Yates closes in on first Tour of Spain crown by extending lead

SANT JULIA DE LORIA (Andorra): Simon Yates (pic) moved closer to winning the Tour of Spain for the first time after gaining more than a minute on Alejandro Valverde in the 19th stage, which was won by Thibaut Pinot.

Pinot outlasted Yates at the end of the final climb on Friday in the tiny nation of Andorra, crossing the line five seconds ahead of the British rider for his second stage win in this year’s Vuelta. Valverde finished eighth, more than a minute behind.

Yates will take a lead of 1 minute, 38 seconds over Valverde into the 97.3km 20th stage, a short but very demanding ride over six categorised climbs. The three-week Grand Tour race ends today in Madrid.

“I haven’t won La Vuelta yet,” Yates said.

“I’m very wary of tomorrow. We saw today what can happen in just one day. Of course I enjoyed today, but it’s not over until it’s over.” Valverde was not giving up yet. “What’s happened to me today can also happen to him (Yates) tomorrow,” Valverde said.

“To win La Vuelta is complicated, for sure. It was complicated this morning, it’s complicated now, but it’s not impossible. We’re going to try. I’m still confident.”

Nairo Quintana had a punctured tire with less than 7km (4.3 miles) to go and dropped more than four minutes off the lead, virtually out of contention.

Pinot had won the challenging 15th stage on Sunday with a dominant charge on the iconic climb into Lagos de Covadonga. — AP