Vasil Kiryienka was narrowly denied a place on the podium in the Vuelta a Espana's sole individual time trial, having to settle for fourth on stage 17 after Tom Dumoulin leapt back to the top of the overall standings.

Kiryienka crossed the line in second position behind Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff Saxo) after clocking a time of 47 minutes and 32 seconds on the largely flat 38.7km course in Burgos, and only Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Dumoulin (Giant- Shimano) would go faster before the day was out.

Kiryienka missed out on a top-three spot by just 23 seconds as Dumoulin proved he was right back in the fight for the famous red jersey.

The Dutchman began the day 1min 51sec behind overnight leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), but blazed a trail in his specialist discipline and won the stage with a 1min 04sec cushion over the impressive Bodnar.

That result saw Dumoulin lead the general classification once again, although he sits just three seconds ahead of Fabio Aru (Astana) with four tantalising stages remaining. Rodriguez meanwhile, is now 1min 15sec adrift in third.

Mikel Nieve remains Team Sky's highest ranked rider overall, and now sits ninth in the standings, 4min 10sec down after taking 40th place on the stage.

Back on the team bus, Nieve admitted he was always going to struggle in a discipline that doesn't suit his strengths, and revealed he hadn't been helped by Dumoulin rolling down the start ramp directly behind him.

He said: "I expected him [Dumoulin] to catch me, but when he came past he was going really fast. Sometimes it's good for that to happen because it gives you reference point for your own time and speed, but as much as I tried, it was impossible to stay with him."

The Basque rider was boosted by the news he was still in the top 10 however, and will look to bolster that position before the week is out.

He added: "I gave everything I had today and I'm going to keep fighting all the way to Madrid. There's three more hard stages to come before Sunday and I'll keep giving it 100% for myself and the team."