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Castrillo held off a fast-finishing Aleksandr Vlasov (Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe) in a two-up battle after a thrilling final kilometre up Cuitu Negru on Stage 15.
The Spaniard went solo from the breakaway 3km from the finish line, before Vlasov managed to catch up to his rival with one kilometre remaining as the two fought a tense side-by-side battle over the final 900 metres of the climb.
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La Vuelta 2024
series • cycling
series • cycling
Roglic's teammate managed to pip the Russian rider on the steepest 20% slope right at the top of Cuitu Negru to celebrate his second stage win of the week.
Meanwhile, the Red Bull–Bora–Hansgrohe leader put a further 18 seconds into fellow red jersey hopeful O'Connor, with a solid attack 2km from the finish.
Roglic finished fifth on the stage while the Aussie limited his losses to finish in 11th place, 1:42 behind Castrillo, however the Slovenian would later be docked 20 seconds for drafting behind a team car, following a bike change ahead of the final climb.
O'Connor's initial 43-second lead following Stage 15 would be extended to 1:03 after the four-time Grand Tour winner's time penalty was enforced.
"I guess I've proven those people wrongly thought I'd lose the jersey," O'Connor said after the stage. "I had a pretty good day. It's a bit of a shame that I exploded a bit at the end but that's got to be probably one of the most horrible endings to a climb I've ever done. It was really disgusting.
"It was kind of only one attack, and that was Primož, who was super impressive. Then it was very much man against man. You just felt like you were going nowhere, and you couldn't see anything with the fog as well. It was rough.
"I'm still in the lead, so OK, I'll take it. I'm going to rest tomorrow, try and enjoy it, if I can, and then tackle Lagos de Covadonga."
