Stage 18

The road

At the start

A Basque-style day to the monastery

Contador chased hard on Los Machucos and Froome was dropped by every one of his rivals in the fog, though he lost less than a minute: he leads Nibali by 1:16, Kelderman by 2:13, Zakarin by 2:25, Contador by 3:34. Today hugs the coast, turns inland for three short, sharp climbs, and finishes on the ramp to the monastery at Santo Toribio de Liébana — a day for a fast finisher who climbs.

How it was won

1. 133 km to go

   Over the last climb

   The break crests the Collada de la Hoz, the last categorised climb before the finale.

2. 219 km to go

   Armée alone

   Sander Armée rides clear from the break toward the monastery finish at Santo Toribio.

3. 33 km to go

   Froome distances Nibali

   On the short, steep final climb Froome attacks and distances Nibali, extending his lead to 1:37.

4. 4At the line

   Armée wins at Santo Toribio

   Sander Armée takes a fine breakaway victory at Alto de Santo Toribio de Liébana.

The result