UAE Team Emirates’ Matej Mohoric battled his way to a solo victory on stage seven of La Vuelta as Chris Froome retained his slender overall lead in the red jersey for Team Sky.

The 22-year-old Slovenian rider saw off the challenge of a 14-man breakaway heading into the finish at Cuenca to cross 16 seconds ahead of Poland’s Pawel Poljanski as the Bora-Hansgrohe racer ended runner-up for the second consecutive day.

The 207-kilometre stage, which started from Lliria, featured a treble of category three climbs, with the breakaway taking shape from around 10kms as the riders battled against crosswinds.

However, it was Mohoric who ultimately lasted the distance for the climb and descent of Alto del Castillo before then pulling clear as he closed in on Cuenca.

It was a spectacular performance from Mohoric, who said: “It’s incredible! It’s been a long time since my last big win. I’ve always worked hard and tried my best, but it is great to have a victory again.”

“I’m in pretty good shape so today the team wanted me to go into the breakaway, I tried to save as much energy as possible and then just waited until the final which was well suited to my skills.”

Saturday’s eighth stage will run from Hellin to Xorret de Cat, which includes a category one climb towards the finish of the 199.5km route.