Blazin' Saddles: Celebrating one helluva Vuelta skelter

American veteran Tyler Farrar branded it "the hardest ever Vuelta" and described a peloton constantly "on its breaking point". But the pain in Spain (not to mention the lack of rain) was all for spectatorial gain with a race far superior than any of the other Grand Tours this season.

Let's take a look back now at the past three weeks of racing – at the riders which shaped the race, the key stats, moments and questions, not to mention the controversies and crashes.

It is fair or frivolous to say that the Colombian was not the stand-out rider in the race? Sure, the best man won and all that – but in the end it took a move instigated from one of his rivals for Quintana to distance the man who posed the biggest (only?) threat.

This Vuelta gave proof that on his day Quintana is a better pure climber than Chris Froome but a far inferior time triallist. We knew that before. If anything, the Colombian's performance merely proved that his torrid July in France was merely a blip. But it took a monumental hash by Froome and his Sky team-mates for Quintana to finally get one better of his old rival.

Still, over the course of the entire race, Quintana was the strongest. He beat the tenacious Froome fair and square – and for the first time in a Grand Tour. That monkey now off his back, perhaps we'll see Quintana getting better and better. Surely this was just the tip of the iceberg? But is he yet capable of doing it in the Tour – against a fresher Froome and his Sky army? It's doubtful.

What quickly became known as 'The Ambush of Formigal' was inspired by the most attacking rider of the race – the man who never gave up despite being on the back foot from the get-go, following his Tinkoff team's woeful opening time trial. Indeed, were it not for Alberto Contador's quick-thinking opportunism at the start of stage 15 to Formigal, Quintana may not have ridden into Madrid in red.

The seconds by which Froome trailed Quintana going into stage 15. The shortest stage of the race would prove the most eventful after Contador and Quintana each attacked with two team-mates – dropping an isolated Froome and pulling off huge coup. By the end of the day, Froome trailed his rival by 3:37 – rendering his impressive 2+ minute victory in the time trial to Calpe immaterial.

On the surface, a tough call. Like Orica, Etixx-QuickStep notched four stage wins through Gianni Meersman (twice), Gianluca Brambilla and David de la Cruz (who also wore the red jersey for a day). Unlike Orica, however, they didn't do so while fighting a GC battle on two fronts.

The Australian team's ability to allow their riders individual freedom while pursuing the collective cause was something not seen in a Grand Tour in recent memory – with Simon Yates, Jens Keukeleire and Magnus Cort Nielsen (twice) all getting on the score sheet while both Yates and Esteban Chaves pushed the GC favourites in the battle for the red jersey.

Yates' attack en route to the Aubisque – where he used three team-mates who were placed further up the road in the break – was a tactical masterclass, while one week later the team pulled off a similar coup when Chaves attacked on the penultimate climb of the race, to be picked up and paced by the selfless Damien Howson.

On top of all that, Orica-BikeExchange looks like a place where the riders have fun. They clearly all get on, there's a superb camaraderie, the results are coming in – and Chaves' trademark smile was just one of nine beaming across the entire team. Yates didn't quite make the top five but it was a promising result on his major comeback, while Chaves showed true grit to overturn his time trial wobble and leapfrog Contador back onto the podium.

Almost two thirds of all stage winners in this Vuelta were tasting success for the very first time on a Grand Tour – quite an extraordinary stat. While the Giro witnessed 10 first-time winners and the Tour just five, the Vuelta had 13 riders stand atop the podium to break their Grand Tour duck – from riders just four days into their Grand Tour careers (Lilian Calmejane) to riders in their eighth Grand Tour, out of contract and aged 35 (Sergey Lagutin).

One of those first-time winners was the rangy Dutchman, who took advantage of his team leader Steven Kruijswijk's early departure to open up his Grand Tour account at the 12th attempt. Second at Lagos de Covadonga, first in the queen stage atop the Aubisque, third on the brutally steep Alto Mas de la Costa and fifth on the Alto de Aitana, the 30-year-old Gesink was the most consistent climber on the race, closely followed by his trusty sidekick Kenny Elissonde of FDJ (together, cycling's answer to Little and Large).

That the bollard that brought down the Dutchman in the hectic climax of stage 5 to Ludo was not marked clearly was an unforgivable oversight – especially in the light of Peter Stetina's similarly horrific crash in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco one year earlier. It was one moment of huge controversy in an otherwise well organised and – for the most part – correctly attended Vuelta.

When 91 riders finished in the peloton (and another two just ahead) almost 54 minutes in arrears on that fateful day to Formigal the race organisers faced a headache: either kick over half the race out, or bend the rules and allow them to race on. They chose the latter – much to the consternation of many of those who had dug deep to finish within the time cut.

Even Chris Froome – the only Sky rider to finish within the limit – admitted later that he felt all his team-mates should probably have been booted out. Instead, the race carried on – and a day later the entire top 10 at Peniscola (including winner Jean-Pierre Drucker) were riders who had been part of that massive gruppetto.

After the hilliest Vuelta in years just one point separated winner Omar Fraile (Dimension Data) and Kenny Elissonde (FDJ) in the battle for the blue polka dot jersey. The number one also corresponds to the scarily low number of stage wins from the host nation – with David de la Cruz the only Spaniard to top the podium.

The Italian may have not won a stage but his consistency saw him overtake Alejandro Valverde – the man who usually wins the Vuelta's green points jersey – at the 11th hour. That Felline – a man better knock for his kick than his climbing ability – secured the green jersey (by just three points) with a series of strong performances in the mountains (Valverde's favoured terrain) was all the more reason to admire his achievement.

Third at both Formigal and the Alto de Aitana as well as top threes in Lugo, Luintra and Bilbao – not to forget a top 10 at Lagos de Covadonga – was an impressive return from Felline, Spain's answer to Laurent Jalabert.

Five riders wore the red jersey for the first time in their careers: Peter Kennaugh, Michal Kwiatkowski, Ruben Fernandez, Darwin Atampuma and David de la Cruz.

Part of the break in the penultimate stage, the young Frenchman will rue the stupidity of a fan showing more excitement about the prospect of being on TV than the approaching riders...

First time in history that all three Grand Tours has had at least one Colombian rider on the podium: Giro – Chaves, 2nd; Tour – Quintana, 3rd; Vuelta – Quintana, 1st; Chaves, 3rd.

Contador came into the race having never lost a Vuelta but left failing to make the podium. Team time trial woes, early issues on the Mirador de Izaro and a crash in stage seven conspired to see the Spaniard well down on GC before he mounted a comeback of sorts with a series of attacks – all of which, though spectacular, fizzled out quicker than a November sparkler. Will Contador ever win a Grand Tour again? It's doubtful. But he'll continue trying.

For the first time since 1996 there was no Spaniard on the Vuelta podium following Valverde's implosion on the Aubisque and Contador's penultimate day robbing at the hands of Chaves. Worse still, David de la Cruz's stage win was the only Spanish scalp of the race – the worst return for the host nation since that same fateful year, when there were no home wins.

The likes of Mikel Landa, Ruben Fernandez, Fraile and De la Cruz offer hope going forward for Spanish cycling – but never before has a nation so acutely felt the decline and departure of its three leading lights in Joaquim Rodriguez, Contador and Valverde.