Robert Gesink achieved his maiden Grand Tour stage victory ©Getty Images

The Netherlands’ Robert Gesink triumphed from a breakaway on the queen stage of the Vuelta a España as Colombian’s Nairo Quintana and Britain’s Chris Froome again duelled in the battle for the general classification.

Featuring four mountain passes, the 196 kilometres stage from Urdax Dantxarinea to Aubisque Gourette was expected to be a key one in deciding the outcome on the overall race, part of the International Cycling Union (UCI) World Tour.

A 41-man breakaway went clear after 15km of racing and opened a lead of five minutes by the top of the Col Inharpu, the first of the day’s major climbs.

Orica-Bike Exchange had boasted three men in the move but dropped back in the latter stages of the race to aid their British team-mate Simon Yates, who had attacked on the third climb, the Col de Marie-Blanque.

The tactics worked impressively as Yates began to claw back time in the general classification, while starting to close in on a reduced six-man leading group, who pushed clear on the descent.

Gesink had been dropped by the six riders only to fight his way back into contention for the stage victory by rejoining ahead of the Col d'Aubisque, the final climb.

In the final couple of kilometres, Gesink was left battling for the win with France’s Kenny Elissonde and Russia’s Egor Silin.

He broke clear of the pair to secure his maiden Grand Tour stage win in a time of 5 hours 43min 24sec, with Elissonde ending seven seconds adrift as the runner-up.

Chris Froome, left, and Nairo Quintana, centre, continued their head-to-head battle for the general classification ©Getty Images
Chris Froome, left, and Nairo Quintana, centre, continued their head-to-head battle for the general classification ©Getty Images

Yates finished 39 seconds down in fifth, but he was able to rise in the overall standings after gaining around a minute on several of the main contenders.

The race for the red jersey continues to look like a straight battle between Quintana and Froome, with the duo again pulling clear of the remaining podium hopefuls.

Quintana was unable to gain time of the Tour de France winner, despite numerous attacks in the final kilometres, with Froome remaining 54 seconds behind in second place overall.

Colombia’s Esteban Chaves is third at 2min 01sec behind Quintana, with Yates a further 16 seconds back after his display today.

Spain’s Alberto Contador lost another 20 seconds on the stage and his slipped to sixth overall.

His countryman Alejandro Valverde had the biggest decline, however, after slipping from third to 19th in the standings.

Tomorrow is due to see the peloton tackle a 118km medium mountain stage from Sabiñánigo to Aramon Formigal.