It’s only the middle of February but the Tour de France contenders are already doing battle. On yesterday’s third stage of the Vuelta a Andalucia, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) attacked on the last climb to Hazallanas in the Sierra Nevada.
He easily distanced his rivals, but Chris Froome (Team Sky) fought back to limit his losses to 19 seconds. He was the only rider within touching distance. The two were clearly head and shoulders above the rest of the field.
The win was Contador’s first of the season, and now puts him 27 seconds clear of Froome in GC, with two stages remaining.
Stage result
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 04:19:15
2 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 00:00:19
3 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 00:01:39
4 Beñat Intxausti (Spa) Movistar 00:01:58
5 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 00:02:02
6 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team LottoNL-Jumbo 00:02:05
7 Merhawi Kudus (Eri) MTN-Qhubeka 00:02:15
8 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 00:02:16
9 Reichenbach (Sui) IAM Cycling 00:02:30
10 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural – Seguros RGA 00:02:42
General Classification
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 12:22:55
2 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 0:00:27
3 Beñat Intxausti (Spa) Movistar 0:01:59
4 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:02:13
5 Peter Kennaugh (GBr) Team Sky 0:02:28
6 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 0:02:30
7 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Team Sky 0:03:19
8 Sylvain Chavenel (Fra) IAM Cycling 0:03:41
9 Nicolas Edet (Fra) Cofidis 0:04:10
10 Gorka Izagirre (Spa) Movistar 0:04:15
