On a technical course featuring a few smoothly uphill sections, Yves Lampaert (Etixx-Quick Step) set the first reference time in 47:59. Silvan Dillier (BMC), who was looking to end up among the best, saw his hopes vanish into thin air after a crash in the final u-turn. Jonathan Castroviejo (Movistar), fourth in the Olympics time trial, lived up to expectations when he clocked 47:17.
At the first intermediate point (km 12.5), there is already a clear hierarchy between the main favourites. Froome (17:32) is ahead of Contador (18:03) and Quintana (18:18) while Chaves (18:18) is already far behind. Around the halfway point, Froome whizzed past Chaves.
The Briton continued to crush the pedals and clocked 31:08 at the second intermediate point (km 24.3), leading Contador by 1:12, Quintana by 1:33 and Chaves by a massive 2:14.
Meanwhile, Samuel Sanchez (BMC), who was defending his place in the top 10 in GC, crashed and crossed the line far off the pace.
While Froome still has a chance to win the Vuelta, Contador, who is now 3:43 behind Quintana, only has a slim hope to win a fourth title. Chaves is fourth overall 4:54 behind the Colombian while Andrew Talansky (Cannondale-Drapac) is now in the top 5 at the expense of Simon Yates (Orica-Bike Exchange).
