Riders will get to enjoy the first rest day in Almeria after a testing nine days of racing, with Roglic looking back to his best form which saw him win back-to-back Vuelta titles and a gold medal in the recent Tokyo Olympics individual time trial.
And in the toughest stage so far, with 4,500 metres of total climbing on the 188 kilometre stage 9, the Slovenian stood tall again as he was able to extend his lead at the top with the help of a great team performance by Jumbo-Visma who worked to control the peloton throughout the course.
Roglic stayed with the rest of the favourites and easily covered a late attack by Adam Yates (INEOS Grenadiers) before launching a move of his own to demolish the rest of the field bar one Enric Mas (Movistar) who managed to stay with the maillot rojo and move up to second overall, 28 seconds off the lead as neither could catch solo breakaway winner Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious).
Among the biggest movers was Felix Großschartner (Bora-Hansgrohe) who began the day just 8 seconds behind Roglic, but withered on the harsh climbs and dropped to ninth as a result, now a sizeable 3 minutes and 25 seconds away from top spot.
Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) a hotly tipped favourite coming into the race, also had a tough day despite the support of his teammates on the front. The Colombian was unable to maintain the pace of teammate Yates and the rest of the field, distanced on the Velefique as he slipped to sixth overall and a minute and 52 seconds off Roglic.
As INEOS faltered, Movistar surged, with Mas now backed up by third-placed Miguel Angel Lopez to round out the top three in what was a strong day for the Spanish team after losing Alejandro Valverde to injury in stage 7.
Lopez is now a minute and 21 seconds away from the red jersey and if he can replicate his opening performances alongside Mas, the Movistar duo look to have the best chance of overthrowing Roglic, if that proves to even be possible giving his stunning early form.
Elsewhere, Jack Haig (Bahrain-Victorious) became the clear new leader for his team as he rode aggressively into fourth overall while original hope Mikel Landa struggled again in the mountains. The Victorian stayed in the chase group behind Mas and Roglic with Bernal, Lopez and Yates before attacking in the final kilometre to take third on the stage and cut his deficit to a minute and 42 seconds.
The general classification battle is seriously heating up as the race moves into the next two weeks, and with all riders sporting fresh legs in stage 10, expect more fireworks to come as the journey through Spain continues.
