EF Education First's Sergio Iguita fended off a strong field in this year's Vuelta a España to finish stage 18 alone and claim a timely mountain stage victory.

With very few chances to win this year's Grand Tour with only four stages remaining, EF Education First had the toughest start to the Vuelta, losing three riders to crashes and injuries early in the race, including leaders Rigoberto Urán and Tejay Van Garderen.

But with such a difficult start for the team, it was also a very tricky day for Iguita. Wednesday's high-speed stage across eastern Spain cost him much of his GC hopes, but on Thursday, the Colombian got his revenge.

Besides, winning his first Grand Tour represents another giant leap for a rider who only joined the World Tour at the Tour of California earlier this year and moved to the EF team from the Continental Euskadi Foundation in early May.

"If you had told me I could win a stage like this in my first year in the World Tour, I never would have believed it," Higuain told reporters after the race. [I rode really hard in the Vuelta a Andalucía and Volta a la Comunitat Valenciana early in the season, and when I finished second in the toughest mountain stage of the Vuelta a Andalucía, I knew I could do something. I also got a lot of support from the Euskadi Foundation."

"Then I moved to Team EF, where I learned even more and they always believed in me, even when it was difficult."

One of the 22-year-old's personal low points in the Vuelta came on Wednesday's tumultuous and fast stage, when he missed the day's 40-man breakaway, dropping from 12th to 18th overall as a result.

"My team boss, Juanma [Galate], was really big in helping me get through it," Higuain said.

"I was so tired that I fell asleep on the bus going to the start on Wednesday.

"But Vanman told me to hold on, stay calm, don't worry about not making the top 10 overall, and to think of the race as a recovery stage. I did that because I was very tired."

"That helped me a lot today and from the moment I went into the break today I knew I could win. I knew I had good legs,

"Juanma also kept fighting until the end. When my time was dropping on the last climb, he told me to keep going and that if I had 40 seconds to a minute at the top of the last climb before the long descent to the finish, I should be able to win."

The GC group behind included four of the top six riders, including leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana), and Rafau Mayka (Bora-Hansgrohe), with the final margin of reduced to 15 seconds.

Higuchi, however, took his third professional win, his second of the season, following a stage at the Tour of the Alentejo in Portugal this past spring.

Higuchi said the team's ultra-difficult start in this year's Vuelta was both an inspiration and a reminder that "you have to keep going and never give up." And at the finish of stage 18 of the Vuelta a España, Higuita crossed the line of victory.