Chris Froome (Team Sky) extended his overall lead at the Vuelta a España after a second place finish on today’s eleventh stage from Lorca to Observatorio Astronómico de Calar Alto. Froome now leads Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) by 1 minute 19 seconds.

The punishing climb to the summit finish at Calar Alto saw many of Froome’s rivals lose time, with Nibali taking a third place finish on the stage. Orica-Scott’s Esteban Chaves is now in third place overall, 2:33 back on Froome.

Froome put in a battling performance on the final climb to rein in Nibali after the Italian had attacked in sight of the finish. The stage was won by Miguel Ángel López (Astana Pro Team).

Froome, who is attempting to become only the third person ever to complete a Tour de France/Vuelta a España ‘double’, said after the stage: “I’m very happy with the outcome today. It was a day when some of my rivals lost time on the General Classification, so to finish 2nd, I couldn’t ask for much more than that, other than stage victory, but when (Miguel Angel) Lopez went he was extremely strong.

“I figured for me the most important thing was to follow Vincenzo Nibali and stay with the favourites. I concentrated on staying with him seeing that (Esteban) Chaves was already dropped and Alberto (Contador) was on the limit”.

The race continues tomorrow with a 160.1-kilometre stage from Motril to Antequera Los Dólmenes which has two categorised climbs en route including the Cat. 2 Puerto del Torcal 18 kilometres from the finish.

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here