After Wednesday's tumultuous flat stage of the 2019 Vuelta a España, overall leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) had a much more straightforward day in Thursday's mountain stage.

Logrich was nearly isolated as Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) attacked repeatedly, but Jumbo-Visma sent Nielson Powles to the front breakaway to support the Vuelta leader as needed.

As a small group of GC contenders, including Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Rafau Mayka (Bora-Hansgrohe), held on to the finish, the Slovenian chased Lopes' attack and followed the Colombian.

Roglic, who finished second, earned his time bonus ahead of Valverde and was reminded of his GC dominance in the process. But for all its brevity, he also underscored the importance of getting through another difficult mountain stage.

"We've definitely shaved a day off and that's important," he said. It was another hard day, but a good day for the team. So we can stay optimistic and stay focused."

Roglic, who appeared to be isolated on the final climb, noted that Jumbo-Visma did the hard work in the first two-thirds of the stage, just as he did on Wednesday when a 40-man breakaway group formed. He was the man to watch at the end of the course.

"Yesterday, you probably didn't see it, but our team was pulling from kilometer 0 to try to hold off the breakaway," Roglic said. Astana let Lopez attack, but I had Nielson in front of me. The final section was really up to me. Luckily, I had good legs and was able to ride to the end."

While all eyes will be on Saturday's final mountain stage and summit finish, Friday's stage to Toledo, while not as tough on paper, could be a challenge if another big break occurs. Weather conditions are also expected to be very poor, perhaps adding to the difficulty.

Roglic was aware that he would be twice as cautious on Friday, having narrowly avoided losing his lead in Wednesday's stage.

"Every day is important, but we learned our lesson on Wednesday. And we will be on full gas again," Roglic said.