Two Slovenian friends took charge of the Spanish Vuelta on Friday, with youngster Tadej Pogacar wining the difficult 13th stage and Primoz Roglic crossing the line just behind him to increase his overall lead.

Pogacar and Roglic moved to the front during the grueling final climb at Los Machucos, getting past breakaway leader Pierre Latour with less than two kilometers (one mile) to go and finishing 27 seconds ahead of their closest chasers.

"It was a great day for Slovenian cycling to have the two of us at the front," Roglic said. "We gave our whole until the finish. Tadej is of course a big talent with a big future. He is a good friend of mine, a nice guy, and a rival."

Pogacar passed Roglic with less than one kilometer (half a mile) left and held on for his second stage win in this Vuelta. The 20-year-old rider from UAE Team Emirates also won the ninth stage.

"I can't believe it's my second stage win in my first Grand Tour. I'm extremely happy, so happy I can't even describe it," Pogacar said. "When I heard on the radio nobody was following me and Roglic, I realized it was a good opportunity. It's difficult to go against Roglic, he's really strong. So I'm very happy with what I've done today."

Roglic, a former ski jumper riding with team Jumbo-Visma, opened a gap of 2 minutes, 25 seconds to Spaniard Alejandro Valverde in the general classification. Pogacar moved to third place overall but was more than three minutes behind Roglic.

Valverde was fourth in the 166-kilometer (103-mile) stage, behind Latour and ahead of Movistar teammate Nairo Quintana.

The stage started with the peloton going around the field at Athletic Bilbao's San Mamés Stadium in Bilbao. Riders then faced seven mountain passes.

They will get a relative break on Saturday in a 188-kilometer (117-mile) flat stage that will finish in Oviedo.

Pogacar teammate Fabio Aru didn't race on Friday because of a muscle injury.