• Movistar rider pips Peter Sagan to take his second stage • Rudy Molard still has 37-second lead over Valverde

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Spain’s Alejandro Valverde grabbed a second stage win of this year’s Vuelta a España by pipping Peter Sagan to the finish line in a thrilling uphill sprint on Saturday to cut the gap behind overall leader Rudy Molard to 10 seconds.

Valverde, who is second overall, closed to within 37 seconds of leader Rudy Molard thanks to the 10-second bonus he was awarded for claiming stage eight. The Movistar rider has won 11 stages at his home race after also winning the second stage. His 2009 Vuelta title is his only Grand Tour victory.

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The 38-year-old Movistar rider surged past Sagan over the final short climb to finish the mostly flat 195km ride from Linares to Almadén in four and a half hours.

“[I’m] older in years, yes, but not in my physical or mental fitness,” Valverde said. “My goal was not to lose time today, but I got on his wheel and was able to overtake him.” Molard of FDJ kept the overall lead for a fourth consecutive day.

Quick guide Vuelta overall standings Show Hide 1 Rudy Molard (FRA) Groupama

2 Alejandro Valverde (ESP) Movistar Team +37sec

3 Emanuel Buchmann (GER) BORA-hansgrohe +48

4 Simon Yates (GBR) Mitchelton-Scott +51

5 Tony Gallopin (FRA) AG2R La Mondiale +59

6 Michal Kwiatkowski (POL) Team Sky +1:06

7 Ion Izagirre (ESP) Bahrain-Merida +1:11

8 Nairo Quintana (COL) Movistar Team +1:14

9 Steven Kruijswijk (NED) Team LottoNL-Jumbo +1:18

10 Enric Mas (ESP) Quick-Step Floors +1:23

11 George Bennett (NZL) Team LottoNL-Jumbo +1:26

12 Miguel Ángel López (COL) Astana Pro Team +1:27





Tiago Machado, Jorge Cubero and Héctor Sáez got out on a breakaway and led by 12 minutes before being reeled in with 6km left.

The mostly uneventful “transition” stage through dry fields dotted with olive trees moved the race towards the mountains of the north in the final two weeks. After easily holding his lead on the flats of Spain’s southern region, Molard should have more difficulty when the race faces its first serious mountain test on Sunday.

Among the title favorites, Simon Yates is fourth, 51 seconds back, Michal Kwiatkowski is sixth, 15 seconds further back, eight seconds ahead of eighth-placed Nairo Quintana.

Stage nine is a 200.8km leg starting in Talavera that crests three categorised climbs before finishing atop the beyond-category La Covatilla summit.

“Tomorrow is a mountain, mountain stage,” Valverde said. “We will really see who has options of making the podium for this Vuelta.”