Chris Froome: 'Our plan worked to perfection'

Sky leader gains 21 seconds on Vuelta a España rival Vincenzo Nibali after tactical plan for final climbs works to perfection on stage 18

Chris Froome on stage 18 of the Vuelta a España

(Image credit: Yuzuru Sunada)

The Vuelta a España’s rollercoaster final week continued on the short climb to the stage 18 finish at Santo Torinio de Liébana, where Chris Froome regained half of the time he lost to Vincenzo Nibali on Los Machucos 24 hours earlier.

The Briton came in 21 seconds ahead of the Italian, pushing his lead out to 1-37 at the end of a stage where Sky’s tactical plan worked to perfection.

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Peter Cossins has been writing about professional cycling since 1993, with his reporting appearing in numerous publications and websites including Cycling WeeklyCycle Sport and Procycling - which he edited from 2006 to 2009. Peter is the author of several books on cycling - The Monuments, his history of cycling's five greatest one-day Classic races, was published in 2014, followed in 2015 by Alpe d’Huez, an appraisal of cycling’s greatest climb. Yellow Jersey - his celebration of the iconic Tour de France winner's jersey won the 2020 Telegraph Sports Book Awards Cycling Book of the Year Award.