Alejandro Valverde was the first GC rider to attack in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana but ended as the big loser as he conceded 22 seconds to Alberto Contador. The Spaniard admitted that he had attacked too early as he didn't know the final, brutally steep climb.

Each one on their own fight, yet both in the same scenery - the hellish slopes of La Camperona (Cat-1) after 201km on stage fourteen of the Vuelta a España, also including the Collada de Hoz (Cat-2) and the also inedit San Glorio (Cat-1) - two riders from the Movistar Team shone in the opening of three mountain stages in the north of the country: Imanol Erviti and Alejandro Valverde. The former, part of the 23-man escape that, reduced to just eleven riders, reached the foot of the final ascent with six minutes of advantage, challenged the cliché of pure rouleur always put on him and, as he showed climbing the Tourmalet with the GC contenders in this year's Grande Boucle, made a brilliant ascent, only beaten by two strong climbers in Ryder Hesjedal (GRS) and Oliver Zaugg (TCS).

Behind, Valverde, always well protected by all his team-mates, started the climb with courage as he attacked the rest of the favourites. Only four riders - Caruso and Rodríguez (KAT); Contador (TCS); and Aru (AST) - would initially follow him, the Spaniard ultimately struggling to concede 22" on the race leader and 29" to Froome (SKY), who kept his own pace, reached the GC guys and dropped them at the finish. The GC fight tightens podium-wise, with Contador now 42" away from Valverde, who stays 2nd and leader of the Combination as the Blues top the Teams' standings before Sunday's climb towards one of the most legendary climbs in Spain: the Lagos de Covadonga (HC, 152km.)

“I’ve lost a bit of time but it’s not very important," Valverde said. "The truth is I didn’t know the climb. I attacked from the bottom but it was too hard for me. The asphalt was rough. I lost time but I’m still OK with the result.

"Froome has demonstrated today that he’ll be dangerous in the coming stages. We’ll go step by step. We have two important days ahead, tomorrow at the Lagos, which a totally different climb than today, so rather than attacking, I’ll follow others, either Froome or Purito. We’re four or five riders pretty much at the same level and it will be difficult to drop each other. From now on the race will be hard.”

"It was quite a fought stage; it cost us lots of energy to form the break; actually, it didn't go away until 40km into the stage," Erviti said. "The group was really big and forced the bunch to stay close and ride fast, which made things even harder, considering today's route. We had to push forward all day long.

"Once you're into the 'party,' you must try and contest the win. We fought hard, but Ryder rode superbly and Oliver Zaugg was stronger than me, too. The Vuelta a España organisers look like they're always looking for these slopes, even under the rocks - seems to be fashionable. These climbs are difficult for my big body, but we do what we can."