Suffering under Alejandro Valverde's fierce pace, Samuel Sanchez tried to limit his losses in today's first big mountain stage of the Vuelta a Espana. The veteran knew how to go at his own pace and crossed the line in 15th.

BMC Racing Team's Samuel Sánchez finished 15th on the first mountain-top finish of the Vuelta a España Thursday while conceding 47 seconds to the three riders who contested the stage win. Sánchez said another day of hot weather made the final of the 167.1-kilometer race even more challenging.

"The best riders stayed in front and in the final one-and-a-half kilometers, I could not follow them," Sánchez said. "I preferred to continue with my own pace to limit my losses."

The past Olympic road race champion said he was not surprised to hear that Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) battled out the stage win against Chris Froome (Team Sky), Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha Team) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar Team). Valverde took the win ahead of Froome and Contador, with Rodriguez a further eight seconds back.

"I have said from the first day that if Contador is here, he will be competitive," Sánchez said. "So is not a surprise for me."

Sánchez dropped one place in the overall standings – to 12th – while teammate Cadel Evans, who had been 12th, finished 38th, 2:16 back, and fell out of the top 20.

BMC Racing Team Sport Director Valerio Piva said the team worked well to position Sánchez and Evans for the climb to the finish.

"The team support for both riders was good," Piva said. "I think Samuel gave it everything today, but he was just not able to follow the best. He climbed very hard like he has the past few days. There is still a long ways to go and we are here to try to win some stages. So we will take things day-by-day."

Valverde is the new race leader, 15 seconds ahead of his teammate, Nairo Quintana, and 18 seconds ahead of Contador. Sánchez is 1:11 back.