Oscar Onley fought valiantly to limit his losses and retain his white jersey after a stern GC test on stage six of the Vuelta a Espana.
Onley battled to the line in a chase group after being dropped stage winner Tadej Pogacar (UAE Team Emirates) and a small group of GC favourites on the final climb.
The result sees him move to seventh overall, +5:37 on race leader Pogacar.
Earlier, there was a hectic start to the race, with many break attempts failing to go clear with Axel Laurance and Jack Haig's early moves thwarted.
This caused a high pace throughout the stage, with four categorised climbs on the agenda, the final one ending with a gravel section.
Once a break had established itself, UAE Team Emirates took up the reins and pushed the pace to keep them in sight. Indeed, Pogacar attacked on the Puerto El Bartolo to go solo from a dwindling bunch, with Onley in tow.
The world champion then went clear of the Netcompany INEOS rider, with Onley part of a small GC group behind. Earlier efforts then caught up with the Scot, and he lost more time to his rivals as they crested the summit and descended into Castelló.
A savvy ride from Onley then saw him wait for another chase group, to allow them to tackle a tough headwind together on the final run-in to the line, which saw him limit his losses and retain the white jersey.
“I probably overcooked the final climb a little bit and paid the price towards the top."
Oscar Onley
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Oscar Onley
“I probably overcooked the final climb a little bit and paid the price towards the top.
“I took the descent at my own pace, and to be honest I didn’t want to be alone for the headwinds at the bottom and to the finish.
“When I saw Skjelmose and Kuss’ group coming to me, I tried to pull with them."