Thibaut Pinot took his first Vuelta a España stage win to complete his triple crown of road cycling victories ©Vuelta

Thibaut Pinot won stage 15 of the Vuelta a España today as Simon Yates extended his lead in the general classification.

Pinot completed a "triple crown" of Grand Tour stage wins after also winning legs of the Tour de France and Giro D'Italia.

The Frenchman mounted a solo climb to the finish of the 178.2 kilometre stage from Ribera de Arriba to the Lakes of Covadonga.

It propelled the Groupama-FDJ man to the victory as Britain and Mitchelton–Scott's Yates finished third ahead of his general classification rivals.

After 35km of hard racing a breakaway group of 12 managed to create a gap to the peloton.

None of the top three riders in the general classification or the eventual stage winner, Pinot, went with the group.

Yates' Mitchelton-Scott team controlled the gap, which at 80km was around five minutes.

Astana decided to up the pace of the peloton and as they ascended the Mirador del Fito they closed the gap from 5mins 30secs to 3:40, within 7km of climbing.

With 40km to go, the peloton were only 2:59 down on the leaders and continued to erode their advantage.

The peloton caught the breakaway riders which gave Miguel Angel Lopez of Colombia a chance to attack.

Fellow Colombian Nairo Quintana of Movistar went with the Astana rider but they were reeled in.

Pinot took advantage of the general classification contenders attacking each other and lodged a solo challenge.

With 6km to go he held off the challenge of Lopez and won the stage.

Lopez finished second and 28 seconds behind Pinot, but only two seconds ahead of red jersey wearer Yates.

Spain's Movistar cyclist Alejandro Valverde crossed the line two seconds after Yates, whilst Quintana dropped six seconds.

It meant Yates extended his lead at the top of the general classification standings with a lead of 26 seconds after stage 15.

Home favourite Valverde sits second, with Quintana seven seconds behind him.

Astana's Lopez is fourth with a 43 seconds deficit to Yates.

The race will begin its final week on Tuesday (September 11) after a rest day tomorrow GP de Québec in Canada.

Another cycling World Tour race was held today, with the one-day Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal taking place.

Australia's Michael Matthews doubled up in Canada, adding to his Grand Prix de Quebec win two days ago with another race victory for Team Sunweb.

Italy's Sonny Colbrelli of Bahrain-Merida was second and Belgium's Rio 2016 road race champion, Greg Van Avermaet, riding for BMC, third.