Italian Damiano Caruso (Bahrain Victorious) soloed the ninth stage of the Vuelta, the 188km Puerto Lumbreras-Alto de Velefique, with four mountain grand prix including an uphill finish at 1,800 meters.
The 34-year-old Sicilian racer took part in a breakaway of a dozen runners before breaking all of them about seventy kilometers from the finish, tackling the last two climbs alone and increasing the gap on his pursuers to over three minutes.
Caruso's last victory was achieved in the 20th stage of the Giro d'Italia 2021.
Behind Caruso, with a delay of just over a minute, came the Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who is increasingly leading the standings and has shown once again with the grand finale that he has the race in full control. Third place for the Spaniard Enric Mas. In the general classification, the Slovenian precedes Mas by 28 '' and the other Spaniard Miguel Angel Lopez by 1'21 ''.