Greedy race leader Primoš Roglic (Jumbo Visma), greedy to the end, took second place in his second small group sprint of the year, adding a six second time bonus to his overall classification.

Logrich, who had already won from a similar small group in the uphill finish in Suances, was not fast enough in the flat finish in Ciudad Rodrigo on Friday to claim his fifth Vuelta win of the year. But on stage 16, which took him through the mountains of western Spain, Roglic finished second behind Magnus Corto (EF Pro Cycling) and opened up a 45-second gap on the chasing Richard Carapas (Ineos Grenadiers). This also gives his rivals a shot in the arm before Saturday's showdown in La Covatilla.

The Slovenian's second place this time around extends his already insurmountable points lead to 73 points over Calapaz, 54 points ahead of the final 19-point margin that gave him a complete victory in the same Vuelta last year.

However, in his bid for another stage win, Roglic then candidly admitted that any time bonus, whether it be six or ten seconds, would never be welcome.

"I wanted to win. Whenever I get a chance, I always give it my best. I came up a little short, but I got the bonus seconds."

"I always want to be the most perfect rider possible, so at the end of this stage I thought why not?" I'm wearing the green jersey (points leader) and I can sprint."

Thanks to three first-place finishes and three second-place finishes in the mass start stage, Roglic earned a time bonus of 48 seconds. But for Saturday's summit finish on Covatilla, the race leaders agreed that it was all about the climb, not sprinting prowess.

"I don't know what the climb is like on Saturday, and for me everything is new. But I'll probably go full throttle from start to finish."

However, some of Roglic's rivals were not willing to wait that long. As they passed through the treacherous Sierra de Francia on stage 16, on the mid-category 2, Portillo descent, and on the final climb of the category 1 Robredo, it looked as if Ineos Grenadiers would try to stretch things out in the front group.

But despite the all-out efforts of Andrei Amador, Dylan Van Barre, and young Colombian Ivan Sosa, who had been out of the race for most of the race, the main group never broke, although it was a little tense.

Asked if he noticed the effect of the increased pace set by Ineos Grenadiers, Roglic said he did. However, he also claimed that their acceleration had no real impact.

Whether it was because he was satisfied with his unexpected second place in the sprint, or because he and Jumbo Visma had successfully staved off Ineos Grenadiers' timid attack on his lead, Roglic was particularly humorous after the stage. When asked if a similar scenario could be expected in Covatija, where Tadej Pogacar attacked in last year's Vuelta and Movistar virtually arm-wheeled the Slovenian up the final climb of the Plataforma de Gredos, he joked, "I think we'll see the same thing.

"I don't expect Tadej to attack," Roglic said with a grin, "and I don't think he will. But let's see what happens."

Was the 45-second advantage enough? "

Roglic also did not rule out attacking on his own if given the chance. 'Yes, if I have the legs, I'll definitely go for it.'

And making his rivals aware of that possibility must be another advantage of attacking in the bonus time of the sprint.