As the rain began to fall in Asturias with 61 kilometres, Egan Bernal (INEOS Grenadiers) attacked from the group of contenders on the Collada Llomena in an ambitious long-range effort as only Roglič was able to follow, the two picking up speed and gapping the chasers as they neared the finish.
As they neared the final ascent, Bernal began to falter and Roglič continued to charge, eventually dropping the Colombian with 7.6 kilometres to go and flying solo to victory atop the Lagos de Covadonga, raising his fist across the finish line with his third stage of the race and reclamation of the maillot rojo secured as teammate Sep Kuss took the sprint for second place.
Bernal was eventually caught by the chasing group to only move one spot up the overall rankings to sixth despite his huge efforts, four minutes and 29 seconds behind Roglič with Enric Mas (Movistar) closest in second at 2 minutes and 22 seconds and teammate Miguel Angel Lopez in third at 3 minutes and 11 seconds behind top spot.
After many riders crashed on the stage including the then-red jersey holder Odd Christian Eiking (Intermarche-Wanty-Gobert), Roglič was happy his mantra of 'no risk, no glory' had paid off for another day.
"In cycling there's always risk, a lot of things can happen," the Slovenian said after the stage. "But it went well today, I enjoyed it.
"It was a super nice day for me, and for the whole team."
Roglič revealed instinct rather than strategy was behind his decision to follow Bernal's long-range attack as he tipped his hat to the Colombian for making the race an interesting one, giving an equally matter-of-fact response when asked why he decided to attack for the win when he did.
"Nothing, I just went with him," he said when asked what he was thinking as Bernal attacked.
"He's a racer, at the end of the day. It was a real show, real racing.
"I didn't decide to go, I just tried to ride up the climb as fast as possible. At that point Egan didn't follow anymore, so I just went alone."
With a hat-trick of stage wins and the red jersey firmly in his grasp as the race approaches tonight's queen stage finish on Altu d'el Gaimoniteiru, the Slovenian believes the third Vuelta of his career is already his best.
"I think so, yes," he said when asked if this year's Vuelta has been his strongest.
"I'm really enjoying it again with all the support.
"No matter what, tomorrow is the queen stage, so we'll see if the lead will be enough."
The Vuelta a Espana continues tonight with the queen stage, a 162.6 kilometre course from Salas to a summit finish on the special category Altu d'el Gaimoniteiru. Watch the action live early from 8:35pm AEST on the SBS SKODA Tour Tracker, then from 9:20pm AEST on SBS VICELAND and SBS On Demand.
