Warren Barguil finished with the favourites in today's hectic stage of the Vuelta a Espana. However, the Frenchman regretted not having used the uncontrollable circumstances to try an attack.

Warren Barguil finished safely in the front group after a difficult attacking uphill finish to the 13th stage of the Vuelta a España today. Barguil did slip down one position on GC after Wilco Kelderman stole a few seconds on the line with a late attack, leaving Warren in 14th overall.

All in all it was a safe stage for Barguil and the team ahead of a tough double header of mountain finishes this weekend.

With a couple of tough climbs to tackle during the stage, and an uphill ramp to the finish with gradients of up to 14% it wasn’t a stage that the sprinters had a big focus on. As such, John Degenkolb, still suffering from the effects of his crash earlier in the race, let go of the peloton on the main climb of the day to finish in the grupetto. He would one again be visiting the podium by the end of the day, with enough of a buffer in the points classification to keep the green jersey on his shoulders.

At the front of the race Nikias Arndt, Chad Haga, Koen De Kort and Tobias Ludvigsson were still with Barguil as the difficult finish came closer and closer.

The race came back together with just over seven kilometres to go and from here on in it was yet again a real fight for position with everyone wanting to be at the front for the start of the finishing hill.

Barguil was put in a good position by the team and he was able to follow the leaders on the early slopes as a select group formed at the front of the race. From this group Daniel Navarro (Cofidis) attacked with just over two kilometres to go as the road ramped up steeply.

The hesitation behind gave him the opportunity to pull clear and hold enough of a gap to the final downhill turns approaching the finish line. Behind, Barguil was safely in the wheels of the front group, however the rider behind him on GC did jump the group in the final kilometre to steal a couple of seconds and pass him on GC, leaving Barguil in 14th.

The time gaps will become a lot more apparent after the two stages to come this weekend though where the riders will need to muster all they can for the mountain finishes that could serve to further define the race’s GC.

Coach Christian Guiberteau said directly after the stage: “It was a good day for us today, on the whole we wanted to stay calm, follow any of the big breaks early on, but save our energy where we could ahead of what will be a tough next few days.

“The guys once again stuck with Warren on the early climbs to help where possible and then towards the finish to make sure that he was in a good position to hit the final hill. This worked out well and he looked strong at the finish. I think he was even a bit annoyed with himself for not attacking which is a good sign.

“John suffered a bit again today with his leg. Yesterday when there was the opportunity to sprint he could block out the pain and focus on getting to the finish, whereas today when it was just a case of getting over the climbs and home it becomes a lot more painful. We will continue to monitor his shape and see how he gets on this weekend.”

“I was happy that I was there at the end to help Warren today, making it over the last main climb,” added De Kort from the team bus. “There were five of us still in the front which was a good situation so we could continue to support him.

“Having studied the final climb a bit before the stage we knew that the last few kilometres would be tough so we made sure to get Warren to the front for this. I did a big pull with 3k to go and the Tobias took over for a bit longer on the climb.

“I’m feeling a bit tired now yeah but then again I think most of the peloton is. I’m still feeling good on the bike though and am looking forward to helping Warren out this weekend where I can.”

Ludvigsson also gave some input, saying: “It was good teamwork today, and at the end Warren was strong. We tried to stay with him on the climbs and then there were still five of us until the end to help.

“At the end I put him in a good position, in the top five inside three kilometres to go and that was me done. I felt better today after a few tough days but hopefully they are behind me now as I want to be able to support Warren again on the climbs tomorrow and on Sunday.”