including the runner-up in Monaco, Ethan Hayter. He missed out by just nine hundredths of a second that day, beaten at the death by Tadej Pogacar, but he wouldn't spend long in the hot seat on this 18th stage. The four-time British champion setting the benchmark, but he was quickly beaten by his compatriot Thornley. The Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe man doing a fantastic job and putting 29 seconds into Hayter, clocking an average speed of 54.4 kilometres an hour. Thornley set to feature at the sharp end of the standings today and ready to share some useful tips with his team leader, Primoz Roglic. I think you can do a lot of damage in the second half of the course. We all know that the corners here are super slippy, especially in the villages and the town, so I'll probably phone him just now or maybe go back to the start bus and give him some advice, but he'll do well. Well, Thornley clearly did a solid job over the final part of the course because other riders who were matching him at the intermediate checkpoints faded by the end. João Almeida, Finn Fischer-Black and Xavier Asperen all finishing in the red. Two of the big contenders for the stage win set off just two minutes apart. Bruno Amirai, the three-time French champion who was looking to give Visma their eighth win of the race, and the six-time Swiss champion Stéphane Kung. It quickly became clear that Kung was having one of those days. The two-time European champion quicker than Amirai and more importantly quicker than Thornley. By the second checkpoint he was 11 seconds up on the British rider, but could he hold that advantage all the way to the finish line? Stéphane Kung is piling into the finish. It's going to be very, very close now between him and Thornley. Closer than he wanted. Is it going to be the fastest time? It is by three seconds. Wow, that was close. Thornley rode superbly the last bit. Kung goes into the hot seat. Well, there weren't many riders still to come who could realistically beat Kung, but he was no doubt keeping an eye on the performance of Wout van Aert. The Belgian's been on superb form at this race, but could he take a first time trial win in over three years? He's lost some time on the run-in. He's going to be outside the top places. Wout van Aert struggling a little bit to the line. Fourth fastest. Careful, Richie. It was soon time for the overall favourites to roll down the ramp. We've got used to seeing the top GC riders at Grand Tours fighting for victory in the time trials, but Kung was unlikely to be troubled by most of the riders in the top 10. Not too many TT specialists among them. The notable exception was of course Primoz Roglic, Slovenian champion and winner of four individual time trials at La Vuelta. But how much time could he put into the riders ahead of him, Felix Gau and especially Enric Mas? The two men have shared 22 time trials and Roglic has always come out on top. Well, Gau was rapidly out of the running and he would lose second place overall, but Mas was resisting superbly, perhaps thanks to the red jersey effect. Although to be fair, he does boast a handful of top 10s in Vuelta time trials. Roglic never seriously threatened Kung's time, finishing fourth just ahead of Van Aerts. Well, meanwhile, Mas was set to lose under a minute. The Spaniard will take the red jersey into the mountains after passing this time trial test with flying colours. This is impressive from Mas. The time of Roglic, 35.41. Mas isn't going to lose that much time. This is a rider who has transformed himself. Enric Mas reaches the line now and he's going to finish inside the top 12 riders. Stefan Kung producing a superb effort to claim his 24th time trial victory. After a drought of nearly two years, the Swiss powerhouse got back to winning ways at the Tour of Poland last month and carried that form into La Vuelta. It's his second stage win at this race after the closing time trial in Madrid in 2024. It's also a second win of this edition for Tudor after Kung's roommate Marco Brenner triumphed on stage 14. Yeah, in the end, you have to win. It doesn't matter by how big of a margin. Yes, okay, 24th victory. Probably a few that I lost. Also by only two seconds or even less. So in the end, I'm just super happy to take the win here. I'm alone on the podium today, but it's a victory of the whole team and thanks to the guys also behind me working hard behind the scenes. Kung celebrating his 32nd career victory, only the second at a Grand Tour by three seconds from Thornley. Almeida, Roglic and Van Aert all finished within 20 seconds, with Mas in 12th place. The Spaniard should be very satisfied with today's showing. He will head to the mountains with a lead of a minute and 37 seconds over Roglic, with Gao now over three minutes back. Van Aert took 11 points for fifth place today and has essentially secured the green jersey. He just needs to reach the finish line in Granada on Sunday. After three quiet days, our king of the mountains, Santiago Buatrago, will no doubt be itching to get back to the climbs. He still leads by 29 points from Van Aert. And Oscar Onley has increased his lead in white to 57 seconds after gaining a bit of time today on Jacob Omrizal. Tomorrow we hit the heights again with a summit finish on Penas Blancas, where Carapaz won in 2022. Do join us for that on Friday and thanks for watching.