Vuelta a Espana: Mathias Frank wins stage 17

Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling) claimed his first victory in two years with success from the breakaway on stage 17 of the Vuelta a Espana. Leopold König (Team Sky) had Frank in his sights but ran out of road to bring the Swiss rider back with Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) finishing third. The victory is IAM Cycling's second at this year's Vuelta a Espana after Jonas Van Genechten won on stage 7.

Frank, who had been part of a 28-man break that went up the road after more than 40 kilometres, jumped clear with Dario Caltaldo (Astana) on an unclassified climb as the breakaway began to fracture with some 30 kilometres remaining. The gap bounced up and down and was only 20 seconds when they made the left-hand turn onto the ascent to Mas de la Costa with the fear-inspiring words 'Hell starts here' written on the road.

With just over two kilometres to go, Frank pushed on again and dropped a flagging Cataldo. He grinded up the steep gradient that hit slopes of over 20 per cent that had many riders almost at a standstill. Gesink led the chase from the remaining escapees, joined by König, who later dropped him in the final metres. Frank's margin was slim on the line but it was enough to seal him his first win in two years and his first at a Grand Tour.

"I'm super happy" Frank said at the finish. "I've had a rough season, not much was worked as I wanted – I had to abandon the Tour de Suisse and the Tour de France. So I came here and I told myself I want to have fun, get a good feeling back. To finally have a victory after more than two years, winning a Grand Tour stage, it's just amazing."

In the peloton, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) lit up the fight for the general classification with a stinging attack. Race leader Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was swiftly on his tail, along with Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange). Chris Froome (Team Sky) was initially distanced by Contador's move but caught up with the three-man group in sight of the line. The quartet crossed the line together to keep the status quo in the overall standings.

Watch the Vuelta a Espana stage 17 highlights video

How it happened

After a much-needed rest day, the Vuelta a Espana resumed in Castellón with a 177.5km ride to a leg-sappingly steep ascent to Llucena. Camins de Penyagolosa. A tough mountain stage like this immediately after a rest day had the potential to catch some of the general classification favourites off guard.

The competition for the breakaway was as hot as the weather and it took almost 50 kilometres before a breakaway finally formed. Among the riders out front were two from Team Sky - Leopold König and Michal Golas - two from Movistar – Jose Herrada and Imanol Erviti – and two from Orica-BikeExchange in Simon Gerrans and Magnus Cort. Tinkoff and Astana both had a single representative in Michael Gogl and Dario Cataldo respectively. Stage 14 winner Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo) also made the juncture with his teammate Bram Tankink.

In fact, there were only three teams that missed the breakaway and when Maxime Bouet (Etix-QuickStep) made it across after a long chase it left only Cannondale and Giant-Alpecin the only teams without a man up front.

With so many teams represented in the break, Movistar still had to manage the peloton despite having two riders up the road. Rory Sutherland has been putting in a big effort for the team in the early part of each stage and he continued his effort today, taking them over the first two climbs of the day.

A stage of two races

The break was allowed almost eight minutes on the peloton until BMC decided that they wanted more from the stage and began to chase with a little over 50 kilometres to the finish.

For most of the day, the 28 escapees worked well together but as the final ascent loomed they began to attack each other. Following a few moves, Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling) and Cataldo went clear on an unclassified climb inside the final 30 kilometres. Both LottoNL-Jumbo and Team Sky mounted the chase in the group they left behind let the pair little more than 30 seconds leeway.

While BMC's initial injection in pace did some damage, they were not able to make any serious inroad into the break's lead – thanks in part to the Cataldo-Frank attack. Orica-BikeExchange stepped forward inside the final 10 kilometres with the gap still standing at over five minutes. Victory for one of the escapees looked certain but the Australian team was keen to ensure their leaders had the best possible start to the final ascent.

As Cataldo and Frank hit the ascent to Mas de la Costa, they still held 20 seconds on the chasers as Gesink took up the pace behind. There were several attempts from the chasing group to track down the two riders up the road but they would only briefly make a dent before the advantage would leak out once again.

Cataldo found himself distanced as Frank forged clear on some of the steepest gradients in the final three kilometres. With just over a kilometre to the line, Frank had 15 seconds on his chaser as Gesink and Konig began to close in on Cataldo. Gesink and Konig passed the Italian under the flamme rouge and continued on in chase of Frank but they still had 18 seconds to make up. The gap proved just enough for Frank, who crossed the line with six seconds to spare.

Further back down the road, Contador was the first of the general classification riders to strike out on the twisting climb. Quintana was quick to follow the Spaniard but Froome was slower to react. Contador made repeated attacks, taking Quintana with him on each occasion but he was never able to hold the advantage and the top four in the general classification rolled across together.

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