Quintana still wary of 'very close' Froome

Quintana attacked on the final climb of the 188.7km route from Lugones to Lagos de Covadonga, reeling in Dutchman Robert Gesink to take the stage by 24 seconds, with Briton Froome crossing the line in third, one second behind the Lotto NL-Jumbo rider.

Froome is back up to third in the overall standings, but now 58s behind Quintana, with his Movistar teammate Alejandro Valverde splitting the pair, just one second ahead of the Team Sky man.

Quintana looked to have the beating of Froome on a day where the Tour de France champion struggled early on the long final climb, but rode a steady tempo to limit his losses.

And with a 37km time trial still to come on stage 19, from Xabia to Calp, Quintana admitted he would like a three minute lead over Froome before the race against the clock, to feel confident of carrying the jersey to Madrid.

"Froome continues to be very close given what is to come," said the diminutive 26-year-old.

"We have to look to continue what we have done until now to distance ourselves from him because if he stays at this time [behind] he is still the favourite."

Tuesday sees the first rest day of the race, before the riders return to the road on Wednesday for the 168.6km stage 11, from the Colunga Jurassic Museum, to Pena Cabarga.

The stage will offer another opportunity for attacking in the closing stages, as the first 160km are flat until the riders tackle the first category climb to Pena Cabarga in the closing nine kilometres.

Sportsbeat 2016