The race lead changed hands again on stage 6 of the Vuelta a España after Kenny Elissonde (Trek-Segafredo) crashed on the final climb. [Alexandre Vlasov (Astana-Premiatek) and Enric Mas (Movistar) finished 4 seconds apart, with Egan Bernal (Ineos Grenadiers) another 4 seconds back.

The result put two-time defending champion Roglic back in the lead, 25 seconds ahead of Mas and 36 seconds ahead of his teammate Miguel Angel Lopez. In fact, Movistar is now second to fourth in the overall standings, with Alejandro Valverde 41 seconds behind and tied in time with Roglic's main rival, Bernal.

Movistar suffered the most damage on the final climb, as the group split several times and an echelon formed. The biggest casualty was Hugh Carthy (EF Education-Nippo), who lost contact on two occasions and returned to the peloton just before the short, sharp final test, but was eventually forced to retreat, conceding 2:50 to Roglic.

Roglic, who finished third last year, was 33rd overall in 4 hours 28 minutes, ending his hopes for a top finish this year.

Kersee was not the only one to lose time. Although the gap to the rest of the field was relatively small, Bernal's inability to keep up with Roglic on another climb was memorable. Adam Yates lost 25 seconds and Richard Kalapas 27 seconds. Giulio Ciccone (Trek-Segafredo) also lost 25 seconds, and Mikel Landa (Bahrain Victorious) finished in the same time as Karapas.

Lilian Carmejane (AG2R Citroen) started the race in third place overall, but dropped to eighth as most of the GC contenders moved up two or three places. Vlasov moved up five places to fourth and is now in sixth place, 53 seconds behind.

Landa holds ninth place, while Fabio Aru (Kubeka Next Hash) has moved up from 12th to 10th place with his overall consistency. Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) made the biggest leap in the top 20, moving up 11 places to 15th.

Roglic's lead is far from insurmountable at this point, and with Movistar riders clamoring on his shoulders, the Slovenian seems relatively comfortable at this point in the race, although sixth-place Bernal remains the biggest threat on paper, The Colombian will need to start making inroads or at least stave off a slight but significant time loss to win his second Grand Tour win of 2021.

With Calapaz more than two minutes behind and Yates 1:22 behind, Bernal has at least taken one more step toward solidifying his position as Ineos' outright leader. But with a 1:17 time difference between the top 10 riders, the race and the standings will change again when they finish at the top of the Balcon de Alicante (Class 1 mountain) on stage 7.