Three-time champion Primoz Roglic won the first mountain stage of this year’s Vuelta a Espana to claim the race leader’s red jersey.

The Slovenian edged past Lennert van Eetvelt (Lotto Dstny) on the line to clinch Tuesday’s fourth stage after a gruelling 14km climb to Pico Villuercas in searing heat.

Belgium’s Van Eetvelt celebrated what would have been a first Grand Tour stage win too early, throwing one arm in the air just as Roglic overtook him.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe’s Roglic was 30 seconds behind general classification leader Wout van Aert after the opening three stages.

But the Belgian finished more than 16 minutes back on Tuesday’s 170km route, allowing Roglic to take the overall lead.

“It was not the main objective of the day [to win the stage],” Roglic told Eurosport.

“But when you see the guys fighting hard in this heat I was happy to finish it off.”

Portugal’s Joao Almeida (UAE Team Emirates) finished third on the stage and is second overall, trailing Roglic by eight seconds.