Stefan Küng wins Vuelta stage 18 as Enric Mas keeps 1:37 lead over Primož Roglič

Küng secures time trial victory in Jerez

Stefan Küng won the 18th stage of the Vuelta a España on Thursday, posting the fastest time over a flat 32.1-kilometer individual time trial between El Puerto de Santa María and Jerez de la Frontera. The Swiss rider for Tudor Pro Cycling completed the course in 35 minutes and 22 seconds to claim his 24th career time trial victory and his team's second stage win of the race. Briton Callum Thornley of Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe finished in second place, three seconds behind Küng, while Portuguese rider João Almeida of UAE Emirates took third, nine seconds off the pace. The stage saw 149 riders start at one-minute intervals under hot conditions along the southern coast of Spain. Küng relied on sustained power through the technical sections of the route to edge out Thornley.

Speaking after the finish, Küng addressed the physical toll of the stage.

It's always a hard TT in the third week of a Grand Tour. You just have to go as hard as you can and try to hang on.

Mas limits losses to Roglič in general classification

Race leader Enric Mas delivered a defensive performance to protect the red jersey against his primary rival, Primož Roglič. Starting the day with a 2 minute 10 second advantage over Roglič, the 31-year-old Movistar rider conceded 33 seconds to the Slovenian over the 32.1-kilometer course. Roglič completed the stage in fourth place with a time 19 seconds slower than Küng, while Mas crossed the line in 12th place, 52 seconds behind the stage winner. Although Mas trailed Roglič by 22 seconds at the first intermediate checkpoint, he maintained pace over the remaining 10.4 kilometers to retain a 1 minute 37 second general classification advantage. Mas expressed satisfaction with the outcome after reaching Jerez de la Frontera.

I felt really good. This was less than the time we had in mind to lose, so I'm happy.

General classification shifts before final mountain stages

Roglič's fourth-place finish moved the four-time Vuelta champion from third to second place overall, overtaking Austrian rider Felix Gall. Gall dropped to third in the standings, now 3 minutes and 1 second behind Mas after losing 1 minute and 28 seconds to Roglič during the time trial. Gall holds a buffer of more than two minutes over fourth-placed Richard Carapaz. In fifth place, Briton Oscar Onley extended his lead in the white jersey classification for best young rider to nearly one minute over Slovenia's Jakob Omrzel. French rider Clément Berthet moved into seventh place overall following the stage.

The final mountain tests toward Granada

Mas is attempting to become the first Spanish cyclist to win the Vuelta a España since Alberto Contador in 2014. The Mallorcan rider has finished on the Vuelta podium four times in his career, placing second in 2018, 2021, and 2022, as well as third two years ago. Mas inherited the red jersey on stage 8 after five-time Tour de France champion Tadej Pogačar withdrew following a crash. Three stages remain in the 2026 edition, beginning Friday with a 210.8-kilometer route from Vélez-Málaga to a summit finish on Peñas Blancas. The race features another mountain test on Saturday before concluding in Granada on Sunday.