France’s Julian Alaphilippe signalled his return to top form after knee surgery when he took his maiden grand tour win in the eighth stage of the Vuelta a España on Saturday.

Chris Froome, looking to become the first rider to achieve a Tour de France-Vuelta double since 1978, attacked on the final climb to extend his overall lead because only Alberto Contador could follow him.

QuickStep Floors rider Alaphilippe, who missed the Tour de France, was part of the breakaway and followed Rafal Majka’s attacks on the final climb, a brutal ascent featuring gradients of more than 20%.

He was the quickest in the final sprint after 199.5km, beating Slovenia’s Jan Polanc (UAE Team Emirates) and Bora-Argon’s Majka by two seconds.

“I did not expect to win the stage today. It was complicated as I did not feel that great. I was more thinking about tomorrow,” Alaphilippe said.

In the group of overall contenders, Froome appeared to struggle but only Contador could take his wheel when the Team Sky rider accelerated 4km from the finish. The duo gained 17 seconds on their closest rivals.

Froome leads Colombia’s Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) by 28sec and Ireland’s Nicolas Roche (BMC Racing) by 41.

Contador (Trek-Segafredo), in his final race before heading into retirement, is 17th, 3:10 off the pace after losing considerable ground in the first week but the Spaniard had been gradually climbing up the rankings.