That’s all from me, thanks for reading. Here’s our race report:
Updated
Team Sky’s Dave Brailsford speaks: “I wish we could [relax now]. It’s so hard, the climbs are so steep and intense, that you can never relax. No surprises, everybody was pretty much where you expect to them be. We can tick that one off, turn the page and get back into the steep hills. It will be interesting, a lot of the guys didn’t go full in the time trial, so it will be interesting to see how they go.”
Froome steps up to the podium where he receives what looks a lot like a snow globe, and holds it aloft.
It's one of the most significant sporting achievements, of anyone, from anywhere and it's going to be largely ignored 👎 @lawrenceostlere
— Liam Grant (@LiamGranty) September 5, 2017
Chris Froome has extended his overall lead to almost two minutes from Nibali, while Kelderman has leap-frogged Zakarin into a podium spot and Contador has climbed into the top five. The top of the general classification after stage 16 looks like this:
1 Chris Froome (Sky)
2 Vincenzo Nibali (Bah-Merida) +1.58
3 Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) +2.40
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) +3.07
5 Alberto Contador (Trek-Seg) +4.58
Stage 16 result
1 Chris Froome (Sky) 47min 00sec
2 Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) +29sec
3 Vincenzo Nibali (Bah-Merida) +57sec
4 Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha) +59sec
5 Alberto Contador (Trek-Seg) +59sec
Froome’s winning time was 47min 00sec. He gives some Team Sky staff a few fist bumps with a grin before slinking away. That was a stunning, resounding victory – only one rider of his 158 rivals came within 57 seconds of his time over 40km.
Updated
Chris Froome wins stage 16!
Brilliant ride by Nibali, who comes through in second place, only seven seconds behind Kelderman, but here’s Froome just up the road. He cuts the final couple of corners fine and surges to the line... and wins by nearly half a minute! Astonishing.
Esteban Chaves, who must have been hugely disheartened to be overtaken by Kelderman early during that route, finishes more than three minutes down. Ilnur Zakarin is next, and he pips Contador into third by 0.38 seconds! What all that means is that right now Zakarin has a GC podium battle on his hands with Kelderman. Only two riders to come: Nibali and Froome.
Wilco Kelderman goes quickest!
Chris Froome’s time at the second checkpoint was seven seconds quicker than Wilco Kelderman’s. Can he keep it up? Here comes the Dutch rider, crossing the line a massive 30 seconds ahead of Contador’s leading time, and Kelderman’s new mark to beat is 47min 29sec.
Updated
Only six riders left out on the course, and make that five as Miguel Ángel López comes in, the Astana rider losing more than a minute to Contador but gaining 30 seconds on Aru, his supposed team leader. Aru may be on domestique duties from here on out.
Michael Woods crosses the line a couple of minutes shy of Alberto Contador’s leading mark. Not his thing, time trialling, so he won’t be too miffed but that will bump the Canadian outside of the GC’s top 10. Fabio Aru comes through in a similar time and his struggles during this Vuelta have been compounded today.
Our new top three, though it isn’t likely to last with Wilco Kelderman powering into the final 5km:
1 Alberto Contador 47min 59sec
2 Tobias Ludvigsson +8sec
3 Wout Poels +4sec
Alberto Contador goes quickest!
Wout Poels crosses the line second quickest overall, only four seconds behind Tobias Ludvigsson. Next comes Alberto Contador, turning round the corner and along the final straight... and he breaks 48 minutes to lead stage 16! The Logroño crowd enjoyed that. His mark of 47min 59sec is the new time to beat.
Updated
At the second split, Kelderman is quickest by 27 seconds from Contador. But while the official timings have been up the spout, Chris Froome has been cranking up his output. The Team Sky rider is now matching Kelderman, we’re told, and his time at the second checkpoint will be very interesting...
So Kelderman is in a league of his out there right now, and if he keeps up this pace he will win this stage by a town or two from his rivals’ attempts at this route into Logroño. Nibali is doing well to keep pace with Froome, while up ahead Contador is starting to feel the effects of his enthusiastic start, and is reeling in the pace.
Froome, by the way, may have been an astonishing 23 seconds back from Kelderman’s opening split time at 13km, but he was two seconds ahead of Nibali and that will be the most important measure for the Team Sky rider. Kelderman is propelling himself into serious GC podium contention with this showing.
