Movistar rider Quintana is seeking a second Vuelta victory, having claimed the red jersey in 2016, and he was the first of the climbers across the line on the short stage nine.

The 94.4 kilometres stage departed Andorra la Vella with France's Nicolas Edet from the Cofidis team wearing the red jersey.

Colombia's Astana rider Miguel Ángel López made a break with 20km to go, but was reeled in by Pogačar and Quintana, who leapfrogs his compatriot in the overall standings.

The final 15km into Cortals d'Encamp saw the riders contend with torrential rain.

The rain forced an outage in live broadcasting of the stage, during which time it is understood López crashed, as he was covered in minor cuts on his arms and legs when the footage resumed.

After chasing down López it was Slovenian Pogačar who had the stamina to race away from Quintana for a maiden Grand Tour stage win.

He finished in 2 hours 58min 09sec with Quintana 23 seconds behind.

Primož Roglič of Slovenia finished third on the stage, a further 25 seconds behind Quintana.

He remains second in the general classification.

Quintana leads the way courtesy of his six seconds time bonus for finishing second, clocking a total time of 35:18:18.

Roglič is second in 35:18.24 with López dropping back to third overall in 35:18.35.

Tomorrow the riders have a rest day before the race is due to resume with a 36.2km time trial from Jurançon to Pau.