Vuelta Skelter: Aru-de awakening for deflated Dumoulin

Just six seconds separated the two top riders going into the final mountain stage of the Vuelta with the scene set for an almighty battle between Tom Dumoulin and Fabio Aru.

And although nothing separated the two riders at the halfway point of the stage, by the time both had crossed the line in Cercedilla we were talking not seconds but minutes.

Which made all of the pre-stage hype – especially this use of the adverb ‘also’ – fairly redundant...

For the penultimate time this year, let’s take a look at the days ups and downs on this ever-intriguing 70th edition of the Vuelta a Espana...

GoPro-friendly cycling body Velon were certainly excited about the deciding stage north of Madrid as they trialled out a new idea for next season.

No microphone was needed when Aru barked his orders to Mikel Landa on the penultimate climb of the race as the duo pulled clear of Dumoulin. With Andre Zeits and Luis Leon Sanchez then bolstering their numbers after dropping back from the break, it was a true masterclass from the boys in blue.

There were hugs all round at the finish...

And Aru certainly did it with a little help from his friends.

And as he crossed the line, Aru’s punch ...

... reminded someone of a gimpy looking scientist in a lap coat.

In the red jersey during the stage, the Dutchman was severely put into the red by Astana on the third and fourth climbs of a tough penultimate stage.

The general consensus was that perhaps there had been a case of bonking chez Dumoulin Rouge...

One controversial former rider was quick to deliver his verdict on Desperate Dumoulin...

And even Dumoulin’s fellow Dutch rider Laurens ten Dam joined in the gentle trolling after his isolated compatriot struggled in the face of the superior Astana machine.

While Aru and Astana deserve the plaudits for their daring last-day coup, it was tough for many fans to see Dumoulin fall at the last hurdle after such a outstanding break-through race.

Even Dumoulin’s fellow pros were upset about how things panned out, with the Giant-Alpecin rider now only losing the red jersey but also dropping off the podium and out of the top five.

The general consensus was that a podium in Madrid devoid of Dumoulin would hardly be a fair representation of the absorbing race which he led on three separate occasions.

Still, despite the heartbreak and disappointment, this fellow offered his countryman the perfect piece of motivation for getting back into the groove next season.

It’s not often that a magnificent solo break of 114km becomes a mere subplot to proceedings so spare a thought for Spanish veteran Plaza, whose second Vuelta stage win came a whole decade after his first.

Plaza celebrated his second Grand Tour stage win of the season by tossing his gloves into the crowd – so spare a thought also for the poor fans who were on the receiving end of 500g of tepid, dripping, putrid polyester.

An honourable mention must go to the Portuguese livewire from Caja Rural, who has animated this Vuelta on numerous occasions and this time came within a minute of taking that elusive win for his Pro-Continental team.

The Polish climber also did his best to get onto the podium – attacking with Nairo Quintana and eventually coming up 12 seconds short of Joaquim Rodriguez.

Even so, rising to the podium was a good birthday present for the newly turned 26-year-old.

And how did he do it? Someone has an interesting theory...

The Frenchman may have finished the stage in lowly 76th place but he did win the race to become the first pro rider to reach the 15,000km mark this season.

Aru may have been beaming on the podium but cycling was the winner on Saturday – and to be more precise, the Vuelta, which delivered us the most exciting race of the season. Much more of a spectacle than this guys win in July...