September 10, 2026
La Vuelta opened with an Individual Time Trial almost three weeks ago in Monaco. Since then, the riders have made their way across France and down the Western and Southern coasts of Spain to today's host city of Jerez de la Frontera for the second and final Individual Time Trial of the race. Unlike the stage in Monaco, this course should suit a pure specialist with long stretches of straight road that will require a consistently high power output. The route covers 32 km from the sea side town of El Puerto de Santa María with two time checks and almost no elevation along the way. Closer to the finish, the course becomes a bit more technical as they enter Jerez de la Frontera but the section is brief and riders will be able to get back on the gas and reach cruising speed before arriving at the finish.
Race Summary
The first riders rolled down the ramp from the Plaza Real, the 19th Century bull ring in the middle of town, to get the race going under warm conditions and temperatures hovering around 32C (90F). A consistent wind of between 10-15 KM/HR was blowing across parts of the course and would have to be accounted for by those looking for the stage win and also those in the GC. Of the early runners, Callum Thornley of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe set a quick time of 35 minutes, 25 seconds which was 29 seconds quicker than his compatriot Ethan Hayter of Soudal Quickstep and 2 minutes quicker than anyone else.
Stefan Küng of Tudor Pro Cycling started the day as one of the main favorites and he did not disappoint. The Swiss was 1 second down after first split but 11 seconds up after the second. He faded in the final segment but managed to hang on and take the provisional lead by 3 seconds over Thornley. Küng held his lead through to the start of the GC riders where there were a few guys who could potentially threaten for the stage win.
As race leader, Mas clipped in and set off last in the Red Jersey and gave a waive to the home crowd who gathered in the bull ring before setting off for the highest stakes time trial of his life. At the first split, Primož Roglič of Redbull-Bora Hansgrohe was the best of the GC riders, 9 seconds down on Küng. Both Gall and Mas came through the first split on the same time, 22 seconds down on Roglič and 31 seconds off the best time which left Roglič as the only threat to Küng's stage win. 14 seconds was the gap between Roglič and Küng at the second check which was close enough to still be in the balance coming into the final third of the course. Gall was the next to the check, 57 seconds down on Roglič. When Mas came through, he had put time into Gall but was down 36 seconds to Roglič who was taking a big bite out of the GC lead of the Spaniard.
At the finish, the clock turned red for Roglič as the Slovenian stopped the watch 19 seconds down on Küng to finish as the best of the GC riders. As expected, Gall lost 1 minute 28 seconds to Roglič, enough time for the Slovenian to jump over him in the GC. Mas finished the day in twelfth place, 52 seconds down on Küng but, more importantly, 33 seconds to Roglič.
When Mas finished, Küng was officially the winner with an average speed of 54.437 KM/HR. Thornley was second on the day at just 3 seconds with João Almeida of UAE-XRG in third at 9 seconds. Mas now leads the GC by a reduced margin of 1 minute 37 seconds to Roglič and 3 minutes 1 second to Gall.