Italy's Giulio Pellizzari celebrated "the best day of my career" when upstaging the big guns in Wednesday's Vuelta a Espana 17th stage as Jonas Vingegaard retained the leader's red jersey.
The 21-year-old crossed the Alto de El Morredero summit finish 16sec clear of Briton Tom Pidcock.
Pellizzari's Australian Red Bull Bora teammate Jai Hindley took third ahead of Vingegaard.
Danish race favourite Vingegaard goes into Thursday's time-trial with a 50sec cushion in the general classification over Joao Almeida, who finished the stage in fifth.
The leaders cancelled each other out on the scorched and wind-swept slopes of Alto de El Morredero after a gruelling 143.2km ride from El Barco de Valdeorras, with Pellizzari seizing his chance.
"Over the last three kilometres I said to myself 'the time has come to go'. This is the best day of my career" he said.
Hear from Giulio Pellizzari!
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 10, 2025
🇬🇧: "I think it's the best moment in my career! Short career until now. Today I had a strange feeling, I felt a bit that today was my day. And I need to thank all my team, my teammates, Jai of course. Today we fought to take the podium. We didn't… pic.twitter.com/8NmSWoCski
Vingegaard was thankful to survive the day still in red.
"I wasn't feeling 100 percent, but I did what was required," said the rider still feeling the exertions of chasing home Tadej Pogacar in the Tour de France in July.
Thursday's 18th stage is a 27.2km individual time-trial around Valladolid with the race finishing on Sunday in Madrid amid heightened security after disruption to one of cycling's big three races by pro-Palestinian protests.
STAGE 17 RESULTS
1. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA) Red Bull - BORA - 3:37:00
hansgrohe
2. Tom Pidcock (GBR) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team +16
3. Jai Hindley (AUS) Red Bull - BORA - +18
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4. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +20
5. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates - XRG +22
6. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel - Premier Tech +26
7. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale +53
Team
8. Torstein Træen (NOR) Bahrain Victorious "
9. Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +58
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +1:44
11. Eddie Dunbar (IRL) Team Jayco AlUla +2:36
12. Jaume Guardeño (ESP) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA +2:41
13. Harold Tejada (COL) XDS Astana Team +4:08
14. Junior Lecerf (BEL) Soudal Quick-Step "
15. Abel Balderstone (ESP) Caja Rural - Seguros RGA "
16. Alessandro Verre (ITA) Arkéa - B&B Hotels +4:24
17. Santiago Buitrago (COL) Bahrain Victorious +4:26
18. Felix Großschartner (AUT) UAE Team Emirates - XRG "
19. Ben Tulett (GBR) Team Visma - Lease a Bike "
20. Jay Vine (AUS) UAE Team Emirates - XRG "
GENERAL CLASSIFICATION
1. Jonas Vingegaard (DEN) Team Visma - Lease a Bike 64:53:55
2. João Almeida (POR) UAE Team Emirates - XRG +50
3. Tom Pidcock (GBR) Q36.5 Pro Cycling Team +2:28
4. Jai Hindley (AUS) Red Bull - BORA - +3:04
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5. Giulio Pellizzari (ITA) Red Bull - BORA - +3:51
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6. Felix Gall (AUT) Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale +4:57
Team
7. Matthew Riccitello (USA) Israel - Premier Tech +4:59
8. Sepp Kuss (USA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +6:24
9. Torstein Træen (NOR) Bahrain Victorious +7:06
10. Matteo Jorgenson (USA) Team Visma - Lease a Bike +10:16
