With the Jumbo-Visma team happy to sit back and defend their top three in the general classification, a 31-man breakaway group on the opening climb led by last year's Vuelta winner Evenepoel, was allowed to stay away and extend its gap.

Stage 20 was the longest stage of this year's race, a 208-kilometre hilly ride from Manzanares El Real to Guadarrama. While none of the ascents were above category three, the riders did face 10 climbs before the final flat eight kilometres.

The final climb saw Poels attempt to get away from the rest. It looked like Evenepoel's race was over, but he rallied to rejoin the Dutchman along with three other riders.

But Poels, of the Bahrain Victorious team, put in a last-chance attack just before the final corner to get ahead of Evenepoel and held on to beat him in the final sprint, with Pelayo Sanchez finishing third.