Vuelta a Espana: Chris Froome wins stage 9

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Chris Froome (Team Sky) put his stamp on the Vuelta a Espana, winning stage 9 to take his first Grand Tour stage of the year. The race leader was able to pull away from his rivals on the final climb up the Puig Llorença and win by four seconds ahead of Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott), with Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) one second further back.

In the overall Froome again built up his overall lead to 36 seconds ahead of Chaves in second. Woods moved up to eighth, changing places with Adam Yates (Orica-Scott), who dropped to ninth.

It was a show of strength by Froome, who took off within the steep final kilometre. His rivals were slow to respond and then couldn't match his power. Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) had tried to keep up but once again had to fall back. In the end only Chaves and Woods could come close but they had no answer when Froome kicked for the line.

"I put everything I had into that last couple of hundred metres. I was determined that they weren't going to catch me. I'm really, really happy to get the victory. The team did a brilliant job on that final climb and set such a good tempo," Froome said.

Up until the final climb, the stage was marked by a long breakaway and an active Cannondale-Drapac. The break group of 10 got away in the first 20km and stayed away until the final climb. Cannondale-Drapac, looking desperately for a 2018 sponsor, put on a show of pride, leading the peloton much of the time until the final climb.

How it unfolded

The stage took off from Oriheula on its way up the coastline. The usual skirmishes for a break were carried out before the day's group finally established itself before the first 20km.

Markel Irizar (Trek-Segafredo), Marc Soler (Movistar), Marco Haller (Katusha-Alpecin), Bert-Jan Lindeman (LottoNL-Jumbo), Tobias Ludvigsson (FDJ), Anthony Turgis (Cofidis), Lluis Mas and Diego Rubio (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Conor Dunne (Aqua Blue Sport) and Ricardo Vilela (Manzana Postobon) broke clear. Cannondale-Drapac, fighting for a new sponsor and for their continued existence, were at the head of the field and kept the gap at around the three minute mark.

The first 130 kilometers of the stage were more or less flat, but a final closing circuit took the field once over the Alto de Puig Llorença before returning to it for a summit finish. The long flat course was ideal for a break, and offered a good chance to stay away until the end, but the peloton was also aware of this and held the group on a short line.

The day was a major show of pride by Cannondale-Drapac. The whole team lined out at the head of the peloton leading the chase, never asking for help. They ground the gap down to just over two minutes at the 53km marker.

The break group split on the first climb up the Llorença, with Ludvigsson, Mas and Vilela building up a lead, later being joined by Soler. Less than two minutes behind them, Cannondale ceded the lead work to Sky, with Trek-Segafredo also busy bringing Alberto Contador up to the front.

Soler and Ludvigsson then moved away and took off. Soler was first over the climb ahead of Ludvigsson, with the field only 1:45 back.

Attacks soon started after the climb, with Romain Bardet (AG2R) going solo. Cannondale moved back up to the front and helped bring the Frenchman back.

The leading duo worked well together on the long descent before the course circled back to send them back up the Llorença one more time. The gap descended as well, and with 18km to go it was down to a mere 30 seconds.

Trek-Segafredo also moved up to the front of the field, joining Cannondale and Sky. Ludvigsson won the intermediate sprint ahead of Soler, with Koen de Kort (Trek-Segafredo) jumping briefly from the peloton for third.

Ludvigsson and Soler took 37 seconds with them as they went into the finale. Cannondale finally disappeared from the front, as Sky, Trek-Segafredo, Orica-Scott, Bahrain Merida and Sunweb all grouped at the head of the field.

With 6km to go, Soler pulled away, while Ludvigsson sat up and waited for the field. Soler soon gave in to his fate and was back in the peloton as well. Sky set a blistering pace and lined the bunch out along the climb.

The final climb was only four kilometers long, but with an average gradient of 9.1 per cent and a maximum of 21 per cent was anything but easy.

Riders dropped off the back as Romain Bardet (AG2R), Richard Carapaz (Movistar) and Enric Mas (QuickStep Floors) pulled away. Carapaz soon jumped, with Bardet catching him again, but with the field only seconds behind.

Bardet tried to go up on his own, slowly pulling away but the field gobbled him up again on a flatter section. Froome was on second wheel going into the final kilometre, with Contador right behind him.

QuickStep was the first to attack but Froome, Contador and Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac) followed. Then Froome went and at first no one was able to follow. Chaves and Woods pulled away and gave chase. Chaves caught the race leader but Froome once again pulled away and he took his first Grand Tour stage win of 2017.

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