Gesink wins on the Col d'Aubisque as Froome matches Quintana

Five days after Gesink was denied a maiden Grand Tour victory by Quintana at Lagos de Covadonga, the 30-year-old LottoNL-Jumbo rider opened up his account with a last gasp win ahead of Frenchman Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) and the Russian Egor Silin (Katusha) on one of the most mythical climbs in the sport’s history.

As expected, the battle for the red jersey exploded on the Aubisque – the fourth and final climb in a 196km stage that took place entirely in France – as Colombian climber Quintana (Movistar) put in a succession of stinging attacks which were all matched by Team Sky’s Froome, the battling triple Tour de France winner.

But the coup of the day was delivered by the Orica-BikeExchange team who used three men in the day's main break as a bridge for British youngster Simon Yates, who attacked the main pack on the penultimate climb – the Col de Marie-Blanque – en route to finishing fifth on the stage and rising to fourth place in the general classification.

The fairytale did not end there for the Australian team: an attack in the closing 5km from Estaban Chaves saw the Colombian take ninth place on the stage and rise into third in the overall standings at the expense of Spanish veteran Alejandro Valverde of Movistar.

Dropped early on the Aubisque, Valverde plummeted out of the top ten and now sits in 19th place after finishing more than eight minutes down on the big race favourites.

It was a tough day, too, for another Spanish veteran as Alberto Contador – despite one trademark attack with 3km remaining – also dropped out of the top five at the expense of Team Sky’s Leopold Konig. The Tinkoff rider rallied to limit his losses to just 20 seconds on Quintana and Froome – but Konig’s tenth place on the stage saw the Czech rider move exactly one minute ahead of the triple Vuelta champion on GC.

Quintana’s lead over Froome remains 54 seconds ahead of Sunday’s short but sharp 118km stage in the Spanish Pyrenees, with Chaves 2:01 down on the summit and 16 seconds ahead of team-mate Yates.

Contador’s chances of making it four Vuelta victories in four attempts look increasingly forlorn with the Spaniard now 3:28 down on Quintana – while Valverde’s implosion on the Aubisque sees the veteran now more than 10 minutes in arrears.

The shuffling of the top ten should not detract from Gesink’s triumph, however. Part of a 40-man break that formed after a nervous opening to the stage as the race left Spain for France, Gesink was ably supported by LottoNL-Jumbo team-mates George Bennett and Victor Campenaerts as the advantage crept above the six-minute mark.

When six riders managed to edge ahead of the other escapees on the descent of the Marie-Blanque it was not Gesink but Bennett who rode clear with Jan Bakelants (Ag2R-La Mondiale), Julien Bernard (Trek-Segafredo), Bart de Clercq (Lotto Soudal), Elissonde and Silin.

Gesink led the chase in a group which splintered on the Aubisque, the Dutchman bridging over to team-mate Bennett, Silin, Bakelants and Elissonde with 9km remaining before putting in his own attack two kilometres later.

Belgian breakaway specialist Bakelents joined Gesink before being tailed off once the pint-sized Elissonde rode back into contention. The leading duo were joined by Silin underneath the flamme rouge before Gesink put in a lengthy unseated surge to destroy his opponents in the final two-hundred metres.

Second-place Elissonde took consolation by securing the polka dot jersey after moving above Spain’s Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) in the KOM standings. Fraile, the defending champion, had taken maximum points over the first two climbs of the day – the Col Inharpu and Col du Soudet – before being dropped by the break at the start of the Marie-Blanque, which Elissonde crested in pole position.

Elissonde leads the mountains standings on 49 points with Fraile on 40 points and Gesink up to 30 points following his strong showing on both the Aubisque and the stage 10 finale at Lagos de Covadonga, where he pipped Froome for second place behind Quintana.

Victory on the Aubisque marked the first in 12 Grand Tours for a rider who was once touted to be a serious contender in cycling’s major three-week races – a rider who has twice finished sixth in both the Tour and the Vuelta.

Behind, it was all action as Yates powered his way up the Aubisque, using team-mates Magnus Cort, Simon Gerrans and Jens Keukeleire as a springboard before picking off escapees one by one en route to finishing 39 seconds down in fifth place.

Opportune attacks on the Aubisque – while the big GC favourites were marking themselves out – saw Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapax), Chaves and Konig all finish in the top ten before Frenchman Pierre Rolland (Cannondale-Drapac) was the last of the remaining escapees to cross the line ahead of the red jersey and his rival in white.

Quintana and Froome – in red and white – took 12th and 13th place 1:47 down to confirm their status as the two stand-out favourites in the 71st edition of the race. But Orica-BikeExchange’s strong tactics – and the lurking presence of both Chaves and Yates breathing down their necks – will be food for thought.

The Vuelta continues on Sunday with the 118.5km stage 15 from Sabinanigo to Formigal, which includes three testing climbs over its relatively short parcours.