JEREZ DE LA FRONTERA, Spain, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Swiss rider Stefan Kung claimed asecond career time trial win on stage 18 of the Vuelta aEspana, finishing ahead of Briton Callum Thornley and Portuguese Joao Almeida.
In the general classification, Movistar rider Enric Mas maintained a healthy lead of one minute 37 seconds over Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe's Slovenian Primoz Roglic, who finished fourth in the stage and moved up to second overall.
Mas, who is hoping to become the first Spanish rider to win the Vuelta since Alberto Contador in 2014, came into the day with a 2:06 lead over Austrian Felix Gall, withRoglic a further four seconds behind.
The questionwas how much of a lead Mas could hold onto, with the individual time trial highlighted as the primary opportunity for Roglic to close the gapbefore the final two mountain stages.
The 32.1km flat run on Spain's south coast saw riders speed through the heat, with 149 of them setting off at one-minute intervals.Thornley (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) set the early pace, finishing with a time of 35:25.
Another 88 riders went down the ramp before Tudor Pro Cycling's Kung stolein ahead of Thornley by three seconds. Almeida completed the podium, nine seconds behind Kung.
"It's always a hard TT in the third week of a Grand Tour. You just have to go as hard as you can and try to hang on," said a visibly exhausted Kung at the finish line.
"Honestly, some corners looked super slippery today, so I was not so confident in that but I had power to push until the finish and I think that's where I made the difference."
After a second stage win for Tudor Pro Cycling, Kung credited his whole team with the victory once it was confirmed.
ROGLIC UNABLE TO APPLY PRESSURE ON MAS
Roglic has won four Vuelta time trials previously, hence the anticipation that he could make up significant time on Mas, who is more comfortable in the mountains.
Hitting the first intermediate point nine seconds behind the leading pace, hopes of a stage win for Roglic looked slim, with the gap to Kung growing to 14 seconds at the second checkpoint.
On arrival in Jerez de la Frontera, his eyes were firmly on Mas' time.
Roared out at the start by the home crowd, Mas hit the first intermediate point 22 seconds behindRoglic, but only lost a further 14 seconds in the following 10.4km.
Eventually, Mas would lose 33 seconds to Roglic, a number that will leave the Mallorcan rider satisfied with his efforts before an ascent into the mountains again on stage 19.
Gallslipped to third in the general classification, 3:01 off the pace.
The race for the green jersey is firmly in the control of Visma-Lease a Bike's Wout van Aert, who finished 20 seconds behind Kung in fifth.
The Belgian is now 67 points ahead of teammate Matthew Brennan and has eliminated third-placedAlessandro Romele (XDS Astana) from contention.
Stage 19 begins on Friday in Velez-Malaga, where the Vuelta follows a hilly 210.8km route to Penas Blancas in Estepona.
(Reporting by Ruairidh Barlow; Editing by Ken Ferris)
