Team Astana stunned the Vuelta in Andorra by winning the queen stage of this 70th edition thanks to Spain's Mikel Landa while Italy's Fabio Aru emerged as the most convincing of the GC contenders, finishing second in the stage to seize the overall lead. While the "mythical stage" with its six climbs and 5,000 metres elevation did not crown the future winner, it already ruined the chances of Tour de France champion Chris Froome, who finished 8:40 behind Landa. And Movistar's Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana also lost precious ground. By contrast, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), who designed the stage, limited the damage by remaining second overall, 20 seconds behind Giro d'Italia runner-up Aru. And Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), the red jersey at the start, resisted bravely tot remain on the overall prodium, 30 seconds behind the Italian.
The start was given at 13:36 to 179 riders. Vladimir Isaychev (Katusha) did not start. After a nervous start, the first race incident was the crash suffered by Chris Froome (Sky), who hit the tarmac on the outskirts of Encamp (km 6). The Tour de France champion managed his way back into the peloton, which split in the first climb of the day, la Collada de Beixalis, reached in front by polka-dot jersey holder Omar Fraile (Caja Rural) and Romain Sicard (Europcar). The two were part of a 19-man bunch which broke
clear and comprised the following riders: Ian Boswell (Sky), Mikael Cherel (AG2R), Matteo Montaguti (AG2R), Mikel Landa (Astana), Darwin Atapuma (BMC), Omar Fraile (Caja Rural), Jose Gonçalves (Caja Rural), Cyril Lemoine (Cofidis), Carlos Verona (Etixx Quick Step), Jerome Coppel (IAM), Ruben Plaza (Lampre -Merida), Nelson Oliveira (Lampre-Merida), Javier Moreno (Movistar), Imanol Erviti (Movistar), Damien Howson (Orica-Greenedge), Romain Sicard (Europcar), Alberto Losada (Katusha), George Bennett (Lotto Nl-Jumbo), Pawel Poljanski (Tinkoff-Saxo).
On the second ascent, Coll d'Ordino, Fraile continued collecting KOM points even though he came only second behind Ruben Plaza. In the descent, the gap over the peloton went over three minutes as Imanol Erviti went solo to lead his former companions by nearly a minute at the top of the 1st category Coll de la Rabassa (km 72), ahead of Fraile and Plaza. The Movistar rider was caught back in the descent by Montaguti, Hardy and the rest of the group. The pack, led by Team Sky, maintained the gap at around 4:30.
The grueling Collada de la Gallina saw the leading group break up on attacks by Sicard and Coppel. With 44 km to go, Mikel Landa attacked as his Astana team-mates started taking turns at the front of the peloton. Their acceleration left Chris Froome drifting at the back as his team-mate Nicolas Roche also lost ground. At the top, the remaining escapees were led by Fraile ahead of Landa, Atapuma, Sicard, Boswell, Oliveira and Poljanski. The peloton was 3:50 behind and Froome, with only Geraint Thomas left by his side, nearly 2:45 further back.
The GC race really started in the descent, when Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) and Dani Moreno (Katusha) attacked with Losada and Erviti. Behind them, Fabio Aru (Astana), Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo), Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Esteban Chaves (Orica-Greenedge) also broke with
the pack, leaving red jersey Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin) trapped at the back. But the Dutchman closed the gap with the help of Domenico Pozzovivo (AG2R).
Landa came first at the top of the 2nd category Alto de la Comella, the penultimate climb in the stage, ahead of Boswell, Oliveira, Sicard and Poljanski. The five tackled the last climb with a two-minute lead over the peloton. Landa surged from the bottom, leaving his four companions hapless.
In the meantime, Fabio Aru jumped from the peloton with 8 km to go, taking Rodriguez and Moreno with him. Quintana and Valverde were caught off-guard. Dumoulin and Chaves struggled to keep with the two Movistar leaders. Aru went up another gear 5 km from the line, dropping the two Katusha leaders. Behind them, Quintana faltered while Valverde struggled to stay in the wheels of Dumoulin and Chaves, the first week sensations, who bravely limited the damage. Aru finished second, 1:21 behind Landa for an Astana one-two reminiscent of the last Giro d'Italia in which the Kazakh team also stole the show. Boswell was third 1:38 adrift ahead of Rodriguez and Moreno, who crossed the line just under two minutes behind Landa.
