Benjamin King climbed to his second stage victory at this year's Vuelta a Espana on Sunday as Simon Yates claimed the overall lead in the race.
Having been involved in an 11-man breakaway group, American King bravely decided to go it alone on the tough ascent to the finish line in La Covatilla.
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The Dimension Data rider - who clinched his maiden Grand Tour stage win only last week in La Alfacar - held off a late challenge from Bauke Mollema to triumph by 48 seconds.
"I don't think I've ever suffered so much in my career," an exhausted King said after the 200.8-kilometre journey from Talavera de la Reina.
"I'm more proud with this second victory because it shows the first one wasn't just random."
Yates came home in ninth place, two minutes and 49 seconds behind King, but his performance in the mountains was good enough to take over in the red jersey.
Groupama FDJ's Rudy Molard had led the general classification but the Frenchman found the going tough after a series of flat stages previously, dropping a serious chunk of time on the final climb to slip back.
The new race leader holds a one-second advantage over 2009 champion Alejandro Valverde, while another former Vuelta winner in Nairo Quintana sits in third.
A GOOD SURPRISE
Yates admitted after the stage he had never planned to finish the day in red - but was happy to be in possession of the jersey ahead of the Vuelta's first rest day.
The Briton knows about the pressure of leading in a Grand Tour - he looked pretty in pink for an extended spell at the Giro d'Italia earlier this year before his bid for glory fell apart on stage 19 - and he knows there is still plenty of riding to do before the race reaches a conclusion in Madrid next Sunday.
"I wasn't thinking of the red jersey today, that's not something I expected," he said. "I just followed the best riders up front, I was a couple of seconds behind and it's a bit of surprise to be honest.
"But it's a good surprise, obviously I'm happy with this jersey. I'm getting a bit used to this after the Giro."
STAGE RESULT
1. Benjamin King (Dimension Data) 5:30.38
2. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) +0.48s
3. Dylan Teuns (BMC) +2:38
4. Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro) +2:40
5. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +2:40
CLASSIFICATIONS
General Classification
1. Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) 36:54.52
2. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) +0.01s
3. Nairo Quintana (Movistar) +0.14s
Points Classification
1. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) 81 points
2. Peter Sagan (Bora-Hansgrohe) 63 points
3. Benjamin King (Dimension Data) 58 points
King of the Mountains
1. Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis) 60 points
2. Benjamin King (Dimension Data) 33 points
3. Bauke Mollema (Trek-Segafredo) 24 points
UP NEXT
The Vuelta competitors get to enjoy a well-earned rest on Monday before the racing resumes with a relatively flat 172.5km ride from Salamanca to Fermoselle that should favour the sprinters at the finish.
