Vuelta a Espana: Tom Dumoulin regains lead with stage 17 win

Tom Dumoulin regained the overall lead of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday by winning stage 17's individual time trial.

The 24-year-old Dutchman started the day 1min 51sec down on the red jersey in fourth place overall but took large chunks of time out of the three riders above him with an imperious performance on a 38.7km course starting and finishing in Burgos.

His time of 46min 1sec was 3min 6sec quicker than previous leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), 1min 53sec quicker than Fabio Aru (Astana), who had been second, and 2min 38sec faster than Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), who had been third.

The result means Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) reclaims the lead he previously held on stage 10 and 11, but that Aru is only three seconds back and remains firmly in contention with two rolling stages, one mountain stage and one sprint stage remaining.

Rodriguez is now 1min 15sec down on the lead in third and, given that there are no more summit finishes left in the race, his hopes of victory now appear remote.

Dumoulin told Eurosport: "I had quite a lot of confidence. It was a course that suited me really well. I was hoping to get the stage win and the red jersey, but it is amazing when it works out."

Aru added: "I'm three seconds behind and there are still four stages. This Vuelta is not over. I will be saving my best until the end. There are still some great days to come."

Dumoulin made a flying start and was already 44sec up on Aru and 1min 11sec ahead of a struggling Rodriguez at the first time check, after 13.5km.

When those gaps had stretched to 1min 44sec over Aru and 2min 38sec over Rodriguez at the second split, after 27.5km, it looked like Dumoulin would not only take the red jersey but also build up a commanding overall lead.

However, Aru rallied well in the final 11km and lost only nine more seconds, which could turn out to be a pivotal fightback when the race reaches Madrid on Sunday.

Maciej Bodnar (Tinkoff-Saxo) finished second on the day, 1min 4sec down, while Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) produced an excellent performance to finish 1min 8sec back in third, which lifts him back up to sixth overall.

His team-mate Nairo Quintana also enjoyed a good day, climbing back to fifth overall by finishing 1min 33sec down in sixth on the day.

The Vuelta continues on Thursday with 204km 18th stage from Roa to Riaza. Follow the action with our live blog.

Stage 17 result

1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, 46:01

2 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +1:04

3 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +1:08

4 Vasil Kiryienka (Blr) Team Sky, +1:31

5 Jerome Coppel (Fra) IAM Cycling, +1:32

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +1:33

7 Romain Sicard (Fra) Europcar, +1:36

8 Nelson Oliveria (Por) Lampre-Merida, +1:38

9 Steve Cummings (GB) MTN-Qhubeka, +1:40

10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +1:53

Selected others

17 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +2:38

30 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +3:06

General classification

1 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, 68:40:36

2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +3sec

3 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +1:15

4 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +2:22

5 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +2:53

6 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +3:15

7 Johan Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +3:30

8 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, +3:46

9 Mikel Nieve (Esp) Team Sky, +4:10

10 Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka, +6:51