Chris Froome moved up to second place overall at the Ruta del Sol after an exciting climbing battle with Alberto Contador on stage three.

The Team Sky rider gave chase to the Spaniard in a showdown on the Alto de Hazallanas, clawing back time after Contador had attacked solo with over seven kilometres remaining.

After strong tempo work from Pete Kennaugh, Froome pushed onward in chase of his rival, dropping the remainder of the peloton to eventually cross the line 19 seconds back on the race leader (Tinkoff-Saxo).

Mikel Nieve battled back to an impressive fifth on the stage, while Kennaugh held on for eighth, moving himself up to a fine fifth on the general classification.

Froome now sits 27 seconds back on Contador with two stages to go, with Kennaugh 2:25 behind.

“I’m really happy with how it went,” Froome told TeamSky.com. “Obviously it’s hard getting beaten and hard coming second to Alberto. I know for the work I’ve done coming in I’m really happy that I was up there today. All the hard training this winter is paying off now.

“My objective is to be really good later on in the season, building towards the Tour in the next few months. Alberto’s race programme is ahead of mine with the Giro set to be his first big target of the year. I’m really happy with where I’m at right now. There’s a lot of headway to make but there’s plenty more to come, and this is a great place for me to begin the season.

“The legs feel good. I haven’t done much intensity training but I’ve set up a really good foundation and I think riding like this is proof of that.”

Froome was also full of praise for his team-mates and noted the team’s consistency on the GC in the race thus far.

“The team did a superb job today keeping me out of trouble. We’ve got a lot of strength in depth and the GC has spoken for itself in the race. We had four riders in the top 10 coming into this stage. Everyone is eager to do well and everyone is hungry.”