After his disappointing Tour de France, Nairo Quintana (Movistar) has bounced back with a vengeance in the Vuelta a España, dropping all his GC rivals on the Alto de la Camperona to clinch the overall lead in the Spanish Grand Tour.
It was the second time Quintana has worn the red jersey of Vuelta leader. In 2014 he followed the right wheels in a small bunch sprint to the ski station of Valdelinares and moved into the race lead, but then crashed out the following day. This time around Quintana's assault on la roja looked to be much more determined.
First Movistar cranked up the pace on the lower slopes of the Alto de la Camperona. Then with three kilometres to go, Quintana responded well to a move by Chris Froome (Team Sky), before blasting away himself, shedding both Froome and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) in the process.
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Twelfth at the finish, Quintana gained 25 seconds on Contador and 33 on Froome, enough to put him into the overall lead by 19 seconds on teammate Alejandro Valverde and with 27 seconds on Froome. Former leader Darwin Atapuma (BMC Racing Team) meanwhile, slumped to sixth place, 1:36 down.
Quintana not only has the overall lead, but in a very good day for Movistar, Valverde crossed the line in the same time as Froome and remains in second overall, as well as holding the lead in the 'combined' classification as well.
After a Tour where Quintana seemed a shadow of his former climbing self, the 2014 Giro d'Italia winner is now in control of the Vuelta and back to his best. And to judge by his tough-talking tone in the press conference, the Colombian has no intention of shedding the lead, either.
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