Quintana wins Vuelta a Espana, Nielsen takes final stage in Madrid

Decked out entirely in red and riding a custom-painted red Canyon bike, Quintana punched the air and raised his arms aloft as he crossed the line on the iconic Plaza de Cibeles to secure the first Vuelta victory of his career in front of thousands of celebrating Colombian fans in the Spanish capital.

Quintana, 26, beat Britain’s Chris Froome – the triple Tour de France champion from Team Sky – by one minute and 23 seconds after a fiercely contested three-week battle between the two best Grand Tour riders of their generation.

A second Colombian, Esteban Chaves of Orica-BikeExchange, finished third at 4:08 after edging ahead of Spanish veteran Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) on the penultimate day of the race with a trademark daring attack.

But it was Chaves’ Bike-Exchange team-mate Nielsen who stole the limelight as the sun set over Madrid on Sunday – the 23-year-old Vuelta debutant adding a second stage win to his name after a tight bunch sprint at the conclusion of the 104km final stage from Las Rozas.

Danish youngster Nielsen latched onto a superb lead-out by his Orica team-mate Jens Keulekeire – the stage 12 winner – before powering past Italian veteran Daniele Bennati (Tinkoff) and Belgian Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep). Italy’s Kristian Sbaragli (Dimension Data) and Germany’s Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) completed the top five.

Two months after finishing a disappointing third in the Tour de France, Quintana became the second Colombian – after Lucho Herrera in 1987 – to win the Vuelta.

Quintana’s victory was his second in one of cycling’s major three-week stage races following his triumph in the 2014 Giro d’Italia. With compatriot Chaves joining him on the podium, it marked the second time in two years that two Colombians have finished on the podium of a Grand Tour – after Quintana beat Rigoberto Uran to the maglia rosa in 2014.

“It’s spectacular – a dream come true,” Quintana told Eurosport before dedicating the win to his Movistar team, and in particular absent Spaniard Jose Joaquin Rojas, who fractured his ankle in a fall on Saturday’s penultimate stage.

“I’ve been trying so hard to win this Vuelta. This morning in my head I was a winner but I knew I still needed to cross the line.

“It’s so emotional. It’s a different kind of victory and feeling [from winning the 2014 Giro]. We trained for it, we planned it, and we delivered it. There were various strategies with the team and it means more than the Giro. It is my most important victory because of the other rivals present.”

The Colombian’s triumph marked the first time Quintana has beaten his rival Froome in a Grand Tour in three attempts – having finished runner-up to Froome in the Briton’s first two Tour de France wins, and third last July when Froome secured a famous hat-trick in Paris.

Froome – now a three-time runner-up of the Vuelta after missing out in 2011 and 2014 – said he had no regrets after a busy season saw him win the Tour, take bronze in the Olympic time trial and compete in the Olympic road race – all ahead of a vintage 71st edition of the Vuelta.

“It’s been a tough race – especially off the back of the Tour de France and Rio,” said Froome. “Of course, I’m happy to have done the Vuelta. But, of course, I would be happier on the top step of the podium.

“I fought all the way to the end but this time Nairo got the better of me. It’s too early to talk about next year. But suddenly we have a good rivalry between us. I’ve got nothing but respect for him.”

After the habitual horseplay of the processional introduction to the final stage – including photo shoots involving raised glasses of champagne for Quintana and his Movistar team-mates – stage 21 came to life with 10 laps of a technical city centre circuit in Madrid.

A break of four riders – Frenchmen Quentin Jauregui (Ag2R-La Mondiale) and Loic Chetout (Cofidis), Manxman Peter Kennaugh (Sky) and Dutch youngster Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo) – formed off the front of the peloton to build up a maximum lead of just over a minute.

Last to join, Bouwman was first to sit up with two laps and 12km remaining. Kennaugh – the first rider to don the red jersey after Sky’s opening day victory in the team time trial – was dropped ahead of the bell before the remaining French duo eventually succumbed to the inevitable.

Despite the heavy presence of double stage winner Meersman’s Etixx-QuickStep team and the Giant-Alpecin army of Arndt, it was Orica-BikeExchange who had the final say in the race – delivering their man Nielsen to a second win, and a fourth in total for the team on top of victories for Keukeleire and Simon Yates.

“It’s unbelievable – I don’t know what to say,” said Nielsen. “It’s my first Grand Tour. It was crazy to get one win but two is absolutely fantastic.”

Chaves' place on the GC podium was the icing on the cake for Orica-BikeExchange, who also saw Yates finish sixth. Chaves moved 13 seconds clear of Contador on the penultimate day, with the veteran Spaniard forced to settle for fourth place – 4:21 down on Quintana. American Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) took the final place in the top five.

The green jersey points classification was won by Italian Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo), the white combined jersey by Quintana and the team classification by BMC.

The king of the mountains competition was won for a second successive year by Spaniard Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) who overturned a three-point deficit on the penultimate stage of the race to move two points clear and wrest the polka dot jersey from the shoulders of Frenchman Kenny Elissonde (FDJ).

Sunday’s final stage also saw Australian veteran Adam Hansen (Lotto Soudal) complete his sixteenth consecutive Grand Tour – a record unlikely to be broken for many a year to come.