Primož Roglič Fined for ‘Sticky Bottle’ as Vuelta Hopes Hang by a Thread

Primož Roglič rode into the Vuelta a España’s final rest day with a “sticky bottle” fine and a much bigger problem.

Enric Mas is riding away with the red jersey.

Officials fined Roglič 200 CHF after he held onto a bottle from the Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe team car for too long during Sunday’s transition stage. Sport director Sven Vanthourenhout received a 500 CHF fine for the same incident.

“Irregular feeding (‘sticky bottle’ for a short distance, etc.),” the race jury report read, without citing where or when the infraction occurred.

The jury slapped fines on both for irregular feeding in Sunday’s jury report. There was no time penalty, leaving Roglič third overall at 2:10 back.

The fine isn’t what hurts, it’s the widening gap to Mas that could decide the Vuelta.

Roglič close but slowly losing ground

After Tadej Pogačar’s stunning exit, many expected Mas to fold and Roglič to rise. Instead, the opposite has happened.

Mas won atop Aitana on stage 9 to push his advantage over Roglič to 1:18. He widened it to 1:45 at Calar Alto, then piled on another 25 seconds at La Pandera on Saturday.

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe, which started the week optimistic about Roglic’s chances, admitted that Mas is riding better than anyone expected.

“The idea was not to lose time, but we did, which was not what we wanted or expected,” Red Bull sport director Patxi Vila told L’Equipe after Saturday’s stage. “It hasn’t been possible to beat Enric, but there is still a long way to go. But he is very strong and very solid so far.”

No one really knew how Roglič would go in this Vuelta, including himself.

After being overlooked for the Tour de France, he came into the Vuelta undercooked after being hit by a vehicle in July.

After a very solid opening, he’s been getting gapped by Mas on each summit finale in the closing kilometers over the past week.

Time trial could decide red

Now his Vuelta depends on Thursday’s 32.1km time trial.

Tuesday and Wednesday’s transition stages are not ideal for a GC raid.

That leaves the race against the clock as Roglič’s best — and perhaps last — chance to tilt the Vuelta back in his favor.

On paper, the 2020 Olympic time trial champion should crush the rolling, power course against a peloton full of skinny climbers. Felix Gall, now ahead of Roglič by four seconds, is also expected to lose time to the Slovenian.

But winning the stage might not be enough.

Mas added nearly a minute to his lead to Roglič over the past week, so that extra buffer could keep him in red or keep him very close.

In the 2024 Vuelta, Mas only lost about one minute to Roglič in a 24.6km time trial with a similar profile. It was about the same time loss in the 2023 time trial in Valladolid on rolling terrain at 25.8km.

Thursday’s course is about 8km longer, so the margins will be bigger, but Mas will have a better chance to defend red thanks to his gains over the past week.

To have any hope of final victory, Roglič needs to erase his deficit and ideally carry the red jersey into brutal back-to-back summit finales to decide the Vuelta on Friday and Saturday.

Mas could spoil Roglič fairytale ending

Roglič, 37, is also racing with his future uncertain. A big win at this Vuelta to set an all-time record with five victories would have raised his stock if he decides to keep racing.

And even though a final podium is still in the cards, a victory would have sweetened the pot.

Instead, it’s Mas who’s flying.

If Mas can limit losses against the clock, he could be in line to win Spain’s first Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014.

“Not everything has gone like we wanted since last [Aitana], but almost everything has been under control, so I’m happy,” Mas said. “I really like when we race in Spain. I feel a lot of support from the people and I hope it continues like this until Granada.”

A victory would also be Movistar’s first Vuelta since 2016 with Nairo Quintana and the Spanish team’s first grand tour since the 2019 Giro d’Italia with Richard Carapaz.

Thursday’s time trial will prove decisive.

No matter what, everyone will have to try to hold on during Granada’s surprisingly explosive final circuit with a steep climb around the Alhambra.