Dennis wins stage 16 time trial as Yates extends Vuelta a Espana lead

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Rohan Dennis wins vuelta a espana 2018 stage 16

Rohan Dennis (BMC) time-trialled to victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta on Tuesday as Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) increased his overall lead on Alejandro Valverde (Movistar).

Dennis clocked 37min 57sec to win the stage, held on a rolling, 32km course between Santillana del Mar and Torrelavega. It was Dennis’s second stage win of the Vuelta, after he also dominated the opening 8km time trial in Malaga and the perfect way to end his race.

Dennis confirmed he would leave the race so he can rest and prepare for the team time trial and individual time trial at the World Championships later this month.

Although Yates increased his lead over Valverde to 33sec, the Englishman will be poised for challenges over the final days of the race.

“I’m happy with my result, I know I extended my lead, so as far as I’m concerned it’s a very good ride,” Yates said. “I was quite conservative at the beginning and then gave whatever I had left so it was a good day, but we have a long way to go.”

While Yates finished 1:28 behind Dennis, Steven Kruijswijk moved back into contention for overall victory by finishing fourth, 51sec behind the Australian.

The Dutchman has moved up to third overall at 1:15, ahead of Colombian duo Nairo Quintana (Movistar) and Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana).

Quintana conceded 1:19 to Kruijswijk and 42secs to Yates, meaning he drops to fourth overall, 1:15 adrift of the lead.

“I defended myself quite well, considering my abilities,” said Quintana. “But I knew I was going to give up time. The mountain stages start tomorrow (Wednesday), it will be a key day so let’s see what happens.”

The race continues on Wednesday with stage 17, a 157km ride between Getxo and Balcon de Bizkaia.

Vuelta a Espana 2018 – stage 16 results (Santillana del Mar – Torrelavega ITT):

1Rohan Dennis (BMC)

37:57

2Joey Rosskopf (BMC)

+50”

3Jonathan Castroviejo (Team Sky)

,,

4Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+51”

5Michal Kwiatkowski (Team Sky)

,,

6Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors)

+01’03”

7Nelson Oliveira (Movistar)

+01’05”

8Laurens De Plus (Quick-Step Floors)

+01’07”

9Simon Geschke (Team Sunweb)

+01’10”

10Kasper Asgreen (Quick-Step Floors)

,,

11Dylan Teuns (BMC)

+01’17”

12Victor Campenaerts (Lotto Soudal)

,,

13Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

+01’28”

14Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida)

+01’29”

15Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

+01’35”

16David De La Cruz (Team Sky)

+01’39”

17Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb)

+01’40”

18Stephen Cummings (Dimension Data)

+01’49”

19Thomas De Gendt (Lotto Soudal)

+01’50”

20Alessandro De Marchi (BMC)

+01’51”

 

General classification after stage 16:

1Simon Yates (Mitchelton-Scott)

64:52:58

2Alejandro Valverde (Movistar)

+33”

3Steven Kruijswijk (LottoNL-Jumbo)

+52”

4Nairo Quintana (Movistar)

+01’15”

5Enric Mas (Quick-Step Floors)

+01’30”

6Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana)

+01’34”

7Thibaut Pinot (Groupama-FDJ)

+02’53”

8Ion Izagirre (Bahrain-Merida)

+03’04”

9Rigoberto Uran (EF Education First-Drapac)

+03’15”

10Tony Gallopin (AG2R La Mondiale)

+04’43”

11Emanuel Buchmann (Bora-hansgrohe)

+04’48”

12Wilco Kelderman (Team Sunweb)

+07’08”

13Gianluca Brambilla (Trek-Segafredo)

+08’35”

14Fabio Aru (UAE Team Emirates)

+10’34”

15Jack Haig (Mitchelton-Scott)

+10’58”

16David De La Cruz (Team Sky)

+12’01”

17Rafal Majka (Bora-hansgrohe)

+13’02”

18Rudy Molard (Groupama-FDJ)

+14’53”

19Hermann Pernsteiner (Bahrain-Merida)

+16’38”

20Mikel Bizkarra (Euskadi-Murias)

+22’36”

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