Vuelta Skelter: Smokin' Purito

On a day the big GC favourites finally took some time off Dutch time trial specialist Tom Dumoulin in the high mountains it was left to Joaquim Rodriguez to take the spoils – and not, as expected, Nairo Quintana and his majestic Movistar pace-setters.

So who was hot and who was not? Read on for our daily Vuelta swingometer…

There’s no denying that the man they call ‘Purito’ was on fire on Sunday’s decisive slog up the Alto de Sotres as the Spanish veteran climbed to within one second of the race summit.

Rodriguez’s third Grand Tour stage win of the season will certainly prove his most important if it becomes the foundations for his first ever Grand Tour stage win.

The Katusha climber seems well and truly at home in the Asturias mountains – to the extent that you get the impression he intentionally went as close as he could to Fabio Aru’s race lead without actually prising the red jersey from the Sicilian's shoulders.

Astana will now still have the responsibility to ride as race leaders over the seven climbs on Monday’s stage 16 while it will be Aru who will be conspicuous in the maillot rojo.

He retained his race lead – but only just.

Four days in red have taken their toll on Aru, who now looks less like this…

… and more like this…

In fact, the Italian was all over the place as he looked to follow the accelerations of Rodriguez on Sunday, prompting the usual questions about his pedalling aesthetics.

And if it’s not his actual cycling that’s got people’s goat then it’s Aru’s sartorial sense too.

Perhaps it’s a good thing, then, that we may not have to put up with the red-and-baby-blue combo for much longer.

For many fans the most impressive thing to take from stage 15 was actual proof – for the first time in 26 Grand Tours – of the existence of one of the peloton’s most feted but rarely seen entities: Haimar Zubeldia.

There were indeed laughs aplenty when the man renowned for his invisibility and anonymity instead appeared on our screens alongside the unlikely tag, ‘Cabeza de Carrera’ – or head of the race.

The 38-year-old Basque rider’s attempt to pick up a first major stage victory came undone with 2km remaining when he was caught by the chasing favourites.

But had Movistar not ridden such a fast tempo earlier in the stage, the nine-man break in which Zubeldia starred could well have gone the distance.

For, yes, it was ultimately a fairly miserable day for Movistar, who spent pretty much the entire stage leading the chase only to see their man Quintana fail to make the impression he had intended.

Such was Movistar’s active role in the pack, many thought that perhaps they already thought the red jersey was theirs…

But with Quintana still exactly three minutes behind the race summit, a wretched afternoon was best summed up in this tweet…

Indeed, that man Tom Dumoulin remains many people’s favourite for the red jersey. The Dutch youngster should be able to take time back from his other GC rivals in Wednesday’s time trial – and still only trails Aru by 1:25.

Poland’s Majka edged into a podium position with another solid ride for Tinkoff-Saxo – thanks to some superb work from his young team-mates Pawel Poljanski and Jesper Hansen.

Is it perhaps time we took Majka’s prospects seriously?

While he says he’s not afraid of anyone, surely the sight of a young Alexander Vinokourov over his shoulder would be enough to give him the jitters…