Kuss close to overall Vuelta victory as Evenepoel wins stage 18

Belgium's Remco Evenepoel claimed his third victory in this year's Vuelta a Espana with a solo attack on a mountainous stage 18 and Jumbo-Visma's Sepp Kuss moved a step closer to winning his first Grand Tour on Thursday (Sep 14).

Evenepoel blasted out of a breakaway group on the first of two climbs of the Puerto de La Cruz de Linares late in the 179km ride from Pola de Allande and was in a class of his own.

The peloton, featuring the Jumbo-Visma trio of Kuss, Jonas Vingegaard and Primoz Roglic finished nearly 10 minutes back with Kuss emerging still in the maillot rojo after surviving the last big day in the mountains.

American Kuss, who was shepherded through the dramatic Asturian landscape by his illustrious team mates, even extended his lead over Tour de France champion Vingegaard to 17 seconds and is just over one minute ahead of Giro d'Italia champion Roglic.

With a flat stage on Friday followed by a demanding penultimate stage on Saturday, Kuss is now favourite to retain the red jersey all the way to Madrid.

With the Jumbo-Visma trio well clear of field, the dominant Dutch outfit look certain to become the first team to win all three Grand Tours in the same season.