Chris Froome passed his first important Vuelta a Espana test when he finished second in stage 6. The Brit admitted that he was surprised to see Nairo Quintana lose ground but was impressed by Alberto Contador's performance.

Chris Froome put on a magnificent display of climbing at the Vuelta a Espana to claim second place on an epic stage six summit finish.

The road to Alto Cumbres Verdes produced a spectacular showdown as the race’s overall contenders went toe to toe for the first time on the steep drag to the finish.

Froome was shepherded on to the La Zubia climb by Pete Kennaugh and quickly found himself part of an ever-thinning lead group as the peloton exploded on the gruelling gradient. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) paced the leaders up the first-category climb but still had enough in the legs to follow the attack of Joaquim Rodriguez and push clear to win the stage.

From back in the pack Froome continually moved himself up the group and dug deep alongside team-mate Mikel Nieve. With a final burst the Brit sat on the wheel of Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) before rounding the Spaniard to finish on the wheel of Valverde in a breathless finish, taking six bonus seconds in the process.

That result sees Froome move up to fourth place overall, 22 seconds back on Valverde, who regains the red jersey, and four seconds behind Contador, who finished third on the stage. Nieve looked comfortable on the climb before slipping back late on and now sits 11th overall, 1:09 down.

“Movistar is the team to beat," Froome said. "I’ve seen Rodriguez riding very well too and Alberto Contador, for someone who is coming back after an injury, he’s impressive. I expected Quintana to do a little bit better but I’m sure he’ll be back in bigger climbs.

"I’m happy because I didn’t lose any more time, thanks to my team. They’ve been fantastic in positioning me where I wanted to be at the bottom of the climb.”

"The guys did a really great job today," said Sports Director Dario Cioni after the stage.

"We talked about a strategy to use on the climb and Chris really stuck to that and finished well. He followed the early attacks and was there when it counted at the end.

"The team rode really well. We were able to get all nine riders over the second-category climb which meant we had numbers coming into the finish. That was an advantage as everyone could do a bit of the work before the final climb.

"Tomorrow is a stage which you could mistakenly look at and think it's an easy test. It could prove to be a lot more challenging than people think. You can lose time every day if you aren't careful and we certainly won't be looking to do that."