Slovenia ended the Vuelta a España on a bittersweet note, with Primož Roglič finishing second overall and 20-year-old Jakob Omrzel announcing himself as one of cycling’s emerging talents.
Spain’s Enric Mas took advantage of Pogačar’s departure to secure his first Vuelta title, finishing 2 minutes and 15 seconds ahead of Roglič. Mas remained in strong form throughout the three-week race, while Roglič, a four-time Vuelta winner, emerged as his main challenger despite entering the competition after a disrupted preparation following a collision with a car in July.
The 35-year-old Slovenian remained in contention until the final week, but a strong time trial by Mas on stage 18, followed by two demanding mountain stages, ultimately ended Roglič’s hopes of claiming a fifth title. Despite finishing runner-up, Roglič described completing the race as a personal success after his difficult build-up and will now turn his attention to the world championships, where he is expected to be one of Slovenia’s leading riders in Pogačar’s absence.
The biggest Slovenian breakthrough came from Omrzel, who turned his debut three-week Grand Tour into an impressive seventh-place finish. The Bahrain Victorious rider had already entered the overall top 10 before winning stage 12 from a breakaway, and he continued to perform strongly through the final stages.
Omrzel finished 10 minutes and 38 seconds behind Mas in the general classification and second in the young riders’ competition, just over a minute behind Britain’s Oscar Onley. The 20-year-old said the result was something he had worked towards throughout the year and described crossing the finish line in Granada as the realisation of a childhood dream.
The performance has already prompted comparisons with Pogačar, but Omrzel appears determined to treat the Vuelta as the beginning of his career at the highest level rather than its peak. His next major ambition is the Tour de France, which he described as one of the biggest, if not the biggest, races in the world.
