For the third major mountain stage in succession, Chris Froome (Team Sky) once more proved that he and his squad were more than a match for his rivals, as the Briton's teammates closed down what few key GC attacks there were on the Vuelta a España's 15th stage with relentless ease.
Froome himself barely had to react barring the late flurry of accelerations on the Vuelta's toughest mountain stage, crossing the line in fifth place and gaining six seconds on his closest overall rival, Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida).
But more importantly than the time gain was the absolute domination by Froome and Sky of whatever GC attacks materialized, be they long distance moves like the one Alberto Contador (Trek-Segrafedo) put in or a much briefer dig, midway up the final ascent by Nibali.
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With a time trial coming up on Logroño on Tuesday that will surely see Froome gain significant amounts of time on his key rivals – as happened last year in Calpe in the Vuelta – two weeks into the race, and with Sierra Nevada behind him, it's safe to say that the 2017 Vuelta is now Froome's to lose.
The one possible fly in the ointment for Sky when it comes to controlling the race at the moment looks to be Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team), now sixth overall after his stage win in Sierra Nevada. Clearly the strongest climber in this year's Vuelta so far on the longer ascents, in theory López could become a GC threat if he does not lose too much time in the time trial. But that, for now, remains a theory.
Froome explained in his press conference, prior to catching a flight north to Logroño, that while López could be a challenger in the final week, he had other fish to fry at Sierra Nevada.
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