Tadej POGACAR. 9. He wins, he wins again, as many suspected, as many predicted, in spite of those who hoped he would hand out gifts and favors, but the real news is that he does it without demolishing his opponents. Especially on the treacherous Bartolo climb, he lets himself be caught and overtaken by Enric Mas, who for one day lives a "Pogacar" kind of day. Tadej strengthens his leadership and updates his record. With today's victory, his wins at this Vuelta rise to three (in six stages), six in total in his career. His season victories rise to 22, and 130 in his career. For UAE Team Emirates XRG, it's the 69th victory of the season.

Enric MAS. 10. You can count on the fingers of one hand the riders capable of holding Tadej's wheel, or of making up ground on a climbing stretch, especially on gravel. Well, today the 31-year-old Movistar rider managed it, and this is already newsworthy in itself. An honorary title. Something to tell the grandchildren about. This too is racing in the Pogi era: if you can keep pace with him, it's like winning.

Ramses DEBRUYNE. 9. The former speed skater on ice today proves himself on gravel too, climbing, among many champions. The Belgian from Alpecin is only 23 years old: genuine talent that can delight us further.

Richard CARAPAZ. 7. You write him off and he's there. You think he's satisfied and he's there. You believe he's here just for show and you're wrong. The Locomotora is always there.

Harold TEJADA. 7. He stays in the thick of the race, even tries to shake things up and grab something more. He doesn't manage it, but it's already good that he tried.

Felix GALL. 7. Happy to have him in the group, because Felix may not be a champion, but he's certainly a great rider.

Primoz ROGLIC. 7.5. He's making his comeback, but he hasn't disappeared: he's still there. Keep an eye on him.

Cristian RODRIGUEZ. 6.5. The 31-year-old Spaniard helps make Astana's day super: Tejada does well, he does well too, gaining a remarkable 10 positions in the standings (14th).

Mattias SKJELMOSE. 6. The 25-year-old Danish rider from Lidl-Trek manages a difficult day as best he can. He loses one position in the standings: now he's 9th.

Oscar ONLEY. 5. The 23-year-old British rider from Netcompany deserves credit for trying to keep up with Tadej's acceleration. He tries, but goes off the rails and, in the end, pays the price. He loses two positions in the general classification (7th).

Wout VAN AERT. 7. At km 120 he takes the intermediate sprint uncontested, but it's not enough for the green jersey: Taddeo wins and keeps everything. For the record: the Slovenian is at 102 points, Wout 33 points behind.

Vincenzo ALBANESE. 7. He deserves credit for being part of the day's breakaway made up of 16 riders. With the EF Education rider also George Bennett (NSN) and Andreas Kron (Uno X), Gijs Leemreize (Picnic PostNL) and Wout Van Aert (Visma Lease a Bike), Thomas Gloag (Pinarello Q36.5) and Patrick Konrad (Lidl Trek), Ramses Debruyne (Alpecin Premier Tech) and Gianmarco Garofoli (Soudal Quick-Step), Hannes Wilksch (Tudor) and Lars Craps (Lotto Intermarchè), Jose Manuel Diaz (Burgos Burpellet) and Urko Berrade (Kern Pharma), Carlos Canal (Movistar), Santiago Buitrago and Pello Bilbao (Bahrain Victorious). All attacking in the hope that Pogi wouldn't be interested in the finish, but he was very much interested. And when Pogi is hungry, he eats.

Marco BRENNER. 24. Birthday and consequently best wishes for the 24-year-old from Tudor, who will celebrate today but also has to lick his wounds, as he also crashed. Also celebrating is Groupama FDJ rider Oliver Gac, who turned 33 today.

Joshua TARLING. 10. The Ineos Netcompany rider, who arrived at the start of this Vuelta with the tragedy of his brother Finlay in his heart, as planned abandons the race today.