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Veteran Mikel Landa won the penultimate stage and Enric Mas moved to the brink of the title as Spain enjoyed a memorable day at the Vuelta a Espana.<\/b><\/p>\n
Mas, 31, stretched his lead over four-time winner Primoz Roglic to more than two minutes – with only the final day, a processional stage, to come.<\/p>\n
So as long as the Movistar rider stays upright on Sunday, he will become the first Spaniard to win his country’s biggest race since Alberto Contador claimed his third Vuelta title in 2014.<\/p>\n
Compatriot Landa, meanwhile, earned his first Grand Tour stage win in nine years and his first in the Vuelta since 2015.<\/p>\n
The 36-year-old was part of a three-man breakaway on the queen stage of this year’s race, a mountainous 186.8km route from La Calahorra to Collado del Alguacil.<\/p>\n
And the Soudal Quick-Step rider went clear on the final climb to cross the line 47 seconds before Norway’s Tobias Johannessen.<\/p>\n
Felix Gall, who is third overall, took a few seconds out of Mas but otherwise the leader stayed in touch with his general classification rivals, despite repeated attacks from Richard Carapaz.<\/p>\n
Sepp Kuss, the 2023 Vuelta winner, spent most of the day between the breakaway and GC group to catapult himself from 11th to fifth overall.<\/p>\n
That means Britain’s Oscar Onley is now sixth after finishing more than three minutes after Mas, but the 23-year-old is set to win the white jersey for best young rider.<\/p>\n