Froome smashes stage 19 time trial to slash Quintana deficit by over two minutes

Entering the all-important 37km race against the clock in the province of Alicante three minutes and 37 seconds down on the red jersey of Quintana, Team Sky's Froome cut the gap to 1:21 after notching his second win of the race.

Froome completed the fast, windy and technical course on the Mediterranean coast in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it time of 46:33 to secure a convincing win by 44 seconds over Quintana's Movistar team-mate Jonathan Castroviejo of Spain.

Fast out of the traps, Froome was 28 seconds up on the Spaniard at the first check after 12.5km and 39 seconds ahead at the second check after 24km before holding his nerve on the tricky approach to Calpe.

Sweden's Tobias Ludvigsson (Giant-Alpecin) took third place a further 40 seconds back and ahead of Belgian duo Yves Lampaert (Etixx-QuickStep) and Victor Campenaerts (LottoNL-Jumbo).

Quintana’s otherwise solid time of 48:49 was enough to take eleventh place on the day – but has reopened the door to Froome ahead of Friday’s penultimate stage.

With stage 20 featuring four second-category climbs ahead of the mammoth summit finish on the Alto de Aitana, the scene is set for a huge battle between rivals Quintana and Froome – the two stand-out riders of the 71st edition of the Vuelta.

“I’m really happy with the result today, especially at this part of the season – my last race of the year,” said Froome, winner of the time trial bronze medal at the Rio Olympics.

“There’s still a really tough mountain stage tomorrow and Quintana still has more than a minute. But we’re going to give it our best shot. Quintana with Movistar has a really good team around him and it’s going to be a big challenge.”

Spaniard Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) posted the eighth best time, 1:57 down on Froome, to move into the final podium position at the expense of Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). Contador now trails Quintana – with whom he turned the race on its head last Sunday in what has been since dubbed the ‘Ambush of Formigal’ – by 3:43.

Chaves, the ever-smiling but slight Colombian, struggled in the blustery winds and was passed by Froome before the half-way point en route to finishing over three minutes back. Leading Contador by five seconds going into stage 19, Chaves is now more than a minute behind the Spaniard and 4:54 down on Quintana.

A frustrating day for Orica-BikeExchange also saw British youngster Simon Yates drop out of the top five after losing time to the American Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac). Talansky took seventh place behind Froome’s team-mate Leopold Konig to finish 1:51 quicker than stage six winner Yates, now sixth on GC.

Meanwhile, Spanish veteran Samuel Sanchez (BMC) crashed heavily near the finish to plummet from sixth to twelfth on GC. Sanchez came home wincing in pain, covered in cuts and soil while nursing what appeared to be an injury to his right shoulder.

Saturday’s decisive summit showdown is a constantly up-and-down affair that boasts over 4,000 metres of climbing over 193km. Froome, the triple Tour de France champion who has twice previously finished runner-up on the Vuelta, will be kicking himself for having conceded so much time to Quintana in last Sunday’s stage 14.

Trailing his rival by just 54 seconds going into the short 118km stage, Froome was isolated from his Sky team-mates and distanced by a group containing both Quintana and Contador just kilometres into what ultimately proved to be the race’s pivotal moment.

Besides the battle for red Saturday’s penultimate stage should also see Frenchman Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) and Spaniard Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) resume their battle for the blue polka dot jersey. Fraile, winner of the mountains classification last year, trails Elissonde by just three points ahead of a stage which has 40 points up for grabs.

The Vuelta concludes on Sunday with the final 103km stage into Madrid.