Danish rider Jonas Vingegaard attacked on the uphill finale to claim a solo victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España and move to within 29sec of the overall lead ©Getty Images

Tour de France winner Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark gained significant general classification ground with a stunning attack to take a solo victory on the Vuelta a España's stage 16 climb to Bejes.

The Team Jumbo-Visma rider was third after the second rest day, trailing team-mates Sepp Kuss of the United States by 1min 44sec and Primož Roglič of Slovenia by 7sec.

The Dutch team preserved its stranglehold on this year's race on the mostly flat 120.5 kilometres route starting at Liencres Playa and finishing with a steep 4.8km climb averaging at 8.8 per cent and peaking at 15 per cent.

Back-to-back Tour de France champion Vingegaard, competing on the Vuelta for the first time since 2020, propelled himself into contention for a Grand Tour double this year with a brilliant attack launched 4km from the finish.

He was unchallenged as he crossed the finish line in 2hours 38min 23sec, earning a 10sec bonus.

It was an emotional day for Vingegaard, whose Belgian team-mate Nathan van Hooydonck was injured in a serious car accident after he became unwell while driving in Kalmthout near Antwerp.

Van Hooydonck was taken to hospital, but Jumbo-Visma reported after the stage "his health situation is not critical".

An emotional Vingegaard dedicated his victory to his team-mate.

"I would like to dedicate this victory to my best friend," he said.

"We heard the news just before the start this morning.

"On days like this, it's not easy to keep the focus on cycling.

"I knew that I wanted to win for Nathan.

"I am happy with this win, but my thoughts are with him.

"I hope Nathan will be back to his old self soon.

"He always sacrifices himself for others."

UAE Team Emirates rider Finn Fisher-Black of New Zealand was second at 43sec off the pace, and The Netherlands' Wout Poels of Team Bahrain Victorious third at 49sec adrift.

Roglič finished eighth at 1:01 behind Vingegaard and Kuss in 10th at 1:05 off the pace.

That meant Vingegaard climbed to second on the general classification and cut Kuss' lead to 29sec, while Roglič is 1:33 behind the leader in third.

Fourth-placed Spanish rider Juan Ayuso finished fifth on the stage, and is exactly 1min behind Roglič overall.

There are five stages remaining on the Vuelta a España before the finale on Sunday (September 17) in Madrid, starting tomorrow with the 124.5km mountainous route from Ribadesella to Alto de L'Angliru featuring three challenging climbs, which is predicted to be decisive for the general classification outcome.