Vuelta a España 2017 Stage 18

photo credits @ La Vuelta

Sander Armée climbed his way to victory during stage 18 of the Vuelta a España today, after the Belgian rider rode clear of 20-man breakaway group before launching his winning move with 700 meters before the summit finish at Santo Toribio de Liébana to win by more than half a minute over his closets rivals Alexey Lutsenko (Astana Pro Team) and Giovanni Visconti (Bahrain Merida).

Meanwhile, race leader Chris Froome (Team Sky) accelerated out of a heavily reduced peloton inside the final kilometer and crossed the line four seconds ahead of Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb) and Ilnur Zakarin (Team Katusha-Alpecin), and 21 seconds ahead of Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida).

The result means Froome’s lead stretches back to 1:37 over second-placed Nibali and 2:17  over third-placed Kelderman.

In the meantime, Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo) was once again awarded the most aggressive rider of the day. Having already attacked four times on the climbs leading up to the summit finish, he followed Froome’s move in the final 1km and crossed the finish line just ahead of the Briton.

The Spanish rider remains in fifth place, but his deficit to the final place on the podium is down to 1:17 and his gap over sixth-placed Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana Pro Team) is up to 1:42.

Vuelta a España 2017 Stage 18

1. Sander Armée (Bel) Lotto Soudal, in 4-09-39
2. Alexey Lutsenko (Kaz) Astana, at 31 secs
3. Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 46 secs
4. Alexis Gougeard (Fra) Ag2r La Mondiale, at 1-02
5. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Esp) Movistar, at 1-06
6. Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing, at 1-19
7. Matteo Trentin (Ita) Quick-Step Floors, at 1-21
8. Sergio Pardilla Bellon (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros, at same time
9. Antwan Tolhoek (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 1-38
10. Anthony Roux (Fra) FDJ, at 1-48

Others
20. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, at 9-56
21. Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, at 10-08
23. Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky, at same time
24. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 10-12
25. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin, at same time
28. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 10-29

General classification after stage 18

1. Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky, in 72-03-50
2. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida, at 1-37
3. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, at 2-17
4. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin, 2-29
5. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Trek-Segafredo, at 3-34
6. Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana, at 5-16
7. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, at 6-33
8. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, at same time
9. Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky, at 6-47
10. Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) LottoNL-Jumbo, at 10-26