Vuelta a España leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar) said that despite losing against Chris Froome (Sky) on the Peña Cabarga ascent he remains fully optimistic about his chances in the longer term battle.
Quintana and Movistar made much of the running on the early part of the ascent, and when Quintana loped away, passing and catching Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange), Froome was determinedly sticking close.
Then on the final sweeping left hand bend, Froome first quickly passed the Colombian then powered ahead for a stage win, a time bonus, and what must represent a big boost to his morale.
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Having lost six seconds to Froome in the Vuelta on the other short, ultra-steep ascent to Ezaro on stage three but then gained time on the Briton on the longer Camperona and Lagos de Covadonga climbs, Quintana was his usual phlegmatic self when discussing his first direct mountain top defeat by Froome in this year's Spanish Grand Tour.
"It was a very fast climb and we realised that Froome was going very strongly," Quintana said later. "We will have to watch him closely. "
"I'm good, we have arrived together with Froome. He won the stage because he was faster than me at the end. I still think he's strong."
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