Chris Froome and Nicolas Roche both claimed top-10 finishes on the sixth stage of the Vuelta a Espana as Esteban Chaves moved back into the red jersey with a second stage victory.

Froome and Roche benefitted from some great teamwork on the run in to the final climb of the day, and then rode hard to take seventh and 10th places respectively after Chaves had sealed his triumph.

The Orica GreenEdge rider leapt from the field when the road ramped upwards in the last three kilometres, and fought off late counter attacks from Dan Martin (Cannondale Garmin) and Tom Dumoulin (Giant Shimano) before crossing the line with a five-second winning margin.

Further down the road, Roche and Froome both battled valiantly, repaying solid efforts from Ian Boswell, Vasil Kiryienka and Geraint Thomas which ensured they were perfectly positioned heading into the finale.

Sergio Henao and Mikel Nieve were also there at the finish, clocking the same time as Froome and Roche in a 20-man group containing all the main general classification contenders.

Those results meant Roche slipped one position to fourth in overall standings, with Froome rising to sixth. Chaves meanwhile, sits 36 and 55 seconds ahead of the Team Sky duo, and has a 10-second lead over Dumoulin, from whom he relinquished the jersey.

Sports Director Dario Cioni was pleased with his riders' performance, and admitted the true GC battle would start on Friday with a category-one finish up the Alto de Capileira.

He told TeamSky.com:"It was hot out there today, and for the first time, it took a long time for the breakaway to form. With a guy in the break who was three minutes down, the move was never going to stick, especially with that long drag before the final climb.

"Our riders did really good to make sure everyone was well positioned heading on to that, but you needed to be really punchy to follow those moves from Chaves, Martin and Dumoulin.

"We had one eye on tomorrow's stage so we didn't want to go too deep today, but we still did a pretty good job to get Nico and Froomey in the top 10 with no problems.

"The race was never going to be won or lost today, but it could be tomorrow, and that's why we were focused on that. Everyone in the squad's looking good at the moment and we'll definitely have numbers there tomorrow. I expect to see the first proper shake up on Friday, and we're all looking forward to seeing how things go."