S8 - Valverde Wins Andorra Stage

Alejandro Valverde finished with a flourish on stage eight at the Vuelta a Espana to take victory on the steep Collada de la Gallina.

The Spaniard (Movistar) was one of an elite group of overall favourites who moved to the head of the pack on the tough Andorran climb as the race exploded in the final kilometres.

Valverde arrived quickly into the last corner with race leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) on his wheel, the pair narrowly overhauling Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) to make up the top three on the day.

Just behind was Brit Chris Froome, the Team Sky rider fading slightly in the closing stages after duking it out on the climb as the favourites traded attacks.

Heading into the closing stages Team Sky had taken control of the race, setting a searing tempo on the previous ascent of the Alto de la Comella in a bid to set up Froome.

The end result saw Rodriguez extend his lead out to 33 seconds over Froome, who dropped 15 seconds in the final metres, with Contador a further seven seconds adrift.

Climbing battle

After an exciting first week of racing the Vuelta continued with what promised to be the toughest stage of racing thus far, 174.7km on the agenda as the peloton rolled out of Lleida.

What ensued was a gruelling first hour, numerous attacks fired off the front as teams and riders lined up to make their way into the day's break.

With a first hour averaging 53kp/h in the books and still no riders up the road, a truce was finally called as six riders were allowed clear, the gap quickly stretching out to over nine minutes with no one from a leading GC team involved.

That allowed the peloton to draw breath before the road began to drag upwards and Team Sky hit the front with numbers.

As expected the final climb and its 18 hairpins proved decisive. A new climb in the race, one by one the Team Sky riders peeled off before the attacks began in earnest.

It was left to Valverde to take an impressive victory and move himself right back into contention following his stage four crash and subsequent time loss.