Contador is still ripping through these kilometres a ferocious pace. He hits the second checkpoint (28km) four seconds quicker than Tobias Ludvigsson and he is putting on a show for the locals. A reminder of the stage 16 podium as it stands:
1 Tobias Ludvigsson 48min 07sec
2 Lennard Kämna +23sec
3 Bob Jungels +11sec
The official timings are still unavailable, but we do know that Wilco Kelderman has smashed Contador’s opening split time! He looks like being the favourite to win this stage right now. Froome goes through fourth fastest.
So Contador’s rapid opening split will be what we judge Froome and the rest against, although it’s hard to know whether the Spanish rider might have put a little too much. Stef Clement crosses the finish line in eighth.
Chris Froome going topless for this one, such is his self-confidence.
#LV2017 The red jersey is off!
— Lotto Soudal (@Lotto_Soudal) September 5, 2017
“What are the odds of Froome catching Nibali?” emails Robert Hammond. “Also, isn’t that Alpecin shampoo advert the most annoying ever?” To your first question, unlikely as the starting gaps extended to two minutes for the final 30 riders. To your second question, I quite enjoyed it the first time I saw it. The second time it was a bit wearing. Think I’ve now seen it 15 times today. Help.
Here’s Luis León Sánchez, who came in somewhere outside the top ten, on what he made of the stage: “It’s more complicated than the road book suggest. I didn’t realise there were so many up and down sections and there was a headwind out there. Once you’ve dealt with the motor-racing circuit, you go full speed.”
Alberto Contador has made a blistering start! He’s through the first checkpoint a pretty outrageous five seconds quicker than the next best – Ludvigsson. I think he might be up for this.
Here’s Vincenzo Nibali, staring moodily into middle-distance as the man whose job it is to countdown the final few seconds extends his hand out in front of the Italian’s face. He comes off the ramp 1min 1sec behind Chris Froome in the general classification – what will that gap be come the end of this stage? Froome is next, head to toe in red, and the Vuelta leader is away.
The official timing page has helpfully conked out which makes it a little tricky to figure out exactly what is going on, but we do know that Tejay van Garderen has gone through the first checkpoint, at 13km, 14 seconds shy of Ludvigsson. Wilco Kelderman looks determined as he begins the time trial. The Dutch rider is one of those with a real chance of beating Tobias Ludvigsson’s leading mark.
Just 10 minutes to go until @chrisfroome heads down the ramp at #LV2017🇪🇸. @WoutPoels is currently out on course pic.twitter.com/hqGhzjQphm
— Team Sky 🚲 (@TeamSky) September 5, 2017
Miguel Angel Lopez of Astana, wearing the white combined competition jersey, rolls down the ramp and on to the Curcuito de Navarra track. Only fiver riders yet to take to the Spanish sunshine:
Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott
Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb
Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin
Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida
Christopher Froome (GBr) Team Sky
Froome’s right-hand man Wout Poels gets the top ten under way, and next off the start ramp is Alberto Contador’s final Vuelta time trial. Tobias Ludvigsson’s leading mark of 48min 07sec is still the time to beat.
Tejay van Garderen rolls down the start ramp and that leaves only 12 riders still to come. Chris Froome is spotted in a shady spot on his practice bike, clad in the leader’s red. He will be off in around 20 minutes.
Bob Jungels throws his tongue out as he powers round the final corners in Logroño and over the line, just shy of Lennard Kämna’s time. Here’s our new top five:
1 Ludvigsson
2 Kämna
3 Jungels
4 Oss
5 Gougeard
Updated
Next down the ramp: Team Sky’s Mikel Nieve, who has played a massive role in supporting Chris Froome through the past few stages.
Romain Bardet is down! He misjudged a long, tight right-hander on the Curcuito de Navarra and his back wheel gave way. He is handed a replacement bike and quickly gets going again, but that is not the way to start a time trial.
Here’s Tobias Ludvigsson on who he thinks might give him some competition: “I guess Froome to be up there, [Wilco] Kelderman and those GC guys. It’s going to be difficult.”
Bob Jungels hits the second split behind only Ludvigsson, by 14 seconds. We are into the final 20 starters; next up, Romain Bardet.
