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The Jumbo-Visma triumvirate were once again stronger than the rest of the field, pulling away in front up the mighty l'Angliru before Roglic surged away from Kuss with Vingegaard in the wheel to raise more doubt about the Dutch team's tactics at the race.
Vingegaard was happy to sit behind his teammate to the line, as Roglic took his second stage victory with Kuss beating Mikel Landa (Bahrain-Victorious) for third 19 seconds behind the front two.
Kuss held onto the red jersey, but now leads Vingegaard by just 8 seconds and Roglic by a minute and 8 seconds, looking less and less like he will end up being the Jumbo-Visma rider to lift the trophy in Madrid.
“I’m the first one to say that Sepp is there with all our victories," Roglic said after the stage.
"I wish he wins. But looking to myself and my responsibilities, who I am, I’m here to race, I’m here to do my best, and at the end, the best one will win.”
Kuss was his usual classy figure following the stage, congratulating his Slovenian teammate and expressing gratitude to wear the leader's jersey on another day of the Vuelta.
“It’s a position I never expected to be in and that’s the beautiful thing about it,” he said.
“I came in without any expectations and I was just looking to help the guys – like always – but then I came into this beautiful jersey and all the experiences that come with it.
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Daily Highlights: Stage 17 - La Vuelta a Espana 2023
"I discovered a new level of self-confidence, of racing instinct, and that was really, really beautiful."
The early action of the 125km stage was again animated by Remco Evenepoel (Soudal QuickStep) strengthening his lead on the mountains jersey, forming a breakaway and cresting the summit of the first two climbs to take maximum points.
The World Champion was solo in front as he began the 13.1 kilometre ascent of the Altu del Angliru, but was quickly tracked down by a charging peloton being paced by Bahrain-Victorious.
Riding for the GC hopes of Mikel Landa, Bahrain's tempo shredded the bunch up the climb until it was just them and the Jumbo-Visma trident of Kuss, Roglic and Vingegaard before Roglic motored to the front in the final three kilometres.
Joined by his teammates, the Bahrain train steadily faded into the mist and it was the three strongest riders in front again, Vingegaard passing Kuss and latching onto Roglic's wheel in the final two kilometres as Kuss began to lose ground.
The two-time Vuelta and two-time Tour de France champions went unchallenged from there to the line, as Kuss was helped by the emergence of Landa, the Spaniard pacing the American into the finish where the former out-sprinted him for bonus seconds.
The Vuelta a Espana continues tonight with Stage 18, another tough 179km mountain stage from Pola de Allande to the summit of La Cruz de Linares. Watch the action live from 8:35pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
