For the second day in a row, Rigoberto Uran was one of the big losers in the Vuelta a Espana. However, the Colombian doesn't want to dwell on the result and will take stock of the situation on the rest day.

As predicted, the 15th stage of La Vuelta a España would further define who would be in the running for the overall victory of the grand tour. The 152.2km stage, ending on HC Lagos de Covadonga, was again a mountain stage decided by a rider out of the breakaway, but the battle behind for the GC was no less exciting.

Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre-Merida) went solo with 5.2km to go, and barely held off a three-rider chase group of Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Alberto Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) for the solo victory. Valverde and Rodriguez gained seconds on Contador in the GC by finishing with a gap on him in the final meters and taking crucial time bonuses for their podium placements.

Rigoberto Uran of OPQS did his best to stay with the best climbers of the peloton, and was even still present after fighting back against initial attacks from the three riders with 3.9km to go. But Contador attacked once again and finally the three riders were able to distance other GC contenders.

Uran finished 9th in the stage, and is now 6th in the GC (+2'57"). OPQS looks next to yet another high mountain stage on Monday, with a summit finish at La Farrapona/Lagos de Somiedo.

"I did the best I could on another difficult finale at La Vuelta," Uran said. "I gave everything to be there with the top GC guys in the final few kilometers.

"Tomorrow will be another challenging day in the mountains and I need to immediately focus on it rather than dwell on today. I will be motivated to do as well as I can, with the help of my teammates, on the last stage before the rest day. Then we will see where I am in the GC, what we can do to improve, and what our strategy will be for the final part of the race."