Simon Yates darts to stage win as Chris Froome stays in the hunt for a Vuelta-Tour de France double
Britain's Simon Yates savoured an opportunistic victory after he won his first grand tour stage yesterday at the Vuelta a Espana.
Compatriot Chris Froome remains third in the overall standings, 32 seconds behind Colombian leader Darwin Atapuma, after he finished safely in the peloton.
Yates, who rides for the Orica-BikeExchange team alongside twin brother Adam, attacked with just four kilometres remaining to claim the sixth stage by 20 seconds.
Read more: How Team GB's Rio rivals spied on all-conquering track cycling team
The 24-year-old missed the Tour de France, where Adam finished fourth, while he served a four-month doping ban, which was blamed on a doctor’s administrative error over an asthma inhaler.
“There were lots of twists and turns but I managed to come down perfectly and I timed my attack to perfection,” he said of the stage.
“We really set it up well and I managed to take the opportunity and finish. It wasn’t planned. We just tried to make it a hard race and I am really happy.”
Yates’s win moved him 10th in the general classification, one minute and 28 seconds behind BMC rider Atapuma.
Spaniard Alejandro Valverde, who is bidding for a second Vuelta title seven years after his first, is in second place, four seconds ahead of Froome.
Colombian Nairo Quintana, another of the pre-race favourites, is fourth, six seconds adrift of Froome, who is aiming to become the first man since 1978 to win the Tour de France and Vuelta in the same season.