For the first time in this year's Vuelta a Espana, Chris Froome looked like his usual strong self when he animated the queen stage of the race. However, the Brit conceded time to race leader Alberto Contador and even though he is pleased with his growing condition, he admits that it will be hard to beat the Spaniard.

Chris Froome solidified third place overall and closed in on second with a rousing performance on stage 16 at the Vuelta a Espana.

The Brit was supported superbly by his Team Sky team-mates for the entire duration of the race’s queen stage before attacking with four kilometres to go.

Only race leader Alberto Contador was able to follow his wheel on the steep summit to La Farrapona and Lagos de Somiedo and the pair quickly began to put time into their general classification rivals.

Froome began the day level on time with Joaquim Rodriguez but was able to gain 50 seconds on the Spaniard on the first-category summit. Rodriguez (Katusha) looked to limit losses alongside Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and a late burst from the latter was enough to narrowly deny Froome second place.

Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) again demonstrated his imperious form by attacking off the wheel of Froome with 800 metres to go, winning the stage by 15 seconds and pushing his race lead out to 1:36.

“The team did a fantastic job today," Froome said. "They really rode hard up today. Even Peter [Kennaugh] giving up his own chance in the breakaway to come back, I couldn’t have asked for more.

"I gave everything I had in the final. I couldn’t drop Alberto. I just pushed on the same and we’ve still got a week of racing ahead so I think at least I’ve moved up a little bit on the general classification. But Alberto is going to be a hard one to beat.

"As I said from the beginning, I came to this race a little bit on the fresh side, having dropped out of the Tour with injuries. I’ve been trying to build up during the race and I’m really happy with how it’s been going so far. Coming into the last week, that’s where I wanted to be.”

After the stage, Sports Director Dario Cioni was a happy man after seeing the team ride well to the set plan.

"Today we started out with a plan and everyone really committed well," he confirmed. "It was a really impressive performance. Pete managed to get in the break, which we’d hoped for, and that enabled him to get a long way into the stage and be there with good legs at the end. We waited for other teams to do their share of the work but when we felt the pace wasn’t enough we took it up and worked to make it harder.

"Chris did a great job and he’s been very consistent across the three mountain stages. That was a big goal and today has put us right in the mix.

"It was a good day from the GC point of view. Alberto showed why he is leading the Vuelta, but for Chris to be able to put time into Valverde and Rodriguez is very impressive. You need to have good legs to do that."