Tobias Ludvigsson goes quickest!
Tobias Ludvigsson crosses the line, throws his bike down and collapses on to the ground in a heap of Swedish colours. He sits up before gesturing for a drink, which would be the natural response after a 40km time trial in which your water bottle fell off in the first 10km. He clocks in at 48min 07sec, 23 seconds quicker than Lämna, and that is the new time to beat.
Thomas de Gendt crosses the line with a lunge to finish eighth, 55 seconds short of Lennard Kämna’s leading time. Ludvigsson will be coming into the finish very shortly...
Bob Jungels is currently powering up a mild incline in the Rioja sunshine, and he looks to working hard. The Quick-Step rider from Luxembourg clocked in through the first checkpoint at 13km with exactly the same time as Ludvigsson, so it will be interesting to see how he measures up at the 28km mark.
Thomas De Gendt heads through the second checkpoint with the joint-fourth quickest time of the day, matching Peter Koning’s 34min 59sec. Soon afterwards Ludvigsson follows through the checkpoint and he’s smashed Kämna’s time by 21 seconds! Providing he doesn’t suffer a debilitating bout of dehydration over the final 12km, he should convert that into a lead come the finish.
Updated
Simon Yates and Rafal Majka take to the Curcuito de Navarra – 35 riders to come. Here’s a reminder of the top 20:
Provisional start times (top 20 riders)
All times BST, one hour behind local time
140 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates 3.14pm
141 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 3.16pm
142 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team 3.18pm
143 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 3.20pm
144 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 3.22pm
145 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 3.24pm
146 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 3.26pm
147 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 3.28pm
148 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 3.30pm
149 David de la Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 3.32pm
150 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 3.34pm
151 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 3.36pm
152 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 3.38pm
153 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 3.40pm
154 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 3.42pm
155 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott 3.44pm
156 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 3.46pm
157 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 3.48pm
158 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 3.50pm
159 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 3.52pm
This is interesting. My man Tobias Ludvigsson had been pumping along very nicely, clocking in through the first checkpoint quicker than anyone so far. However, the Swede’s water bottle has apparently fallen from its dock which, while not a disaster, is not ideal during a 40km time trial in sunny Spain.
We mentioned Julian Alaphilippe a little earlier and he has just rolled in in 11th. The latest to hit the track is the huge frame of Bob Jungels, who hasn’t shown his best form so far through the Vuelta but will have had his eye on this stage 16. The top five right now for him to aim at:
1 Kämna 48min 30sec
2 Oss +.19
3 Gougeard +.20
4 Lampaert +.37
5 Trentin +.42
Here’s Kämna, who seems to have posted the fastest time almost by accident: “It’s great to have the best time and for sure I’m happy. I didn’t want to go that hard, and then I started to catch the riders and I decided to really pushed myself to go full gas.”
Lennard Kämna goes quickest!
How about this from Lennard Kämna, the young German rider from Sunweb who has taken 19 seconds out of Daniel Oss’s time to lead this time trial with a mark of 48min 30sec. Nice going. He has a good record of individual time trialling having won the European U23 Championships last year and has shown his pedigree at the discipline again here.
Sky’s Ian Stannard, currently ninth on the leaderboard, gives his thoughts on the route: “It’s quite tough, it gets quite steep in places, but it should suit Chris quite well. There are a few fast corners but you just need to take them at full pelt.” The claim of ‘steep bits’ contradicts the stage profile and what the other riders have been saying somewhat, but he didn’t seem that pleased to have a microphone under his nose so perhaps he was just fancied being contrarian.
Here’s a man I’m tipping, which will probably seal his fate nowhere near the leaders: Sweden’s Tobias Ludvigsson. He takes to the Curcuito de Navarra before heading out through the Rioja countryside.
Pawel Poljanski is the 100th rider to hit the track, followed by a couple of real contenders: Aqua Blue Sport’s Stefan Denifl and Thomas De Gendt of Lotto Soudal. We are moving towards the business end of this start list, with 56 riders still to come.
@lawrenceostlere can cyclists burn rubber? I've seen it melt in the peloton before, but never burn...
