Enric Mas secured his overall lead in a pivotal individual time trial at the Spanish Vuelta on Thursday, with only three hilly stages remaining in the Grand Tour.

Primoz Roglic, known for his time trial prowess, moved from third to second overall, gaining 33 seconds on Mas but still trailing by 1 minute and 37 seconds. Felix Gall dropped from second to third, now 3 minutes and 1 second behind Mas, who has maintained his lead since taking over from Tadej Pogacar after the latter's crash in the eighth stage.

Mas expressed satisfaction with his performance, stating, "The whole race went well, I lost less time than I expected, I’m happy with my day."

In the 18th stage, Stefan Küng of Switzerland clinched victory, completing the 32.1km route from El Puerto de Santa Maria to Jerez de la Frontera. Roglic finished fourth in this stage, 19 seconds behind Küng, while Mas placed 12th, 52 seconds off the winning time. Küng remarked, "In the end, you have to win. [It] doesn’t matter how big the margin is. I’m super happy to take the win here. I’m alone on the podium today, but it’s a victory from the whole team."

Looking ahead, Stage 19 on Friday features a 210.8km route from Velez-Malaga to Penas Blancas, with the Vuelta concluding on Sunday in Granada.