The reigning Vuelta a España champion, Primoz Roglic, was beaten to the stage win by Magnus Cort on a steep uphill finish but regained his overall lead in this year’s race. Danish rider Cort (EF Education-Nippo) was the sole escapee from a five-man breakaway to stay clear and held off a late charge from Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) at Alto de Cullera. Andrea Bagioli (Deceuninck-QuickStep) finished third, while Kenny Elissonde surrendered the red jersey after one day, proving unable to last the pace on the final climb and dropping to 34th place. Roglic, who held the overall lead for the first two stages, now has a 25-second advantage over Spain’s Enric Mas (Movistar) and a 36-second advantage over Mas’s compatriot and teammate, Miguel Ángel López. Alejandro Valverde, the 2009 Vuelta champion, is the third Movistar rider in the top four. The Giro d’Italia champion, Egan Bernal, is in fifth, 41 seconds behind Roglic. Bernal’s Ineos Grenadiers colleagues, Richard Carapaz and Adam Yates, both lost more than 20 seconds in the general classification to Roglic on the final ascent. “Magnus was just stronger so he definitely deserved the win,” Roglic said afterwards. “For myself it was not so much about the win. It was first of all trying to stay safe out of trouble, and then try to enjoy it.” “It was very close and I’m very happy that I kept Roglic just behind,” Cort said. “I looked back with 150m to go and I could see him coming. I sprinted with everything I had and I luckily kept him behind me. I’m very happy to show I can finish off a breakaway like this today.” After Thursday’s hilly stage, the Vuelta heads further into the mountains for Friday’s punishing stage seven, a 152km ride from Gandia to Balcón de Alicante featuring six categorised climbs, including one at the start and a summit finish.