Great Britain’s Simon Yates extended his a Vuelta a España lead with a strong showing in Tuesday’s individual time trial on stage 16.

Australia’s Rohan Dennis won the 32-kilometre race from Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega in 37 minutes 57 seconds – 50 seconds clear of his BMC Racing team-mate Joseph Rosskopf of the United States.

Yates (Mitchelton-Scott) finished 13th, 1min 28sec behind Dennis, but crucially ahead of all bar two of his rivals for the general classification. The Netherlands’ Steven Kruijswijk was fourth on the stage, 37sec ahead of Yates, and Spain’s Enric Mas was sixth, 25sec ahead of the Briton. But Spain’s Alejandro Valverde and Colombia’s Nairo Quintana conceded seven and 42sec to Yates, respectively.

Dennis is not in overall contention and was targeting the stage as preparation for the Road World Championships time trial later this month.

Yates had, on Monday’s rest day, attempted to downplay his chances of holding the red jersey all the way to Madrid. But the 26-year-old Bury rider, not renowned for his talent against the clock, has a strong cushion with four days of racing remaining before Sunday’s processional stage in the Spanish capital.

Yates now leads from Valverde by 33sec, with Kruijswijk, who had begun the day 1:29 behind, now third, 52sec adrift. Quintana dropped to fourth, 1:15 behind.

Yates can expect his advantage to come under attack in Wednesday’s hilly 17th stage, the 157km route from Getxo to Balcón de Bizkaia in the Basque Country.