Nairo Quintana (Movistar) set Sunday’s stage on fire with a string of attacks against Chris Froome (Sky) as the Spanish squad attempted to blast the peloton to bits and pieces. Eventually Froome managed to defend splendidly against the furious attacks emanating from the diminutive Colombian, but the combined efforts of the Movistar riders did help elevate their team leader, Alejandro Valverde, into second overall.

"It was a beautiful stage and quite a good result for us - we proved to people we have an excellent squad, with all riders at a very strong level, ready to help myself as well as Rui and Alejandro,” Quintana said.

“We all put our effort at the team's service, and that made us reach the finish with three riders in the front group, losing no time, which was the main goal. We showed the world Sky also has weaknesses, but Froome is really strong and it's difficult to hurt him. Still we're taking some energy from him, making him work and suffer in view of the next stages. There are still many strong rivals in front of us, whom we will have to fight for the remainder of the race. For the time being, getting over this week with the white jersey is quite good and I'm really happy about wearing it. The first rest day comes tomorrow and we'll try to profit from it - getting on a short ride with the team-mates, talking about anything but the race to get the nerves off."