Fabio Aru finishes stage 19 just three seconds behind the race leader he still hopes to topple, Tom Dumoulin. But he got a push or handsling at a vital moment (Photo: Sirotti)
The battle for the Vuelta a Espana title is going down to the wire, with just six seconds separating race leader Tom Dumoulin (Giant Alpecin) and the man who still hopes to topple him Fabio Aru (Astana).
With a mountain stage to come tomorrow, Saturday, Dumoulin did his best today to add to the three second lead he had over Aru going into stage 19 from Medina del Campo to Avila.
And on a cobbled climb just before the finish, Dumoulin attacked after team mate Lawson Craddock had done a fantastic turn on the front of the group containing most of the big names.
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Dumoulin immediately put everybody under pressure, with Luis Leon Sanchez trying to keep team mate Aru in touch with the big man from Holland just inside 2km remaining.
However, at one point when the gap was opening, Sanchez gave Aru a push or handsling designed to aid the struggling Italian, see video below.
Race leader Dumoulin crosses the line after a great finishing burst, but Aru can just about be seen in the background just three seconds back.
The apparently illegal assistance came at a crucial point as Aru managed to hold the gap until the cobbled climb evened out and then limited his losses to just three seconds by the finish.
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However, had he found himself even a few further bike lengths behind Aru with still a few hundred metres of tough cobbled climbing remaining, that gap could easily have been bigger.
The matter was under investigation at the time of writing and Aru would face a time penalty if found guilty of taking assistance.
If Aru was to topple Dumoulin tomorrow and win the race, especially by just a few seconds, today's incident would be seen as highly controversial.
He had earlier crashed on the stage and after the finish, clearly sporting some cuts and bleeding, he stormed off and refused to speak to the media.
The stage was won by Alexis Gougeard (AG2R), with the 22-year-old eventually getting clear alone from the very large breakaway that once had a lead of 18 minutes on the peloton.
Thursday's stage winner Nicolas Roche of Team Sky came home 18:46 down in 67th place.
The Irishman was just 2:28 down on Dumoulin who finished 25th and best of those who did not make the early escape on the day.
Stage 19; suspected handsling at 4:05
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