"The first long climb, the first chance to take some time on the leaders. The first time we see who is here for three weeks of racing."

Those were the words of Astana's Fabio Aru after stage seven at the Vuelta a España. Aru finished third on Friday, 29 seconds behind stage winner Bert-Jan Lindeman of the Netherlands, on a stage that finished with nearly 20k of uninterrupted climbing.

Mikel Landa and Digeo Rosa finished further back from Aru, and worked to defend his place at the head of a chasing peloton with a strong breakaway in front all day to force the climbers' teams to work.

Aru moved up in General Classification from 10th to 8th, 57 seconds behind Colombian neo-pro Esteban Chaves and now sits even with major rivals Nairo Quintana of Colombia and Joaquim Rodriguez of Spain.

“First uphill finish," Aru said. "I wanted to see how I responded because I didn't feel well after the crash. I find it better every day. Now its time to recover for the next day.

"I haven't seen the standings. I just do my race. Its a beautiful Vuelta, very hard. I love racing in Spain and I always try to do well. We´ll see how it goes next”.

“We just tried to be in the peloton but then we heard what was happening behind us [Froome in trouble] and so Aru attacked to take a step forward on GC," Landa said. "We didn’t want to risk anything, we didn’t think anyone would try to attack, we were trying to recover but in the end we went for it.

“My legs were complaining a bit and the rhythm was very high, but we gained some time with Aru and he’s taken a step forward. I did what I could today but like yesterday it was very hot and where I live it’s a lot cooler.

“Aru is the leader. After the Giro d’Italia, that was clear. I don’t think I’ll have so many opportunities. But if I can go for the overall, I will.”

Saturday's stage eight starts downhill and then finishes flat in Murcia. The 2015 Vuelta a España will race until stage ten this year before taking its first rest day as the peloton leaves southern Spain on Monday and drives overnight to the Pyreneean peaks around Andorra.