Vuelta a España 2017 Stage 9

photo credits @ La Vuelta

Chris Froome (Team Sky) extended his overall lead of the Vuelta a España by climbing to a peerless solo victory during stage 9 of the Vuelta a Espana today.

Froome attacked out of an elite group of favorites with 500 meters to go and went on to win by four seconds over runner-up Esteban Chaves (ORICA-SCOTT) and five seconds over third-place finisher Michael Woods (Cannondale-Drapac).

Chaves was initially the only rider able to respond to Froome’s attack and caught him with 200m to go, but the race leader kicked again to continue his dominance of this year’s race and seal the fourth Vuelta stage win of his career.

Ten, six and four bonus seconds were on offer at the finish line, meaning Froome stretches his overall lead to 36 seconds over Chaves and 1’03” over third-placed Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing Team).

An elated Froome said after the stage, “today was incredible. The way it panned out, the way my team-mates rode in the final kilometers to set it up, it’s just fantastic.”

Top 10 Stage 9 Results

1. Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, 4h’07’13”
2. Esteban Chaves (Col) ORICA-SCOTT, +4″
3. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, +5″
4. Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb, +8″
5. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha-Alpecin, same time
6. Alberto Contador (Esp) Trek-Segafredo, +12”
7. David de la Cruz (Esp) Quick-Step Floors, same time
8. Sam Oomen (Ned) Team Sunweb, same time
9. Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team, +14”
10. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain Merida, same time

General classification

1. Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, 36h33’16”
2. Esteban Chaves (Col) ORICA-SCOTT, +36”
3. Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team, +1’03”
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain Merida, +1’15”
5. Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team, +1’26”
6. David de la Cruz (Esp) Quick-Step Floors, +1’30”
7. Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +1’33”
8. Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac, +1’52”
9. Adam Yates (GB) ORICA-SCOTT, +1’55”
10. Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Team Katusha-Alpecin, +2’15”