It was an extraordinary stage on the Vuelta a España yesterday with the race being torn apart early on. Gianluca Brambilla (Etixx-Quick Step) took the stage win as Nairo Quintana (Movistar) made a big move towards the Vuelta title when he benefited from Alberto Contador’s early attacks to turn the race upside down on Sunday.
The Colombian finished second on the stage behind Brambilla as his main rival Chris Froome (Team Sky) was trapped behind. Contador (Tinkoff) is now fourth overall just over four minutes off the pace while Froome lies second, 3 :37 behind Quintana and Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange) is third 20 seconds further back.
Contador attacked six kilometres into the stage, and Quintana followed shortly afterwards as a group of 14 breakaway riders took shape — Jonathan Castroviejo, Ruben Fernandez and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), Alberto Contador, Ivan Rovny and Yuri Trofimov (Tinkoff), Kenny Elissonde (FDJ), Fabio Felline (Trek – Segafredo), Matvey Mamykin (Katusha), Gianluca Brambilla and David de la Cruz (Etixx – Quick Step), Davide Formolo and Moreno Moser (Cannondale – Drapac) and Omar Fraile (Dimension Data).
Froome was trapped behind and worse, all of his team mates but David Lopez, who was then quickly dropped, were in a third group further back. Contador and Quintana both had two team mates with them in a crazy start to the stage.
The gap increased to three minutes despite the work of Astana and Orica-Bike Exchange at the front of the Froome group. On the climb to the L’alto de Cotefablo, Orica-Bike Exchange contributed to the chase to reduce the gap to 1 :45 but in the valley, it rose up to 2:30 (km 94).
At the foot of the final climb, Contador and Quintana were still sitting on a two-minute cushion. Quintana set the temp in the front group while Froome was left to do the hard work behind to limit the damage. With about three kilometres left, Astana took charge in the chasing group.
Quintana accelerated with three kilometres left and was only followed by Brambilla, who took the day’s laurels while Contador finished 34 seconds off the pace. Esteban Chaves again showed he had great legs and crossed the line 1:53 behind Brambilla while Froome ended up with a 2:39 deficit.
Watch the on-board highlights here, including the climb to the finish line.
