Vuelta a Espana: Chris Froome loses ground as Alejandro Valverde cuts Alberto Contador's gap

Chris Froome lost ground to his rivals on stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana as breakaway rider Przemyslaw Niemiec claimed victory and Alberto Contador saw his overall race lead cut.

Froome was dropped around 6.5km from the summit finish at Lagos de Covadonga and although the Briton rallied in the final 3km, he lost 12 seconds to Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez, who finished second and third on the day, and seven seconds to fourth-placed Contador.

Valverde and Rodriguez both collected bonus seconds for their top-three finishes, meaning Contador’s lead over Valverde in the general classification is reduced from 42 seconds to 31.

Froome falls to 1min 20sec adrift of the red jersey and is now on the same time as Rodrguez, but the Briton retains third place overall due to better cumulative stage placings.

Breakaway prevails

Stage 15 ended with the second of three back-to-back summit finishes and the first especial-category climb of the race, a 12.2km ascent with a maximum gradient of 17.5 per cent.

Niemiec formed part of a five-man breakaway around 50km into the 152.2km day and when their lead grew to beyond ten minutes, it became clear they would fight for victory between themselves.

Only Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge) could initially keep up with Niemiec on the final climb, but when he too fell away, it left the Pole free to claim the first Grand Tour stage win of his career.

Niemiec said: "I perceived it could have been a good day when the breakaway had more than ten minutes on the bunch and it started to rain. I knew the final climb. I attacked once again in the central part of the climb. It was the winning decision."

Froome falls away

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Back down the road, Movistar set a fierce pace up the lower slopes and Froome (Team Sky) was hanging on at the back of the peloton as early as 9km to go.

He was first cut adrift with around 6.5km remaining, and Contador (Tinkoff-Saxo) then distanced him further by attacking around 6km out, with Valverde (Movistar) and Rodriguez (Katusha) the only men who could follow.

Froome fell to 25 seconds adrift, but he dug deep and was allowed to regain ground when the Spanish trio began to mark each other and slowed down around 2km from the finish.

Contador was then dropped himself when Valverde and Rodriguez sprinted for the line, and the bonus seconds they subsequently collected made an already close four-way battle even tighter.

Stage 15 result

1 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre-Merida, 4:11:09
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +5ecs
3 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha, same time
4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo, +10
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +17
6 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +17
7 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, +28
8 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano, +44
9 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, +1:00
10 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Cannondale, st

General classification

1 Alberto Contador (Spa) Tinkoff-Saxo, 58:31:35
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Movistar, +31ecs
3 Chris Froome (GB) Team Sky, +1:20
4 Joaquim Rodriguez (Spa) Katusha, same time
5 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +2:22
6 Rigoberto Uran (Col) Omega Pharma – Quick-Step, +2:57
7 Dan Martin (Ire) Garmin-Sharp, +4:55
8 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) BMC Racing, +5:02
9 Robert Gesink (Ned) Belkin, +5:11
10 Warren Barguil (Fra) Giant-Shimano, +6:36