Aru poised to secure maiden Grand Tour victory after late attack gives Italian Vuelta a España race lead

Italy's Fabio Aru looks set to win his maiden Grand Tour after finally breaking the resolve of The Netherlands' Tom Dumoulin ©Getty Images

Fabio Aru is poised to win his maiden Grand Tour after the Italian claimed the race leader’s red jersey on the penultimate day of the Vuelta a España following an excellent attack on stage 20 won by Spain’s Ruben Plaza.

Aru began the day just six seconds adrift of The Netherlands’ Tom Dumoulin and the 175 kilometres route from San Lorenzo de El Escorial to Cercedilla presented him with his last realistic opportunity to seize the race lead, boasting as it did four category one climbs.

The key attacks involving the general classification hopefuls did not take place until the penultimate climb of the day at the Puerto de la Morcuera, but the early action of the day came when an 11-man breakaway moved clear after just five kilometres.

Plaza, who won a stage victory at this year’s Tour de France, was briefly part of the group before launching a long-range bid for his second triumph at the Vuelta, having earned his last stage win a decade ago.

The 35-year-old attacked at 115 kilometres to the finish when ascending the Puerto de la Morcuera and his pace proved too much for his companions.

Plaza reached the top of the Puerto de la Morcuera with a three-minute lead over his nearest rivals but, while he held a comfortable advantage, the climb provided the drama of the day when Aru, in combination with his Spanish team-mate Mikel Landa, upped the tempo in the peloton.

Their acceleration cracked Dumoulin, who had held off Aru’s attacks in recent stages.

Having broken clear of his rival, Aru continued to push on as he bid to give himself the maximum advantage heading into the final day of racing.

Spain's Ruben Plaza claimed the stage victory after a long-range solo attack ©Getty Images

Colombia’s Nairo Quintana and Poland’s Rafal Majka followed the move and boosted their bids for a podium finish, moving clear of Aru and Landa on the final climb with 17 kilometres until the finish in Cercedilla.

Plaza was the first cyclist to reach the town and crossed the line in 4 hours 37min 05sec, with a 67-second lead over second placed finisher, Portugal's Jose Goncalves.

Majka and Quintana rolled in 2:42 and 2:44 behind the stage winner to climb up the overall standings, but in the battle for the overall race win Aru crossed home in 4:40:43, 3:52 ahead of Dumoulin.

It meant that Aru holds a 1:17 lead over Spain’s Joaquim Rodriquez, who had battled back to finish the stage level with the Italian, while Majka holds a 33 seconds advantage over Quintana with the Polish rider poised to secure a podium finish.

The 24-year-old Dumoulin dropped to sixth.

A short 98km route from Alcala de Henares to Madrid will bring an end to the final Grand Tour of the year tomorrow, with an accident looking the only way Aru can be knocked off the top.