— Adam Becket 🏏 (@adambecket) September 5, 2017
Probably not, Adam, to be honest. Though this chap has done his darndest to prove otherwise:
Alexis Gougeard closes in on the line and he is going to be very near to the leading time... He misses out by one second! Italy’s Daniel Oss remains the man to beat. “We’ll see,” Oss says of his time. “There’s lots of riders to come and the best riders haven’t gone yet.”
@lawrenceostlere Don't discount Gianni Moscon or Julian Alaphilippe putting in a very good dig at the ITT!
— L Higgins (@LHigginswal) September 5, 2017
I certainly won’t – Julian Alaphilippe has just begun his time trial, though AG2R’s Alexis Gougeard is the Frenchman burning rubber right now. He went through the second checkpoint, at 28km, 11 seconds up on Daniel Oss.
Team Sky’s Ian Stannard clocked 50min 53sec, just shy of Koning’s then-leading mark which has been surpassed by BMC’s Daniel Oss and then Yves Lampaert a couple of minutes later. Oss edged out the Belgian by 18 seconds and leads the standings with a time of 48min 49sec. Plenty of riders to come, of course, but that is the mark to beat. Here was Stannard setting off:
Ya en carrera también ciclistas del @TeamSky
— La Vuelta (@lavuelta) September 5, 2017
The first rider of @TeamSky is road to Logroño.#LV2017 https://t.co/ExV8k7kCMf pic.twitter.com/VjnoKxRrG1
Riders have been rolling down the start ramp for the past hour or so now at a pace of one per minute. Starting at the back of the general classification, Ireland’s Conor Dunne had the dubious honour of starting proceedings and the most recent to take to the Curcuito de Navarra track was No 63, Antonio Nibali, Vincenzo’s younger brother. Of those in the clubhouse, Peter Koning leads the way with a time of 49min 19sec, but that could be topped very shortly: Daniel Oss and Yves Lampaert are both nearing the finish at Logroño.
Preamble
Stage 16 is the only individual time trial in this year’s Vuelta and it’s a straightforward one, starting at the Circuito de Navarra race track in northern Spain, zipping 40km west through the vineyards and wineries of Rioja before finishing in the region’s capital, Logroño. There are a few roundabouts and sharp turns into the finish to raise the pulse but conditions are dry and, simply put, Chris Froome could not have a better opportunity to extend his overall lead of 1min 1sec from Vincenzo Nibali. With plenty of unpredictable climbing still to endure before Sunday’s finish in Madrid, he will be desperate to make his time trialling skills count here.
Froome will be eyeing his second stage win of this tour – particularly since Rohan Dennis’s withdrawal yesterday – but there are plenty who could challenge including Quick-Step’s Yves Lampaert (who starts at 12.57pm BST) and Bob Jungels (2.38pm), or FDJ’s Tobias Ludvigsson (2.19pm). Ilnur Zakarin, who is currently third in the overall standings, will also be confident of going well here. Froome will almost certainly grow his lead at the top of the GC to give himself a buffer before the final stages; the question is, how much?
Provisional start times (top 20 riders)
All times BST, one hour behind local time
140 Darwin Atapuma (Col) UAE Team Emirates 3.14pm
141 Romain Bardet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 3.16pm
142 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Movistar Team 3.18pm
143 Nicolas Roche (Irl) BMC Racing Team 3.20pm
144 Sergio Pardilla (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 3.22pm
145 Mikel Nieve (Spa) Team Sky 3.24pm
146 Louis Meintjes (RSA) UAE Team Emirates 3.26pm
147 Tejay van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team 3.28pm
148 Steven Kruijswijk (Ned) Team LottoNl-Jumbo 3.30pm
149 David de la Cruz (Spa) Quick-Step Floors 3.32pm
150 Wout Poels (Ned) Team Sky 3.34pm
151 Alberto Contador (Spa) Trek-Segafredo 3.36pm
152 Michael Woods (Can) Cannondale-Drapac 3.38pm
153 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana Pro Team 3.40pm
154 Miguel Angel Lopez (Col) Astana Pro Team 3.42pm
155 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-Scott 3.44pm
156 Wilco Kelderman (Ned) Team Sunweb 3.46pm
157 Ilnur Zakarin (Rus) Katusha-Alpecin 3.48pm
158 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Bahrain-Merida 3.50pm
159 Chris Froome (GBr) Team Sky 3.52pm
Updated
