Having lost time two days in a row, Samuel Sanchez delivered a great performance in the queen stage to defend his overall 8th place. The Spaniard is confident that he will remain strong in the third week after feeling a lot better in today's stage.

BMC Racing Team's Samuel Sánchez finished ninth on Monday's summit finish at the Vuelta a España to remain eighth overall heading into the final rest day of the three-week race. Sánchez finished 1:43 behind stage winner and race leader Alberto Contador, who soloed in 15 seconds ahead of Chris Froome (Team Sky).

Sánchez is 6:55 off the overall lead with five days of the race to go, including two more mountain-top finishes and a 9.7-kilometer individual time trial on the final day.

"I felt better than yesterday," Sánchez said. "It was really a very tough day. I am quite satisfied because I am still fighting with the best riders without losing too much time and that was our goal."

On a day when two riders were ejected from the race for fighting, BMC Racing Team's Rohan Dennis put on his own show of aggression by making a 13-man breakaway that went away on the first of four category 1 climbs of the 160.5-km race.

"Rohan was attacking and he did a good job for us by trying for the stage win," BMC Racing Team Sport Director Valerio Piva said. "It was a fantastic job by the whole team to support Samuel. He was feeling better today and he will continue to fight. The Vuelta is not finished yet. We are optimistic."