Chris Froome (Team Sky) put his stamp on the Vuelta a Espana, winning stage 9 to take his first Grand Tour stage of the year. The race leader was able to pull away from his rivals on the final climb up the Puig Llorença and win by four seconds ahead of Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), with Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) one second further back.
In the overall Froome again built up his overall lead to 36 seconds ahead of Chaves in second. Woods moved up to eighth, changing places with Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), who dropped to ninth.
It was a show of strength by Froome, who took off within the steep final kilometre. His rivals were slow to respond and then couldn’t match his power. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) had tried to keep up but once again had to fall back. In the end only Chaves and Woods could come close but they had no answer when Froome kicked for the line.
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“I put everything I had into that last couple of hundred metres. I was determined that they weren’t going to catch me. I’m really, really happy to get the victory. The team did a brilliant job on that final climb and set such a good tempo," Froome said.
“After a week we couldn’t have asked to be in a better position. It’s been a fantastic start to the Vuelta. The legs are feeling great. I’ve been to the Vuelta so many times, trying to target this race, and so far it feels like everything is going really well."
Up until the final climb, the stage was marked by a long breakaway and an active Cannondale-Drapac. The break group of 10 got away in the first 20km and stayed away until the final climb. Cannondale-Drapac, looking desperately for a 2018 sponsor, put on a show of pride, leading the peloton much of the time until the final climb.
How it unfolded
The stage took off from Oriheula on its way up the coastline. The usual skirmishes for a break were carried out before the day’s group finally established itself before the first 20km.
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