Ranking the overall contenders at Vuelta a España can be a rather hazardous sort of an exercise in its early phases, at least when compared with the more regimented Tour de France. This late in the season, in a race where weaker teams and more fatigued riders tackle often unfamiliar terrain, the Vuelta carries few of the certainties of July.
Small wonder, then, that the general classification situation was decidedly nebulous for the opening week, but the picture sharpened into focus on the 12-kilometre climb of Lagos de Covadonga on Monday, the final act before the race breaks for its opening rest day. Eleven stages from the finish in Madrid, this Vuelta already seems destined to boil down to a straight duel between two men – Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Chris Froome (Team Sky).
Just seven kilometres from the summit of Lagos de Covadonga, however, it looked as though Quintana was about to be locked in hand-to-hand combat with a different foe for the next two weeks. With Froome seemingly faltering some 45 seconds behind, Quintana responded smartly to an acceleration from Alberto Contador (Tinkoff), and together the pair put daylight into all of the erstwhile contenders.
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For a few kilometres, it appeared that Lagos de Covadonga was about to bear out the impressions of Saturday’s haul up to La Camponera, where Quintana had been the strongest of the GC men and Contador the most determined. Yet by the time Quintana eased clear of Contador inside the final four kilometres, he was not so much ridding himself of the Spaniard as battling to ensure he held off a resurgent Froome.
Like the runner Paula Radcliffe, Froome’s ungainly style of riding means that gauging his condition from a glance is nigh on impossible; only the watch is a reliable indicator. When his deficit to Quintana was edging out towards a minute just shy of midway up the climb, it seemed as though his race was run, but Froome then seemingly went into overdrive on the upper reaches, picking off Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange), Contador and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in succession en route to third on the stage, just 25 seconds down on Quintana. Not quite Pantani on Oropa, but a startling turnaround nonetheless.
More on this story:
- Vuelta a Espana: Nairo Quintana wins stage 10
- Contador struggles on Covadonga to remain in contention at Vuelta a Espana
- Froome remains in Vuelta a Espana contention with dramatic bounce back
- Vuelta a Espana: Nairo Quintana takes lead with lone win in Covadonga
- Vuelta a Espana stage 10 highlights - Video
Contador: New dawn fades
Racing for third place?
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