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Vuelta a Espana: Chris Froome loses four seconds to Nairo Quintana

Johan Esteban Chaves takes race lead with stage two victory

Chris Froome, Alejandro Valverde, Vuelta a Espana 2015, stage two
Image: Chris Froome finished just ahead of Alejandro Valverde in seventh place

Chris Froome lost four seconds to Nairo Quintana as Colombia's Johan Esteban Chaves took the lead of the Vuelta a Espana by winning stage two.

Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) formed part of a leading group of four riders on the steep, 3.9km final climb to Caminito del Rey and then pulled clear in the last 300m to beat Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) into second place by one second and Nicolas Roche (Team Sky) into third by nine seconds.

Quintana (Movistar) was also in the leading quartet but eventually finished 26 seconds down in sixth, one place and a handful of metres ahead of Froome in seventh and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) in eighth.

Johan Esteban Chaves, Tom Dumoulin, Vuelta a Espana, stage twp
Image: Johan Esteban Chaves beat Tom Dumoulin to victory on stage two of the Vuelta a Espana

Former race winner Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) was thrown out of the race for holding on to his team car as he tried to catch back up to the peloton following a crash.

His exit means the leadership of Astana will pass to Fabio Aru and Mikel Landa, who finished 37 seconds and 41 seconds down in 10th and 12th respectively.

The top three on the day picked up 10, six and four bonus seconds, meaning Chaves leads Dumoulin by five seconds and Roche by 15 seconds in the new-look general classification, with Quintana 36 seconds back and Froome 40 seconds adrift.

Nairo Quintana, Joaquim Rodriguez, Vuelta a Espana 2015, stage two
Image: Nairo Quintana crossed the line just behind Joaquim Rodriguez in sixth

Chaves, who claimed his first grand tour stage win and the biggest victory of his career, told Eurosport: "I felt that this was my moment to do it for the team. I was in a good position and, in the end, I did it and got the [race leader's red] jersey.

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"The main thing was to attack these guys [Quintana, Froome, Valverde], so that is what we did. Roche and Dumoulin were good company, and we got there in the end."

Johan Esteban Chaves, Vuelta a Espana 2015, stage two
Image: Chaves moved into the race leader's red jersey

As well as Nibali's exit, two of the other pre-race favourites sustained losses on a testing second stage, which was the first of the Vuelta's eight summit finishes. Tejay van Garderen (BMC Racing) gave away 15 seconds to Froome, while Domenico Pozzovivo (Ag2r-La Mondiale) dropped 24 seconds.

The race continues on Monday with a 164.6km sprint stage from Mijas to Malaga. Follow all the action with our live blog, both online and on our apps.

Stage two result

1 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, 3:57:25

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +1sec

3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, +9

4 Dan Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin, +14

5 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +26

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, same time

7 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +30

8 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +31

9 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, st

10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +37

Selected others

15 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, +45

General classification

1 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, 3:57:15

2 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +5sec

3 Nicolas Roche (Irl) Team Sky, +15

4 Dan Martin (Irl) Cannondale-Garmin, +24

5 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +35

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +36

7 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +38

8 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +40

9 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, st

10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +47

Selected others

15 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing, +55

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