Vuelta a España: Quintana crashes out of race lead in time trial

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Tony Martin (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) cruised to victory in the Vuelta a Espana time trial on stage 10 to Borja but there was a major shake up in the fight for the overall with Nairo Quintana (Movistar) crashing on a descent and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff Saxo) moving into the race lead.

Quintana started the time trial three seconds ahead of Contador in the overall standings and although he would have expected to lose his lead no one would have predicted such a dramatic result. The Giro d’Italia winner hit the deck soon after the first time check on a fast downhill curve. It briefly seemed a sudden abandonment would follow but the Colombian picked himself up to finish over three minutes a down, a result that saw him drop out of the top ten overall with his overall hopes of winning taking a major hit.

As for Contador, he now leads the race, 27 seconds ahead of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar). Contador finished fourth on the stage, 39 seconds down on Martin with only Rgoberto Uran (Omega Pharma-QuickStep) and Fabian Cancellara (Trek Factory Racing) ahead of him. Uran’s strong ride was enough to help him move into third overall at 59 seconds.

The remaining overall contenders lost time to the new race leader with Chris Froome (Team Sky) conceding over half a minute to Contador. The British now rider sits fifth overall, 1:18 behind Contador, with Joaquim Rodriguez 19 seconds further back. The Katusha rider limited his losses and remains in the hunt for the red jersey but after 10 days of racing the Vuelta’s GC is beginning to take a more defined shape. At the start of the stage the top six riders were separated by a mere 30 seconds. After 36.7 kilometres against the clock those number of riders are bracketed by 1:37.

A tricky time trial

After nine days of probing and prodding, as the GC contenders felt their way into the Vuelta, stage 10 with his technically demanding 36.7 kilometre test was always going to provide a key marker in the battle for the red jersey. The summit finishes at Cumbres Verdes and Aramón Valdelinares had offered glimpses of form and finesse but against the clock there would be no hiding place.

As expected Tony Martin came home with the winning time, although he margin of victory was far from secure until the finish line with Alberto Contador and Rigoberto Uran fastest at the first and second time checks.

The course, which weaved through tricky back streets before climbing up to the first time check saw Contador burst into life. The Spaniard whipped through the early sectors and at the top of the climb at 11km had a eight second lead over second placed Valverde. Samuel Sanchez rode well to hold third, with Uran and Quintana rounding out the top five.

Froome and Rodriguez were almost half a minute down but with the flat sections in the second half still to come the Sky rider was expected to give a better account of himself before the finish.

While Froome was on the defensive almost from the start, the situation was entirely worse for Quintana. He looked sluggish from the start but recovered a handful of second on the climb to suggest that he could remain in contention on the flatter section. However on a descent he lost his line, his back wheel and some skin with a crash that saw him remain on the ground for roughly a minute.

It looked as though he would be forced to leave the race as he delicately checked out his shoulders but after help from is team he remounted. The damage was done, and by the time he crawled through the second time check at 30 kilometres he was three minutes off the pace.

His countryman, Rigoberto Uran, was having no such problems. He had already demonstrated his time trial improvement at the Giro d'Italia in May but this was arguably more impressive as he cut across the plains to lead the stage. Even his teammate and world time trial champion, Tony Martin, was pushed into second at the intermediate check.

Contador’s rhythm still looked impressive but he too was conceding time to Uran – eight seconds – with only Rodriguez, Sanchez, and Valverde, the GC riders capable of holding the new race leader at a minute.

At the finish Martin was able to slip ahead of Cancellara and Uran to take the stage with Contador holding out for fourth, at 39 seconds. Samuel Sanchez, who has flown under the radar so far, claimed fifth, ahead of teammate Cadel Evans, who put in one of his best rides this year. Valverde finished strongly in eighth with Froome rounding out the top ten.

As for Quintana, he lost 4:07 by the time he crossed the line and now sits 11th at 3:25. His overall ambitions are not over: it was only back in May when he was heralded as the best climber in the world, but recovery and Valverde’s ambitions will be instrumental to his progress in the coming days.

Uran wasn’t the only Colombian to impress. Winner Anacona finished ahead of Joaquim Rodriguez, Robert Gesink Fabio Aru and Dan Martin. The Lampre rider sits in fourth overall.

The overall battle will continue on Wednesday with the 11th stage to the mountain finish of Santuario de San Miguel de Aralar after 9.9km of climbing at 7.5%.

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