Finally Nairo Quintana decided to attack. Passive throughout the Tour, always behind Froome, the Colombian is back as the Condor on the terrible ramps of the Camperona, the finish line of the eighth stage of the Vuelta, where the slopes in the last kilometer reach 22%. In front there was a group of fugitives outside the standings fighting for the victory of the stage with the Russian of the Katusha, Sergei Lagutin who took his first important success at the age of 35, but it was behind that the Vuelta caught fire, staging for the first time that duel always missed in the Tour between the big names. Everyone was expecting yet another smoothie from Froome, instead it was Quintana who caught the Briton on the counterattack as he flew towards the conquest of the red jersey which until yesterday was on the shoulders of another Colombian, Darwin Atapuma.
Froome was also overtaken by Alberto Contador, who showed signs of recovery on the first major climb of the Spanish race after a mixed start, also marked by a non-painless fall in the previous stage. The Pistolero crossed the finish line 25” from Quintana but for the first time this year he managed to gain ground on Froome. Eight seconds, a trifle but important for the morale of the Spanish champion who in the first week had been more than a minute behind his main rivals, also thanks to a disappointing performance in the team time trial that opened the Vuelta last Saturday.
Now Quintana leads the general classification with 19” over teammate Alejandro Valverde, an indomitable fighter aiming for the podium: he would be the first rider in history to enter the top ten of the three grand tours in the same season. Third is Froome at 27", fourth Chaves at 57". Contador is seventh at 1'39”. Still minimal gaps that portend major battles in the mountains that the Vuelta will face in the two weeks until the arrival in Madrid, from the Altos of Asturias to the Pyrenees. Quintana's sharpness opened up the challenges. Too bad that among the possible protagonists, MIguel Angel Lopez and Steven Krujiswijick have already left the scene, protagonists of disastrous falls, often occurring in the last three km of the stage. Incidents that prompted Contador to tweet a sort of reflection to the UCI, if it is not the case in certain stages with sprint finishes to set the times three km from the finish in such a way as to safeguard the safety of the peloton, leaving the sprinters the opportunity to express yourself at your best.
