Vuelta: Froome well beaten by Quintana

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Nairo Quintana made a big move towards the Vuelta a España title by gapping Chris Froome whilst the stage today was won by Gianluca Brambilla

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Vuelta: Froome well beaten by Quintana
Nairo Quintana made a big move towards the Vuelta a España title when he benefited from Alberto Contador’s early attacks to turn the race upside down on Sunday. The Colombian finished second in the stage behind Italian Gianluca Brambilla as his main rival Chris Froome was trapped behind. Contador is now fourth overall just over four minutes off the pace while Froome lies second, 3 :37 behind Quintana and Esteban Chaves 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 increased to three minutes despite the work of Astana and Orica-Bike Exchange at the front of the Froome group. In 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 km 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.

Gianluca Brambilla “It was the hardest but also the most beautiful stage of the race. I’ve never been in a breakaway with the GC leader in a Grand Tour, so it was fun from this point of view. I was one of the guys to attack from afar and rode full gas together with David, as there was no time for respite until the finish”, said 29-year-old Gianluca, one of the only four riders to have won stages in two Grand Tours this season.

“On the last climb, I could see that Quintana was looking really good and once he upped the pace, many riders had problems in following him. When Contador was distanced, I jumped into Nairo’s wheel and managed to stay there, despite a powerful acceleration he put in with 700 meters to go. Winning this epic stage is one of the best moments of my career and it makes me really proud”, continued Gianluca, who credited the team for the constant improvement shown since the start of the season and the results which came with it.

“2016 has been a fantastic year for me so far and I want to thank the team for believing in me at all times. It’s great knowing that I can count on such a well-organised outfit that is always by my side. Seeing how the team supports and puts its trust in me, coming every time with the best advices and tactics, gives me huge self-confidence and motivation, and this makes me really happy.”
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Nairo Quintana: “It went way, way better than we expected. To be honest, we were thinking more about taking some moves in the finale. However, you never really know what’s gonna happen. It turned out to be a really great stage in the least of expected ways.

We opened bigger gaps here than in yesterday’s big mountains. At the start, a split was created into a lumpy section, full of twists and different slopes where our bodies suffered a lot after yesterday’s efforts. We struggled, yet we kept focus, went ahead with Alberto and our teams cooperated well.

“My team helped me out so much: a huge labour from Jonathan Castroviejo and Rubén Fernández -I was screaming to them: ‘Full gas, full gas, we’re leaving Froome behind’- and then, the rest of the team, taking care of what was going on behind.

We opened a gap, we kept it high and at the final climb, I gave everthing to keep Chris well behind. Fortunately, I’ve opened the gap I considered I needed before the TT; I just hope I can keep it and stay strong until Madrid. We will remain cautious, yet we know we’ve got a great team: Alejandro, Castro… all of us are confident.”

Alejandro Valverde: “I really didn’t enjoy today’s racing much, I struggled as badly as yesterday, though a bit closer to the front (all laughing and joking). It was a different way of suffering. We knew that such a short, tough course could create havoc. We took a big lead in the overall standings now – even though you can’t say this is already won, as many difficult days are still ahead, we’re many steps closer to our goal.

“It was a split created by both Alberto and us, a joint strategy which both teams took advantage from to create some gaps. Behind, and especially into the final ascent, I was always keeping Froome’s wheel, trying to make him nervous. And, as soon as he stopped taking turns, I jumped so he never recovered.

What do I want to do now? Winning the red jersey with Nairo. Fighting for stages might be impossible for me, as you never want to cooperate with someone who is faster at a sprint, and at this point of the race, what really motivates me is staying close to Nairo.”

Alberto Contador: “I’m happy with the stage today. When I crossed the finish line yesterday, I was gutted because the form of my legs didn’t correspond to the result. I had a very strange sensation after the stage and I wanted to put it behind me and focus on today”.

“I wasn’t extremely optimistic because the climbs weren’t very hard. Yesterday evening, I was reading the race book, looking at the gradients of the climbs in order to see what we could do. I knew it would be complicated, so I decided to start at full pace. I was aware I was making a dangerous gamble because I knew that if they were able to catch me in the finale they would be able to drop me from the group of favorites. It was a gamble and I think it led to a great result. Sometimes you don’t win, like today. The final kilometers were tough”.

“However, I think we had a beautiful showing today and the spectators enjoyed it, regardless of the result of the stage or the GC. I’m happy with what we achieved, it was a better day than yesterday. I think I had to pull hard because if I hadn’t done it the breakaway would have slowed down. Maybe in the first hour I was generous but I think I did the right thing.

“Tomorrow will be less demanding than today and yesterday but, again, every day is a different story. I have to be realistic about the rest of the Vuelta. This year victory in Paris-Nice and Catalunya slipped by for a handful of seconds. I had to abandon the Tour despite the fact I had started in optimal form and condition. I will give my best in the rest of the Vuelta now. It isn’t over yet!”

Stage
1 BRAMBILLA Gianluca ETIXX – QUICK STEP 02h 54′ 30”
2 QUINTANA Nairo MOVISTAR TEAM + 00′ 03”
3 FELLINE Fabio TREK – SEGAFREDO + 00′ 25”
4 ELISSONDE KENNY FDJ + 00′ 28”
5 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX – QUICK STEP + 00′ 31”
6 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF + 00′ 34”
7 FORMOLO Davide CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM + 00′ 53”
8 MAMYKIN Matvey TEAM KATUSHA + 01′ 16”
9 CHAVES Johan Esteban ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 01′ 53”
10 SCARPONI Michele ASTANA PRO TEAM + 01′ 59”
11 MEINTJES Louis LAMPRE – MERIDA + 02′ 10”
12 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM + 02′ 10”
13 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel BMC RACING TEAM + 02′ 10”
14 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel MOVISTAR TEAM + 02′ 10”
15 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM + 02′ 31”
16 SILIN Egor TEAM KATUSHA + 02′ 31”
17 FRAILE Omar DIMENSION DATA + 02′ 37”
18 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY + 02′ 40”
21 YATES Simon ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 02′ 47”

Overall
1 QUINTANA Nairo MOVISTAR TEAM 61h 36′ 07”
2 FROOME Christopher TEAM SKY + 03′ 37”
3 CHAVES Johan Esteban ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 03′ 57”
4 CONTADOR Alberto TINKOFF + 04′ 02”
5 YATES Simon ORICA BIKEEXCHANGE + 05′ 07”
6 SANCHEZ GONZALEZ Samuel BMC RACING TEAM + 06′ 12”
7 TALANSKY Andrew CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM + 06′ 43”
8 FORMOLO Davide CANNONDALE-DRAPAC PRO CYCLING TEAM + 07′ 17”
9 DE LA CRUZ David ETIXX – QUICK STEP + 07′ 23”
10 SCARPONI Michele ASTANA PRO TEAM + 07′ 39”
11 MORENO FERNANDEZ Daniel MOVISTAR TEAM + 08′ 05”
12 BENNETT George LOTTO NL -JUMBO + 09′ 45”
13 PARDILLA Sergio CAJA RURAL – SEGUROS RGA + 10′ 09”
14 PÉRAUD Jean-Christophe AG2R LA MONDIALE + 11′ 06”
15 HERMANS Ben BMC RACING TEAM + 11′ 44”
16 VALVERDE Alejandro MOVISTAR TEAM + 12′ 48”

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