Rohan Dennis (BMC) time-trialled to victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta on Tuesday as Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) increased his overall lead on Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).
Dennis clocked 37min 57sec to win the stage, held on a rolling, 32km course between Santillana del Mar and Torrelavega. It was Dennis’s second stage win of the Vuelta, after he also dominated the opening 8km time trial in Malaga and the perfect way to end his race.
Dennis confirmed he would leave the race so he can rest and prepare for the team time trial and individual time trial at the World Championships later this month.
Although Yates increased his lead over Valverde to 33sec, the Englishman will be poised for challenges over the final days of the race.
“I’m happy with my result, I know I extended my lead, so as far as I’m concerned it’s a very good ride,” Yates said. “I was quite conservative at the beginning and then gave whatever I had left so it was a good day, but we have a long way to go.”
While Yates finished 1:28 behind Dennis, Steven Kruijswijk moved back into contention for overall victory by finishing fourth, 51sec behind the Australian.
The Dutchman has moved up to third overall at 1:15, ahead of Colombian duo Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana).
Quintana conceded 1:19 to Kruijswijk and 42secs to Yates, meaning he drops to fourth overall, 1:15 adrift of the lead.
“I defended myself quite well, considering my abilities,” said Quintana. “But I knew I was going to give up time. The mountain stages start tomorrow (Wednesday), it will be a key day so let’s see what happens.”
The race continues on Wednesday with stage 17, a 157km ride between Getxo and Balcon de Bizkaia.
Vuelta a Espana 2018 – stage 16 results (Santillana del Mar – Torrelavega ITT):
| 1 | Rohan Dennis (BMC) | 37:57 |
| 2 | Joey Rosskopf (BMC) | +50” |
| 3 | Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 4 | Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +51” |
| 5 | Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky) | ,, |
| 6 | Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’03” |
| 7 | Nelson Oliveira (Movistar) | +01’05” |
| 8 | Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’07” |
| 9 | Simon Geschke (Team Sunweb) | +01’10” |
| 10 | Kasper Asgreen (Quick-Step Floors) | ,, |
| 11 | Dylan Teuns (BMC) | +01’17” |
| 12 | Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal) | ,, |
| 13 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | +01’28” |
| 14 | Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) | +01’29” |
| 15 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +01’35” |
| 16 | David De La Cruz (Team Sky) | +01’39” |
| 17 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +01’40” |
| 18 | Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data) | +01’49” |
| 19 | Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal) | +01’50” |
| 20 | Alessandro De Marchi (BMC) | +01’51” |
General classification after stage 16:
| 1 | Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) | 64:52:58 |
| 2 | Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) | +33” |
| 3 | Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) | +52” |
| 4 | Nairo Quintana (Movistar) | +01’15” |
| 5 | Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors) | +01’30” |
| 6 | Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) | +01’34” |
| 7 | Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) | +02’53” |
| 8 | Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida) | +03’04” |
| 9 | Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac) | +03’15” |
| 10 | Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale) | +04’43” |
| 11 | Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe) | +04’48” |
| 12 | Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) | +07’08” |
| 13 | Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo) | +08’35” |
| 14 | Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates) | +10’34” |
| 15 | Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott) | +10’58” |
| 16 | David De La Cruz (Team Sky) | +12’01” |
| 17 | Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe) | +13’02” |
| 18 | Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ) | +14’53” |
| 19 | Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida) | +16’38” |
| 20 | Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias) | +22’36” |
