Tuesday 9 September 2014 14:10, UK
Alberto Contador dropped Chris Froome in the final 1km to win a mountainous 16th stage of the Vuelta a Espana solo and extend his overall lead of the race.
The pair had surged ahead of rivals Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez when Froome attacked with 4km of the climb to the summit finish at La Farrapona remaining, but then Contador launched his own acceleration around 800m out and Froome had no response.
Contador went on to cross the line 15 seconds ahead of the Team Sky leader, with Valverde following 55 seconds down in fourth and Rodriguez 59 seconds back in fifth.
Contador also picked up ten bonus seconds for his win, stretching his advantage at the top of the general classification to 1min 36sec over second-placed Valverde and 1min 39sec over third-placed Froome.
He is now in a commanding position to win a third Vuelta title, although he still has to defend his lead on two more summit finishes and a short individual time trial in the final week.
Contador said: "There is reason to be extremely pleased with today's stage but there is still a long way to go. I knew when to wait for my chance and I was able to widen the gap to all the riders, including Froome, who kept up an incredible rhythm.
"I was feeling strong, I hung in there, saw my opportunity and made the most of it. I saw that Purito [Rodriguez] and Valverde were left behind and I knew it was an important day. You cannot take your eye off Froome. Thankfully I was able to keep up with his changes of pace."
Stage 16 was arguably the hardest of this year’s race, containing five categorised climbs and a third consecutive mountain-top finish.
Team Sky’s Peter Kennaugh formed part of the day’s 13-man breakaway and although they built up a lead of over eight minutes, their numbers were whittled down over the barrage of climbs and only three of them were left in the lead - Alessandro De Marchi (Cannondale) and Omega Pharma – Quick-Step pair Gianluca Brambilla and Wout Poels - heading on to the final ascent.
The trio became two when Brambilla was disqualified from the race for a scuffle with fellow breakaway rider Ivan Rovny (Tinkoff-Saxo) earlier in the day, and De Marchi then moved into a solo lead when he dropped Poels with an attack just under 12km out.
His lead fell to 1min 30sec courtesy of a fierce pace being set in the peloton by Team Sky and while he maintained that margin for several kilometres, it eroded quickly when Froome launched his attack.
Only Contador could follow the move, and given that he was sitting on a 1min 20sec lead over the Briton overall, he could afford to let his rival do all the work to drag them away from Valverde and Rodriguez and then past the wilting De Marchi.
The burden proved too much for Froome, who was too exhausted to follow Contador's stage-winning acceleration but had the consolation of closing his deficit to Valverde from 49 seconds to just three.
Tuesday is the race's second rest day, with the action resuming with a flat 17th stage on Wednesday.
Stage 16 result
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo 4:53:35
2 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +15secs
3 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) Cannondale, +50
4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +55
5 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha. +59
6 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +1:06
7 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, +1:12
8 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin, +1:22
9 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing, +1:43
10 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin-Sharp, +1:48
General classification
1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo, 63:25:00
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +1:36
3 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +1:39
4 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha, +2:29
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +3:38
6 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, +6:17
7 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin, +6:43
8 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing, +6:55
9 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano, +8:37
10 Damiano Caruso (Ita) Cannondale, +9:10
