Team Sky’s Chris Froome extended his overall lead at the 2017 Vuelta a Espana to 1 minute 19 seconds after a second place finish on Stage 11.
The punishing climb to the summit finish at Calar Alto saw many of Froome’s rivals lose time, with Bahrain-Merida’s Vincenzo Nibali moving into second place overall after a third place finish on the stage. Orica-Scott’s Esteban Chaves is now in third place overall, 2:33 back on Froome.
Froome put in a battling performance on the final climb to rein in Nibali after the Italian had attacked in sight of the finish.
Froome, who is attempting to become only the third person ever to complete a Tour de France/Vuelta a Espana ‘double’, said after the stage:
“I’m very happy with the outcome today.
“It was a day when some of my rivals lost time on the General Classification, so to finish 2nd, I couldn’t ask for much more than that, other than stage victory, but when (Miguel Angel) Lopez went he was extremely strong.
“I figured for me the most important thing was to follow Vincenzo Nibali and stay with the favourites. I concentrated on staying with him seeing that (Esteban) Chaves was already dropped and Alberto (Contador) was on the limit”.
Stage 11 Brief Results:
- Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia / Astana Pro Team) 5:05:09″
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) +14″
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain-Merida)
- Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Team Sunweb)
- Romain Bardet (France / AG2R La Mondiale) +31″
- Alberto Contador (Spain / Trek-Segafredo)
- Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha-Alpecin)
- Mikel Nieve (Spain / Team Sky)
- Darwin Atapuma (Colombia / UAE Team Emirates) +1:02″
- David De La Cruz (Spain / Quick-Step Floors) +1:14″
General Classification After Stage 11:
- Chris Froome (Britain / Team Sky) 45:18:01″
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Bahrain-Merida) +1:19″
- Esteban Chaves (Colombia / Orica-Scott) +2:33″
- David De La Cruz (Spain / Quick-Step Floors) +2:36″
- Wilco Kelderman (Netherlands / Team Sunweb) +2:37″
- Ilnur Zakarin (Russia / Katusha-Alpecin) +2:38″
- Fabio Aru (Italy / Astana Pro Team) +2:57″
- Michael Woods (Canada / Cannondale-Drapac) +3:01″
- Alberto Contador (Spain / Trek-Segafredo) +3:55″
- Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia / Astana Pro Team) +4:11″
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