Tom Dumoulin took 3rd on stage 6, but lost his leaders’ jersey on the second mountain top finish of the Vuelta. Esteban Chaves took the double by winning the stage and taking over the race lead.

After a fast start with many attacks, the break of 5 riders got loose with 60km behind the wheels, as Team Giant-Alpecin controlled the pace at the bunch.Towards the final ascent, the bunch got thinned out as only 30 riders were together when entering the final 5km.

With a well-timed attack Esteban Chaves (Orica GreenEdge) got away in the final 2km. Great work was done by Lawson Craddock to lead the chase before Tom Dumoulin made his final attempt to take Chaves back, but he was gone for the win. Dumoulin came in 5” behind the winner of today to take third and is now second in the GC.

“The team worked well today. We started the finale in good position, and once we arrived at the final climb we went full gas. I kept an eye on my competitors but Chaves surprised me with his attack on the steepest section and I was unable to follow. Lawson rode strongly to reduce his advantage, and I tried to bridge the gap afterward but could not reach him,” Tom Dumoulin said.

"What a race Chaves did. Even better than Sunday. It didn't expect him to go so early. He went at the very right moment and I didn't have the legs to follow. I had the jersey for one day. It was nice. I would have liked to keep it longer. But it's not a disaster.

“Of course it was not nice to lose the jersey today, but it would have been even worse if I had lost it after making a mistake, which was not the case. Chaves was just stronger today, and we have to accept that.”

Coach Addy Engels added: “Our plan was to defend the jersey. After a long fight the breakaway went with five riders, including one who was close in the GC. We started controlling quickly and allow the gap to grow slowly, until 5 minutes.

“Tom was positioned well by the team, but couldn’t follow Chaves. He tried it for the second place but Martin just passed him and he finished third.”