Chris Froome (Sky) launched a blizzard of attacks on the final summit finish of the Vuelta a España to try and shake arch-rival, but finally the Briton will have to settle for second overall after Nairo Quintana (Movistar) tenaciously responded to each of Froome's moves.
Second in 2011, fourth in 2012, second in 2014 and a more than likely second again in 2016, Froome's battle to win the Vuelta continues to be unsuccessful. But the Briton arguably has never come closer than this year, and after his superb time trial in Calp on Friday, the question of whether Vuelta winner Quintana would be able to fend him off in the mountains one last time loomed larger than ever over the race.
Froome and Sky attempted a long-range move early on the stage and an attack over the Tudons, the last second category climb, before the Aitana. But the first was closed down by Tinkoff and the second quickly absorbed by Movistar on the long, twisting descent to the final climb of the day.
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Froome then unfurled attack after attack on the final five kilometres of the AItana, the hardest section of the race. But just as when Quintana attacked again and again on the Aubisque a week earlier and was unable to shake off the Briton, this time round it proved impossible for Froome to drop the Colombian.
Froome did not talk to the press at the Aitana finish, turning around and heading straight down the mountain to his team bus seven kilometres further away. But as his sports director Dario Cioni told Cyclingnews at the finish, "it was the last day possible to do something, and we approached it as a one-day race."
"The task was pretty ambitious, to take back 1 minute and 20 seconds on Quintana, but we agreed in the morning that everyone would do everything we could to do this."
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