The momentum is once again with Chris Froome (Team Sky) at the Vuelta a España after he distanced Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida) on the short final climb to Alto de Santo Toribio de Liébana on stage 18 to extend his lead atop the overall standings to 1:37.
Froome and Nibali were part of the red jersey group that reached the finale more than ten minutes down on stage winner Sander Armee (Lotto Soudal), who had proved the strongest of the day's early break.
After a volley of attacks from Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) on the penultimate ascent of Collada de la Hoz had sown plenty of tension but failed to separate the podium contenders, few anticipated any major differences to be made on the final category 2 kick to the line.
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Not for the first time on this Vuelta, however, Froome's Sky guard laid down an imposing rhythm on the final climb, with Gianni Moscon once again delivering a show of strength that was all the more startling considering he is a 23-year-old Classics specialist in the third week of his debut Grand Tour.
Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) were among the riders distanced approaching the flamme rouge as the pace began to bite, and Froome proceeded to deliver a rasping acceleration of his own once teammate Wout Poels swung over inside the final kilometre.
Only Contador and Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) could match Froome's surge as the group of podium contenders splintered behind him, and while Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) responded well to limit their losses to just four seconds at the finish, Nibali was in obvious difficulty and pedalling with leaden strokes.
Armee's solo triumph
Aru's lone raid
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