On the fast descent off the category one Collado Bermejo, Vincenzo Nibali looked the rider most likely to steal time on his Vuelta a Espana GC rivals and improve upon his fourth place overall. However, Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) was attentive to the Bahrain-Merida rider and ensured the move was closed down and there would be no repeat of the stage 3 victory.
In the closing kilometres of stage 10, Nico Roche (BMC) sprung a surprise on the GC group to jump away and close the gap to Chaves and race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky). The lack of attention to Roche's move by Chaves and the GC men saw the Irishman move into equal second overall, tied on time with Chaves at 36 seconds behind Froome.
Sport director Neil Stephens, who suffered a flat tyre in the team care on the Collado Bermejo descent, explained post-stage it was disappointing to cough up almost 30 seconds to Roche. But added he believes Chaves' GC bid is still alive and well.
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"The boys did a great job again. They were placed really well down the descent," Stephens said. "In the final there, Nicholas Roche was able to get a bit of a gap and it grew out before Jack was able to get back and help to limit the losses a little bit.
"It's unfortunate we lost that little bit of time, but we think our general classification ambitions are still in order and going really well."
With no change to the top-ten standings, Roche was the big GC winner on the day. The wet weather limited the risks some riders were willing to take as Adam Yates explained, adding it was still a good day for Orica-Scott all things considered.
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