Primoz Roglic's fourth Vuelta triumph is now out of reach. Nevertheless, not everything is going according to plan for the Slovenian leader's team. Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe is hit by a wave of illness.
Several riders and staff members are affected. "A wave of illness hit us overnight," confirmed Patxi Vila, the sporting director of the German team, in a statement. "We are currently investigating whether food poisoning or another cause is the cause."
Roglic had to do without the services of several helpers in Saturday's penultimate stage due to the cases of illness. While the Colombian Daniel Felipe Martinez and the Austrian Patrick Gamper abandoned the queen stage in the mountains, the German Nico Denz finished outside the time limit. The Russian Alexander Vlasov also lost over half an hour to the leaders.
However, Roglic retained the overall lead and said at the finish that he felt "pretty good". Before the final 24 km time trial on Sunday in the streets of Madrid, his lead over second-placed Australian Ben O'Connor is over two minutes.
SDA
