Vuelta a Espana: Fabio Aru keeps lead as Alessandro De Marchi wins

Alessandro De Marchi climbed through thick mist to win stage 14 of the Vuelta a Espana

Fabio Aru dug deep to defend his lead of the Vuelta a Espana as breakaway rider Alessandro De Marchi climbed to a solo victory on stage 14.

Aru (Astana) initiated a ferocious battle between the overall contenders by attacking with 3km left of the climb to the mist-enshrouded summit finish at Alto Campoo, but he was caught and then dropped as his rivals hit back in the final 1,500m.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar), returning to full strength after a bout of illness, launched two late attacks and was the first of the race favourites to cross the line, six seconds ahead of closest chaser Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).

Fabio Aru (right) attacked on the final climb but was later passed by Nairo Quintana (left)

Aru couldn't keep pace with the reinvigorated Quintana and followed alongside Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) seven seconds down.

The biggest losers on the day, however, were Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) and Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), who were both distanced by Aru's initial attack and crossed the line side by side 19 seconds after the Italian.

The result means Aru's lead is cut by one second to 26 seconds over second-placed Rodriguez, while Dumoulin stays third but drops to 49 seconds off the red jersey.

Quintana looked to be over his recent bout of illness

Valverde falls to 2min 11sec back, while Quintana returns to ninth place overall but is still a distant 3min 00sec adrift of the lead.

De Marchi (BMC Racing), meanwhile, formed part of the day's five-man breakaway and then prevailed from a nip-and-tuck struggle with his fellow escapees in the closing kilometres to beat Salvatore Puccio (Team Sky) into second place by 21 seconds and Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) into third by 32 seconds.

Tom Dumoulin lost 19 seconds to Aru and is now 49 seconds off the lead

The Italian told Eurosport: "I never thought that I would be able to win a stage. It was really difficult first to get into the escape, and then winning the stage was also tough.

"I didn't know how I was going to do it. I had to keep waiting for a position where I could use my strength properly. I let others have a go. In the end the waiting paid off."

The Vuelta continues on Sunday with the second of three back-to-back summit finishes, a 175.8km 15th stage from Comillas to Sotres. Follow all the action with our live blog.

Stage 14 result

1 Alessandro De Marchi (Ita) BMC Racing, 5:43:12

2 Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Team Sky, +21sec

3 Jose Joaquin Rojas (Esp) Movistar, +32

4 Mikael Cherel (Fra) Ag2r-La Mondiale, +38

5 Carlos Quintero (Col) Colombia, +1:00

6 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +3:32

7 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +3:38

8 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +3:39

9 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, same time

10 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +3:44

Selected others

13 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +3:58

15 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, st

General classification

1 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, 57:20:10

2 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +26

3 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +49

4 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +1:29

5 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +1:33

6 Mikel Nieve (Esp) Team Sky, +2:10

7 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +2:11

8 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, +2:13

9 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +3:00

10 Romain Sicard (Fra) Europcar, +3:39