Cycling: Patrick Bevin falls just short of victory at Vuelta a Espana

Patrick Bevin rides in the Vuelta a Espana time trial. Photo / Getty

Patrick Bevin has fallen just short of becoming the first New Zealand cyclist to win an individual time trial at a Grand Tour.

Bevin has finished second on stage 10 of the Vuelta a Espana, just 25 seconds shy of claiming the biggest win of his career.

Race favourite Primoz Roglic was the man who denied Bevin Grand Tour glory, crossing the line in 47 minutes and five seconds - 25 seconds ahead of Bevin - to complete the set of Grand Tour stage wins, having won stages of the Giro d'Italia, Tour de France and now the Vuelta.

Wearing the New Zealand national champion's jersey, Bevin did notch the best result by a New Zealander in the history of Grand Tour individual time trials with his second place. It was also his best finish in a Grand Tour stage, but he was left ruing the presence of Roglic, who also took the leader's red jersey with his victory, taking a massive lead of one minute and 52 seconds over the second-placed Alejandro Valverde, with 11 stages to go.

"I'm pretty disappointed, but Primoz Roglic has been the benchmark rider for time trials this season," reflected Bevin after the stage.

"Finishing second, I've been there before. I've sat in a few hot seats and had someone come over on top… It's bike racing. It's been a rough season for me and I've turned it around. But obviously you always want a little bit more - I'll keep working and keep pushing. I've been building form in the first half and now we look forward to the rest of the race to try and attack."

Roglic was the heavy favourite to win the stage in a race missing many of the world's top time trialists, but he was made to work hard by Bevin, who started over an hour earlier and set a challenging time for his fellow contenders to beat.

One by one, each rider who passed the finishing line did so in a worse time than Bevin, who was especially excellent on the final sector of the 36.2km course.

After two tough climbs early on the stage, Bevin specifically aimed to save some power back to gain time on the flatter section, and proved to be extremely competitive on a course he said favoured the climbers.

"It really suited the climbers. It's a small road, there's no point where you can really go full power except for the final run in where you can take an edge. It's a harder course than the Tour de France. The climb is longer. It's good for climbers. I tried to hold the power and deliver a nice performance 10 days into La Vuelta," Bevin said.

Bevin set the fifth fastest time at the 11.9 kilometre checkpoint, but, timing his effort well, was second fastest at the 24 kilometre mark. Unfortunately for the 28-year-old, the one man faster than him out of 166 - Roglic - had no problems at the end of the stage, and after spending nearly an hour in the hot seat to see whether he'd be atop the podium at the end of the day, Bevin had to cede to the super Slovenian.

Fellow Kiwi George Bennett finished 28th on the stage, three minutes and six seconds behind Roglic, moving up two spots into 13th overall.

Bennett, who has admitted that he's not on his best form, would normally be set for a top 10 finish, with several riders ahead of him likely to lose significant time when the race returns to the mountains.

However, with his teammate - Roglic - now in possession of the overall lead, Bennett is likely to be required - and will happily comply - to sacrifice his ambitions in support of Roglic's quest for overall victory for their Jumbo-Visma squad.

A Kiwi denied individual glory because of the strength of Primoz Roglic?

Patrick Bevin can now relate.