BMC Racing Team's Alessandro De Marchi was third and teammate Amaël Moinard finished fifth riding out of the breakaway on Saturday's penultimate stage of the Vuelta a España.

Ruben Plaza (Lampre-Merida) soloed more than 100 kilometers of the 175.8-km race to take the stage win. José Gonçalves (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA) and De Marchi arrived 1:07 and 1:08 later, respectively, with Moinard at 1:30.

"In the morning, we thought it would be good to try with Amaël and see what would happen," De Marchi said. "We knew that it could be hard, so it was a good day for a breakaway."

More than three dozen riders were part of the escape move, which enjoyed a lead of more than 13 minutes at one point.

"With Amaël, we tried to save energy for the last two climbs," De Marchi said. "He did a good job in the first part of the climb and then I tried to follow Movistar because they were strong. We tried to catch the Lampre guy (Plaza), but it was too late. He was too strong, so to close the gap was too difficult. For me, it is like a victory after what happened in the spring. We have fought every day and every stage. So I think everybody can be happy."

De Marchi had been sidelined for four months this year with tendonitis in his left foot. He only made his return in mid-July. Last week, he soloed out of a breakaway to win Stage 14, earning his first victory with the BMC Racing Team.

In the overall standings, Fabio Aru (Astana Pro Team) displaced race leader Tom Dumoulin (Team Giant-Alpecin), who lost nearly four minutes. With only Sunday's stage into Madrid to go, Aru leads Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha Team) by 1:17 and Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) is third, 1:29 back.