Chris Froome (Team Sky) was forced onto the defensive on the steep slopes of the Alto de los Machucos on stage 17 of the Vuelta a España as he struggled to handle the double-digit gradient of the narrow cow track and was dropped by all his overall rivals.
Austria's Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport) won the stage with a brave solo move from the break of the day to take an historic stage win for the Irish Professional Continental team on their Grand Tour debut.
Riders were forced to use tiny gears on the 20% sections of road, with 34 or 36 tooth front chain rings and rear cogs of 30 or even 32 teeth. The rutted concrete track and tight hairpins meant they needed every tooth.
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Denifl suffered but eventually enjoyed his moment up front as the race exploded behind him. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) attacked from the peloton on the lower slopes of the Alto de los Machucos to try to win the stage but he came up short, finishing 28 seconds down on Denifl. Behind him Froome soon showed signs he was suffering and was unable to stay with his rivals.
At the finish Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) beat Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) and Rafa Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) for third place, 1:04 seconds down on Denifl.
Froome struggled to stay with teammate Mikel Nieve in the final two kilometres and finished 14th on the stage at 1:46. He lost 42 seconds to Nibali and Zakarin and a little less to Kelderman and others. His lead on the Sicilian is down to 1:16, with Kelderman at 2:13 and Zakarin at 2:25. Contador remains fifth but closed the gap to 3:34. Other riders also gained time on Froome.
How it unfolded
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
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