From here on, Darren Rafferty has called the Vuelta "uncharted territory," but he's committed to do all in his power for Richard Carapaz, the head of the EF Education-EasyPost team. It's "game on" for the men in pink now that the Ecuadorian has advanced to third place overall after finishing the major mountain stage on Sunday.

After days of cycling in the intense heat, 21-year-old Rafferty, who was competing in his maiden Grand Tour, admitted that he was "pretty tired."

He has now completed more straight days of racing at a greater effort than any previous race.

Even though there were over two more weeks of racing ahead of him, he seemed unfazed by the challenge and expressed his happiness at having made progress on Sunday's stage. After making the breakaway, he made a tremendous move that brought Carapaz much closer to the leaders over the course of 15 to 20 kilometres.