REMCO EVENEPOEL TIGHTENED his grip on the Vuelta a Espana lead on Sunday as stage nine ended on a steep incline where South African Louis Meintjes won from a breakaway.

On a stage billed by the organisers as potentially decisive 22-year-old Belgian Evenepoel was 52sec faster than defending champion Primoz Roglic.

On the 171km run from the Cantabrian coast to inland mountaintop of Les Praeres de Nava, Evenepoel increased his overall lead to 1min 12sec over Enric Mas and 1min 53sec over Jumbo-Visma’s Roglic.

Spanish veteran Miguel Angel Lopez said “the truth is that it is a wall”, of the 4km 12.5% incline.

Meintjes was part of a ten-man breakaway that escaped on the first of the day’s five climbs.

Evenepoel and the rest of the peloton can enjoy Monday’s rest day and transfer across Spain to the Mediterranean coast ahead of a 30km individual time-trial where the leader could further turn the screw.