Thymen Arensman was victorious in Sierra Nevada today ©Getty Images

Dutch rider Thymen Arensman took a chance and it paid off as he finished stage 15 of the Vuelta a España first in the Sierra Nevada mountains.

Arensman made a solo move and crossed the line more than a minute before anyone else, while in the general classification, Slovenian Primož Roglič of Jumbo-Visma took more time out of Remco Evenepoel's lead, keeping his title defence very much alive.

Before the rest day tomorrow, a mountainous route faced riders who traversed 148.1 kilometres from Martos to Sierra Nevada.

A few riders attempted solo breaks throughout including Australian Lawson Craddock of BikeExchange-Jayco, who picked up points on the stage, as did Spain's Marc Soler of UAE Team Emirates who braved the distance and the upcoming climbs to pull a lead out on the other breakaway chasers.

The Spaniard took the lead with 22km to go and would not be caught until 7km out from the line, as Arensman took a leap of faith to move away from the chasers and pushed on past Soler.

While this was happening, the general classification contenders were moving closer to the attackers.

Roglič, Belgium's Evenepoel and Spanish riders Enric Mas, Juan Ayuso and Carlos Rodríguez began to fragment from each other, allowing gaps to form.

From there, Arensman had momentum and seemed to have another gear compared to the rest of the field.

The Team DSM rider crossed the line in 4 hours 17min 17sec, finishing 1:23 in front of Mas from Movistar, who ate back into the lead of Evenepoel to move back into contention for the overall title.

It was Arensman's first Grand Tour stage win at the ripe age of 22.

Colombian Miguel Ángel López of Astana got a top-three finish for the second day in a row, 1:25 back from Arensman.

Australian Jay Vine of Alpecin-Deceuninck was 1:30 behind in fourth.

Roglič claimed 15 seconds on Evenepoel - who finished 10th today - to bring the overall lead down to 1:34, while Mas sits at 2:01 back.

Ayuso, racing for UAE Team Emirates, shaved a few seconds off to remain less than five minutes behind Evenepoel, but Rodríguez struggled today - losing 90 seconds to the Belgian.

Tomorrow is a rest day, before a 188.9 km flat stage is scheduled on Tuesday (September 6).