Nairo Quintana and Chris Froome retained first and second overall at the Vuelta a Espana by finishing in the peloton on a flat 18th stage won by Denmark’s Magnus Cort Nielsen.
Nielsen handed Orica-BikeExchange their third victory of this year’s race by out-sprinting runner-up Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) and third-placed Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC Racing) in Gandia.
Quintana (Movistar) followed in 28th and remains 3min 37sec ahead of Froome (Team Sky), who was 32nd, in the general classification with three stages remaining.
All of the other overall contenders also finished in the bunch, meaning Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange) stays 3min 57sec down in third, Alberto Contador (Tinkoff) remains 4min 2sec adrift in fourth and Britain’s Simon Yates (Orica-BikeExchange) holds on to fifth place, 6min 3sec back.
The overall winner will now be decided over a crucial next two days, starting with a 37km individual time trial on Friday’s 19th stage and then a special-category summit finish on Alto de Aitana on stage 20 on Saturday.
Door Skysports.com
