Chris Froome again proved that he is getting closer to his best when he gained some time on all his key rivals in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana. With the final climb being short and explosive, the Brit was pleasantly surprised by the result.

 

Chris Froome powered into second place overall at the Vuelta a Espana with a virtuoso performance on stage 18.

 

Team Sky’s leader again benefited from the great work of his teammates in the closing stages and attacked on the final climb with 2.4 kilometres remaining.

 

Froome was able to bridge across to Fabio Aru on the Alto Monte Castrove and continued to drive home his advantage, taking second on the stage and putting 12 seconds into the triple threat of Alberto Contador, Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez.

 

That was enough to elevate Froome one position into second overall on a day which saw him also collect eight bonus seconds during a relentless performance.

 

Entering the test just three seconds behind Valverde (Movistar), Froome jumped clear at the final intermediate sprint in San Xoan de Poio to take two of those back, and still had enough in reserve to mount a decisive attack late on.

 

With Team Sky hitting the front en masse before shutting down the early moves on the category-two ascent, Froome had the perfect platform and benefited from the trio’s indecision behind.

 

The result sees Froome now 1:19 back on the red jersey of Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo), with a 13-second buffer to Valverde, who was able to bag four bonus seconds of his own with third on the stage. Rodriguez (Katusha) now sits 1:10 back on Froome with three stages to go, including a key summit finish and final-day time trial in Santiago.

 

“There had been many attempts until I found the right moment to attack," he said. "This is another second place but I’ve moved up on the general classification. Given the climb today, I’m very happy with that result.”

 

After the stage Sports Director Dario Cioni was happy to see the team and Froome pounce on the opportunity to take time when it presented itself.

 

“We’d spoken with Chris about how, if he felt good, it could be a good opportunity to get time on Valverde and possibly Contador," he confirmed. "But for the guys to perform so well on the day was really impressive."

 

With his rivals letting Froome take bonus seconds at the intermediate sprint, Cioni offered his theory: "The challenge with the bonus seconds today, and the reason why they are so close to the finish, was that if people made the effort to get them they could pay at the finish. The other GC guys attacked early on the climb because Chris went for the seconds, but in the end he was strong enough to do both.

 

“You can see from the way our guys are riding that we’re a strong team. Everyone here is doing a great job – riders and staff – and it’s a pleasure to be a part of.”