Vuelta Skelter: Would the real Nelson Oliveira please stand up

It's all very well winning stages on the Vuelta in sunny Spain but can Nelson Oliveira bang them in on a blustery, cold, wet night in Blackpool?

Yes, it's a case of the Portuguese John Smiths for today's Vuelta Skelter - and if you're confused then don't try pursing the hashtag #NelsonOliveira or it will only send your bafflement into overdrive...

Nottingham Forest football fans would have been flummoxed to learn on Friday afternoon that their new signing Nelson Oliveira from Benfica was not kicking a ball in training but instead riding a bike better than anyone else in north-eastern Spain during the international break.

To make matters even more befuddling, there seems to be a musician called Nelson Oliveira too...

Anyway, as big as signing for one of the former greats of European football may be, it’s Nelson Oliveira Senior, the cyclist, who stole the show on Friday for Nelson Oliveiras the world over with his solo win from a 24-man break in stage 13 of the Vuelta.

Besides, joining Championship side Forest from Portuguese giants Benfica is surely not the equal to seizing a stage scalp on a Grand Tour, but perhaps the par of crashing and burning well down in the top 24?

The Spanish veteran sprinter probably never had a better chance of breaking his Grand Tour stage duck than on Friday where he was the stand-out fast-man in a break that looked destined to go the distance.

Of course, a look at Rojas’s results in Grand Tour stages seemed to heavily weigh against the veteran’s prospects of what would be a rare win.

And indeed the man with more 3s, 4s and 5s against his name than a London bus route to Peckham ended up with another 5 instead of an ever-elusive 1 or a 2.

There was a touch of a certain French old-school directeur sportif when Lampre-Merida’s Orlando Maini wound down his window and banged the side of his car in encouragement as Oliveira time trialled himself towards the finish.

With the Portuguese riding up the road, Lampre made the most of their numerical advantage in the break by sending their two other riders – Ruben Plaza and Valerio Conti – to the front on sandbagging duties.

The tactic paid off and even a rouleur of the calibre of Niki Terpstra was unable to close the gap while leading the chase. Most online experts were impressed...

Although others were far from elated...

To be fair, had the Lampre-Merida duo not done what they did then it would have been a far bigger scandal.

Victory for 26-year-old Oliveira kept an interesting trend running in this year’s race, which has smiled upon the neo-pros and young riders.

Some riders had a rather yo-yoing day. Take Belgian Keisse, for example, who was part of an early break alongside Sylvain Chavanel and Jimmy Engoulvent before being reeled in and then suffering a fall on a topsy-turvy afternoon.

You have to feel for anyone who finds himself back in the saddle so soon after looking this rough...

And poor Quintana – hampered by fever, a high temperature and stomach bug – was cashing cheques at the sufferbank once again on Friday’s 13th stage. Would he be heading the same way as the man who beat him in the Tour, Chris Froome?

The Colombian was dropped on the first climb of the day and needed nursing back by his team-mates – although he did eventually finish in the main pack.

Quintana was shunted out of the top ten after the two danger men in the breakaway made some serious GC inroads.

And finally, it was another tough day for Welshman Thomas, who was the last rider to cross the line in the main pack, prompting this observation from the affable Sky rider.