Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) wins stage 15 Vuelta a Espana

Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ) attacks to win fog-covered Lagos de Covadonga stage 15 Vuelta a Espana. Overshadowing the overrall contenders who marked each other closely, squabbled and so kept the status quo in the fight for the red leader’s jersey.
Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) took second on the stage, 28 seconds down on Pinot, with race leader Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) third at 30 seconds. Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana (Movistar), and Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo) were just behind, meaning they are now the leading five overall contenders as the Vuelta enjoys the second rest day on Monday.

How it unfolded

The 178km stage to Lagos de Covadonga was considered the queen stage of this year’s race. It will not decide who wins the Vuelta, instead, it confirmed how closely matched the overall contenders are, despite three big days in the mountains of northern Spain.

Yet again a fast start and multiple attacks came, with a group of 12 getting away on the stage's first small climb. They held on to a gap of up to 5:30, with Mitchelton-Scott happy to let Astana take over the chase for the final 60km. Their hard work ensured the break was brought under control and gave Lopez a shot at a stage victory.

Top Ten General classification

1, Simon Yates (Great Britain) Mitchelton-Scott64:13:33,
2, Alejandro Valverde (Spain) Movistar Team 0:00:26,
 3, Nairo Quintana (Colombia) Movistar Team 0:00:33,
4, Miguel Angel Lopez (Colombia) Astana Pro Team0:00:43,
5, Steven Kruijswijk (Netherland) LottoNL-Jumbo0:01:29,
6, Enric Mas (Spain) Quick-Step Floors0:01:55,
7, Thibaut Pinot (France) Groupama-FDJ0:02:10,
8, Rigoberto Uran (Colombia) EF Education First-Drapac p/b Cannondale0:02:27,
9, Ion Izagirre (Spain) Bahrain-Merida0:03:03,
10, Emanuel Buchmann (Germany) Bora-Hansgrohe0:03:15