Nicolas Roche dug in all the way to keep alive his hopes of a high overall placing at the Vuelta on the very testing final to stage 9.
By Brian Canty
Nicolas Roche dropped to fourth overall at the Vuelta A Espana today but despite a mid-stage crash, managed to limit his losses to his main rivals and he remains very much in the fight for the podium.
The Team Sky man was eighth over the line on stage nine from Torrevieja to the summit finish at Cumbre del Sol Benitachell, 31 seconds behind winner and new race leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin).
The lanky Dutchman is having a fabulous battle with the man he replaced at the top of the General Classification, Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEDGE), and the Colombian is now third overall after conceding 59 seconds this afternoon.
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Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) jumped up to second overall after taking third today, the Spanish rider repaying the tremendous work his team did in reeling in the 14-man break.
Another man to really impose himself today was Roche’s teammate Chris Froome who bounced back from a bad day yesterday to leap up the standings and reignite his bid for a Tour-Vuelta double.
Froome looked superb on the final climb and appeared to have stage victory sewn up when he spun away from a select group of favourites in the final few hundred metres.
Alas, Dumoulin reeled him in before the finish and summoned every last ounce of energy to get back on level terms and nick the stage win.
Froome managed to take second, two seconds back and he’s now up to eighth overall, 1:18 down.
It’s shaping up to be a cracking final two weeks with eight teams in the top 10, all separated by less than two minutes.
Tomorrow’s stage takes the riders 146 kilometres from Valencia to Borja with two categorised climbs along the way.
There’s an early category three climb that shouldn’t pose too much trouble for the favourites but the latter category two ramp looks dangerous.
That comes around 17 kilometres before the finish and should thin the peloton down somewhat.
Results
Vuelta A Espana, Stage 9, Torrevieja- Cumbre del Sol Benitachell, 168 kilometres
1. Tom DUMOULIN, TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN, in 4:09:55
2. Christopher FROOME, TEAM SKY, at :02
3. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, TEAM KATUSHA, at :05
4. Fabio ARU, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at :16
5. Rafal MAJKA, TINKOFF-SAXO, at :18
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6. Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :20
7. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, at :20
8. Nicolas ROCHE, TEAM SKY, at :31
9. Domenico POZZOVIVO, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at :33
10. Louis MEINTJES, MTN-QHUBEKA, at :34
Top 10, GC
1. Tom DUMOULIN, TEAM GIANT-ALPECIN, in 35:22:13
2. Joaquin RODRIGUEZ OLIVER, TEAM KATUSHA, at :57
3. Johan Esteban CHAVES RUBIO, ORICA-AIS, at :59
4. Nicolas ROCHE, TEAM SKY, at 1:07
5. Alejandro VALVERDE BELMONTE, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 1:09
6. Fabio ARU, ASTANA PRO TEAM, at 1:13
7. Nairo Alexander QUINTANA ROJAS, MOVISTAR TEAM, at 1:17
8. Christopher FROOME, TEAM SKY, at 1:18
9. Rafal MAJKA, TINKOFF-SAXO, at 1:47
10. Domenico POZZOVIVO, AG2R LA MONDIALE, at 1:52
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