Vuelta a Espana: Quintana sails to first overall victory in Madrid

Magnus Cort Nielsen (Orica-BikeExchange) won the final stage of the Vuelta a España in a bunch sprint in Madrid while Nairo Quintana (Movistar) finished safely in the main peloton to seal overall victory ahead of Chris Froome (Sky) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange).

In keeping with tradition, the short final leg from Las Rozas to the finishing circuit in the city centre was largely a promenade, with Quintana and the protagonists of the general classification battle sharing flutes of champagne as they soft-pedalled towards the conclusion of this Vuelta.

The pace gradually ratcheted upwards as the race reached the streets of the capital and as shadows lengthened in Madrid, the final stage spluttered into life, with Quentin Jauregui (AG2R La Mondiale), Pete Kennaugh (Sky), Loic Chetout (Cofidis) and Koen Bouwman (LottoNL-Jumbo) providing the early entertainment by escaping with a little under nine laps of the 5.8km finishing circuit remaining.

The quarter built up a maximum lead of 1:20 over the peloton, but with Etixx-QuickStep, Orica-BikeExchange and Giant-Alpecin all eager to keep things under the control, there would be no escaping the ineluctable bunch finish.

Chetout and Lauregui were the last two survivors from the break, but they were swept up at the beginning of the final lap, as darkness fell over Madrid. Manuele Boaro (Tinkoff) produced a long, long turn on the front in support of his teammate Daniele Bennati, but it was Giant-Alpecin who led into the final kilometre.

Magnus Cort Nielsen was well-placed on the wheel of his teammate Jens Keukeleire and he bided his time when Bennati opened his sprint from distance. Inside the final 200 metres, however, the Dane duly produced a fine finishing effort to claim the stage honours. Bennati held on for second, while Gianni Meersman (Etixx-QuickStep) had to settle for third.

The win was Cort Nielsen's second of this Vuelta and the fourth for Orica-BikeExchange after the earlier triumphs of Keukeleire and Simon Yates. The team's principal target, meanwhile, was the general classification, and Chaves lived up to his billing by taking third place overall.

"It was a long lead out for Jens and I could feel his speed was dropping a little bit, but luckily there was a small gap and I was able to squeeze through. To get the win is fantastic," said Cort Nielsen. "The main goal for the team was the GC with Chaves and it can be tricky to combine going for stages with a target like that."

Quintana seals overall victory

Quintana wins the Vuelta by 1:23 from Froome, while Chaves takes the third spot overall, 4:08 back. Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) had to settle for fourth, 13 seconds behind Chaves, while Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) will look to 2017 with rightful optimism after his consistent three weeks of racing yielded fifth overall, one spot ahead of Simon Yates (Orica-BikeExchange).

The all-action Fabio Felline (Trek-Segafredo) sealed the points classification, while Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) carried the king of the mountains jersey to Madrid for the second successive year.

The night truly belonged to Quintana, of course, and just as in Trieste two years ago, there was a vociferous contingent of Colombian supporters on the Plaza de Cibeles – where Real Madrid's support traditionally gathers to celebrate victory – and all along the circuit. The red jersey was cheered raucously each time he came by, the usual impassive expression replaced by the broadest of smiles for much of the evening.

"This morning in my head I was already the winner but I knew I still had to cross the line in Madrid," Quintana said. "Until you do that, you can't say you're the winner.

Quintana's rapport with the Vuelta has not always been a felicitous one to this point, at least after the sparkling cameo he produced in support of Alejandro Valverde on his Grand Tour appearance back in 2012. In 2014, Quintana crashed out while leading the race overall, while he could only manage a listless fourth a year ago.

This time around, he was not to be denied. Victory at Lagos de Covadonga showcased Quintana's physical strength, the stage-long raid to Formigal highlighted his tactical acumen, and the repelling of Froome's onslaught on the Aitana demonstrated his resolve.

"It's spectacular, it's a dream come true. I've been fighting many times to win the Vuelta and finally we've done it," said Quintana, who added that he rated this victory more highly than his Giro triumph of two years ago due to the level of opposition that he faced.

"I've done many things in my career but this is the most important victory because of the rivals and the other riders who were here," Quintana said.

As the peloton ambled towards Madrid early in the stage, Quintana engaged in a lengthy conversation with Froome after they had shared a glass of champagne for the benefit of the cameras.

After failing to mount the anticipated challenge to Froome and Sky's hegemony at the Tour de France in July, this was a hugely important triumph for Quintana as he rebuilds his morale for 2017. His sprint past Froome atop the Aitana on Saturday evening had the feel of an early shot across the bows ahead of next year's Tour de France, even if Quintana downplayed the incident on Sunday evening.

"Obviously, we have a great deal of respect of each other," he said. "Froome is a great rival and we've never had a problem between us. We don't want the media creating any polemics."

Quintana confirmed that his 2017 campaign will be built around the month of July – "The Tour is a dream for me, I'd love to win it" – but given the night that was in it, he was all but compelled to pledge a return to the Vuelta next season. "Most probably," he smiled.

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