Stage 19

The road

At the start

Andorra, and the Coll de la Rabassa

Simon Yates holds red by 25 seconds from Alejandro Valverde, with Enric Mas at 1:22, Miguel Ángel López at 1:36 and Steven Kruijswijk at 1:48. Today the Vuelta climbs into Andorra: 154 kilometres out of Lleida and then the Coll de la Rabassa, a long, steady haul to over 2,000 metres. The first of the two days that will settle this race.

How it was won

1. 134 km to go

   Movistar attack on the flat

   Sensing a chance, Movistar attack on an exposed road 34km out, breaking the quiet before the storm of the Coll de la Rabassa.

2. 213 km to go

   Quintana surges

   Quintana surges away 13km from the summit hunting the stage; Kruijswijk and then Pinot bridge across to make the move dangerous.

3. 39 km to go

   Yates attacks alone

   Throwing caution to the wind, Simon Yates attacks alone in the big chainring. Valverde simply cannot respond, and the red jersey rides clear at altitude — the decisive blow of the Vuelta.

4. 46 km to go

   Quintana's flat exposes Valverde

   Ordered back to pace Valverde, Quintana flats with 6km to go, changes bikes and is dropped — leaving Valverde exposed and haemorrhaging time.

5. 5At the line

   Pinot wins, Yates seizes control

   Thibaut Pinot takes the stage atop the Rabassa, but the day belongs to Yates, who stretches his overall lead to 1:38 over Valverde.

The result