Vuelta a Espana: Froome struggles on Los Machucos

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Chris Froome (Team Sky) was forced onto the defensive on the steep slopes of the Alto de los Machucos on stage 17 of the Vuelta a España as he struggled to handle the double-digit gradient of the narrow cow track and was dropped by all his overall rivals.

Austria's Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport) won the stage with a brave solo move from the break of the day to take an historic stage win for the Irish Professional Continental team on their Grand Tour debut.

Riders were forced to use tiny gears on the 20% sections of road, with 34 or 36 tooth front chain rings and rear cogs of 30 or even 32 teeth. The rutted concrete track and tight hairpins meant they needed every tooth.

Denifl suffered but eventually enjoyed his moment up front as the race exploded behind him. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) attacked from the peloton on the lower slopes of the Alto de los Machucos to try to win the stage but he came up short, finishing 28 seconds down on Denifl. Behind him Froome soon showed signs he was suffering and was unable to stay with his rivals.

At the finish Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) beat Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain-Merida), Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) and Rafa Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) for third place, 1:04 seconds down on Denifl.

Froome struggled to stay with teammate Mikel Nieve in the final two kilometres and finished 14th on the stage at 1:46. He lost 42 seconds to Nibali and Zakarin and a little less to Kelderman and others. His lead on the Sicilian is down to 1:16, with Kelderman at 2:13 and Zakarin at 2:25. Contador remains fifth but closed the gap to 3:34. Other riders also gained time on Froome.

Canada's Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) finished a strong seventh on the stage and bounced back from tenth to seventh overall. He is now 6:33 down on Froome.

Froome had seemed in total control after winning the Logroño time trial on Tuesday, but suddenly the Vuelta a Espana is wide open yet again.

"I think we always knew today was going to be a really tough final, and it definitely was, especially with the weather conditions as well. But there are three days of racing left and the team is still in great position. I'm feeling good and looking forward to the next few days," Froome said defiantly.

"This was a typical Vuelta summit finish. It's just the nature of the race. It's the same for everyone of course. I don't think anyone really enjoys gradients over 25 per cent, but that's just how it is, and it's the same for all of us. It's never nice to lose time, but I still feel good, and three more days, I'm confident we can get the job done."

Denifl could hardly believe he had won the toughest mountain finish of the 2017 Vuelta a Espana. He dedicated his success to his partner and son.

"This is for my girlfriend and little boy. I think they're watching at home. I can't believe it; I had super, super legs today. I was waiting the whole Vuelta for this day. I paced myself the whole Vuelta, and today I went all in. It's just amazing. For me team, Aqua Blue we're at our first Grand Tour here, and winning a stage …I'm over the moon. Thanks. Thanks."

Denifl spent all day in the break but never doubted his chances.

"You always have to believe to win, and when I felt my legs I was like, 'Oh my God. These legs are super good.' And I just kept on pushing. The climb was perfect for me with some flats parts in between for recovery. Now I won a stage in the Vuelta. It's the best day in my cycling life."

How it unfolded

The riders enjoyed the warm conditions at the start in Villadiego, perhaps knowing that the clouds were low and roads wet on the climb to the finish on Los Machucos.

The early break formed after just a few kilometres, with Alessandro De Marchi (BMC), Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue) and Dani Moreno (Movistar) jumping away in search of adventure. They were soon joined by Magnus Cort (Orica-Scott) and Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) and Julian Alaphilippe (Quick-Step Floors) set off in pursuit.

With the opening 100km on relatively flat roads, the six came together after 30km and worked on carving out as much of a lead as possible. Ian Stannard led the chase for Team Sky and Froome. However, it rose to a maximum of 9:15 until Astana also joined in with the work with 110km to go.

Soon after, as the road rose on the category 2 Portillo de Lunada, the gap was down to 5:40, with several teams clearly targeting stage victory. Villella took maximum points to defend his climber's jersey as the race disappeared into the mist and low clouds and was then dropped from the move in the tricky conditions.

Nibali tried a move on the descent in the clouds but Team Sky and the rest were soon on his case and the speed stayed high. Only Rafal Majka (Bora-Hansgrohe) was caught out and several teammates had to drop back to drag him back up.

Bahrain-Merida held the reins of the peloton, bringing the gap down to 2:36 on the approach to category 1 Puerto de Alisas, with 30km to go. The riders faced a stiff climb to the summit, a nasty descent and then the final wall up Alto de los Machucos.

With 23 kilometres remaining to race and six kilometres from the top of Puertos de Alisas, Adam Yates and Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) attacked together from the main peloton in a clearly planned move. They were joined by others but Team Sky took over the pace-making in the red jersey group and kept them under control.

Up front Stefan Denifl lead the remains of the early break over the climb Puertos de Alisas as the fear and tension rose before the steep final climb of the stage. The break and the peloton took the descent carefully.

Moreno was the biggest overall threat from the break but as the Alto de los Machucos begin after the early kilometres and the first super steep section, it was Denifl who emerged at the front and began to dream about winning the stage. He was on the ride of his life.

Contador lunched is pursuit with six kilometres to go, quickly opening a gap and passing Lopez who had the same idea. The increase in speed exposed Froome's problems, and the support of five Team Sky riders could not help him on the steep climb to the finish. Nibali, Zakarin, Kelderman and the others soon tried to distance him and gain as much as they could without blowing themselves. 

Ahead Contador paced his effort on the steep and easier sections as he closed the gap on Denifl. The Spanish fans cheered him on and he gritted his teeth as he caught and dropped the remains of the break. Only Denifl remained out front with two kilometres to go. The gap was down to 23 seconds with a kilometre to go but unfortunately for Contador and fortunately for Denifl, it was mostly downhill.

Denifl managed to stay away and take his historic win for Aqua Blue Sport, while Contador had to accept another placing. Froome fought to limit his losses and rightly thanked Nieve. Without him and his Team Sky teammates he could have lost much more time.

Now he must limit his losses on Saturday's mountain finish to the Angliru but his rivals know he is beatable.

Thursday's 169km stage 18 from Suances to Santo Toribio de Liébana ends with short but steep climb to the line and three other climbs in the final 50km. It will be another big test for Froome.

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