Nelson Oliveira earned his maiden Grand Tour stage victory ©Getty Images

Portugal’s Nelson Oliveira produced a daring solo escape from a large breakaway group to earn victory on stage 13 of the Vuelta a España.

The opening 40 kilometres of the 168km route from Calatayud to Tarazona proved to be fast-paced and despite several early attacks, breakaway attempts were continually foiled.

Eventually a three-man group consisting of France’s Sylvain Chavanel, Japan’s Yukiya Arashiro and Portugal’s national time trial champion Oliveira managed to edge away from the field.

Meanwhile, in the peloton, one of the pre-race favourites Nairo Quintana was being forced to call for his team car as the Colombian was suffering from illness.

By the time the Movistar rider had been guided back to the main group by his team-mates the breakaway has swelled in size, with 24 riders at the head of the race upon reaching the category one climb up Alto de Beraton, at the 70km mark.

The hilly stage was always likely to see opportunists attempt to claim a stage win from the breakaway, so it was no surprise when Chavanel launched an attack towards the summit of the final climb of the day at Alto de Moncayo at 39km to the finish.

However, the descent would provide the decisive move of the day as Oliveira showed his time trial prowess by launching an attack to move clear of his breakaway companions.

A breakaway group of twenty-four riders was established during a fast day of racing
A breakaway group of 24 riders was established during a fast day of racing ©Getty Images

The 26-year-old regularly increased his advantage on route to the finish where he crossed the line one minute clear in 4 hours 14min 01sec to secure his maiden Grand Tour stage win.

It proved to be another trouble free day for the race leader, Fabio Aru of Italy, after he maintained his 27 second lead over Spain’s Joaquim Rodriguez after finishing safely in the peloton, who rolled in 4:48 behind Oliveira.

The Astana rider will hope to extend his lead tomorrow on stage 14, with the 215km stage from Vitoria to Fuente del Chivo ending with a summit finish.



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