Miguel Ángel López (Movistar Team) surged to victory on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España on Thursday as race leader Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) all but sealed a third consecutive Vuelta title. The Colombian López, who started the day third overall, rode away from the pack on the hors catégorie Altu d’El Gamoniteiru to secure a solo triumph and all but ensure he will also finish on the podium on Sunday in Santiago de Compostela. The Slovenian race leader Roglic finished second on the stage, 14sec behind Lopez and six seconds ahead of Lopez’s teammate Enric Mas, who is second overall and came third on the stage. The brutal 162.6 km route saw plenty of breakaways and attacks with the Australian Michael Storer (Team DSM) distancing himself from the rest, taking the king of the mountains polka-dot jersey in the process as he hit the final climb first. The stage was always set to be decided on the steep slopes and narrow roads of Gamoniteiru, making its Vuelta debut, and so it transpired. Storer was caught by David De La Cruz (UAE Team Emirates) with seven kilometres to go as the riders rode into the rain and mist. The Spaniard was then caught by López, who attacked alone from the chasing group to claim a third Vuelta career stage win, and a first at this year’s race.