Stage 18

The road

How it was won

1. 1104 km to go

   Astana come forward

   An opening hour of attacks and counter-attacks gives way to something more deliberate: Astana take the front, start pulling the break back, and — much more importantly — start stripping the men away from around Tom Dumoulin.

2. 233 km to go

   Rodríguez slips away, and nobody moves

   Third overall shimmies off the front with 33 kilometres to go. The race leader, welded to Aru's back wheel, barely even looks up.

3. 319 km to go

   Attack number one

   Nineteen kilometres from Riaza, Fabio Aru throws the first punch on the Puerto de la Quesera. It is brutal and Dumoulin is on his wheel before the road has noticed. He will do it five more times before the summit, and it will not work once.

4. 413 km to go

   Over the top of the Quesera

   Up ahead Nicolas Roche has caught and dispatched Gautier and been joined by Zubeldia. Behind, attacks five and six have the general classification strung out across the mountain — and the man who matters is a rock.

5. 5At the line

   Roche wins, Dumoulin holds

   Roche outsprints Zubeldia on the line in Riaza. Behind, Dumoulin has the cheek to counter-attack on the descent with Quintana and Valverde, and takes his three-second lead into the last weekend.

The result