Colombian Esteban Chaves claimed the second stage of Spain’s Vuelta as Tour de France champion Chris Froome lost four seconds to Nairo Quintana on Sunday.
Chaves edged out Dutchman Tom Dumoulin in a sprint finish to the 158.7km ride from Alhaurin de la Torre to Caminito del Rey in a time of 3hr 57min 15sec ahead of Ireland’s Nicholas Roche in third.
Froome is attempting to become only the third man to win the Tour de France and the Vuelta in the same year, but Quintana took an early lead in the battle for the general classification victory as he came in one place ahead of Froome in sixth with a four-second advantage.
#LV2015 We’re so proud of you @estecharu! pic.twitter.com/CEzDaESy3q
— ORICA-GreenEDGE (@ORICA_GreenEDGE) August 23, 2015
Another former Grand Tour winner, Vincenzo Nibali, endured a nightmare start as the Italian lost over a minute on Quintana.
The 2014 Tour de France champion had been dropped by the peloton before fighting his way back into the main group with 10 kilometres remaining.
But he was made to pay for the energy he spent in doing so in the category three climb towards the finish line as he finished 1min 38sec back.
BMC enjoyed victory on a neutralised team time trial over safety concerns on Saturday, but their leader Tejay Van Garderen also lost time on the general classification favourites by finishing 55 seconds behind in 15th.
