NAIRO Quintana regained the red jersey at the Vuelta a Espana as a dramatic stage-10 victory saw him open up a 58-second lead on Great Britain’s Chris Froome.
Colombian Quintana (Movistar) showed his renowned climbing skills on the 188.7km haul from Lugones to Lagos de Covadonga to pass long-time stage leader Robert Gesink (Lotto NL Jumbo) with 2.5km remaining.
Gesink finished second, 24 seconds back, with Froome (Team Sky) a further second down, as previous race leader David de la Cruz lost three minutes and 15 seconds to Quintana.
Third-placed Froome, one second behind Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), is now almost a minute down on Quintana heading into the second week of the Vuelta.
It could have been worse for Froome as he lost contact with 10km left as general classification rivals Quintana and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) surged up the special category climb to the Lagos de Covadonga.
But the Tour de France winner rediscovered his rhythm and surged past Contador and others, and he was only edged out on the line by Gesink.
Movistar, however, are in good shape going into the Vuelta’s first rest day today.
“It was a day for the team and for Nairo,” Movistar’s Daniel Moreno Fernandez told Eurosport.
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here