Chris Froome wins again at Peña Cabarga to close gap on Nairo Quintana

Five years after Team Sky's Froome underlined his credentials as one of the world’s best prospects by beating eventual 2011 Vuelta champion Juan Jose Cobo on the sharp climb to Peña Cabarga, the British rider – who has since won three Tours de France – struck again in Cantabria.

The two outstanding GC riders of the 71st edition of the Vuelta exchanged blows on the steep double-digit gradients of the 5.6km climb before Froome accelerated around the final bend to take the spoils and snatch four bonus seconds over Quintana, who settled for second place in the 168.6km stage from Colunga in northern Spain.

Securing the second Vuelta stage scalp of his career, Froome punched the air theatrically as he leapfrogged Quintana's Movistar team-mate Alejandro Valverde – who finished six seconds back in yet another solid third place – in the overall standings.

A great day for Team Sky also saw Leopold Konig of the Czech Republic take fourth place ahead of Spaniard Alberto Contador of Tinkoff as both riders came home in the same time as Valverde.

Froome now trails Quintana by 54 seconds on GC with Valverde dropping to third at 1:05. Esteban Chaves (Orica-BikeExchange) and Contador complete the top five – although both riders slip further behind despite a spirited attack by the former on Wednesday’s decisive climb.

Once Belgian Ben Hermans (BMC) had become the last rider from a large 23-man breakaway to be reeled in with three kilometres remaining, Chaves exited the brief downhill segment of the climb with pace to open up a small gap on the front of the race.

A double stage winner in last year’s Vuelta, Chaves, the smiling assassin, soon became a grimacing gargoyle as he grappled with the maximum 18% gradient that greeted the riders in the final kilometre.

Valverde, fittingly in green, teed up his team-mate with a little dig before Quintana purred into life – taking Froome, wearing the white combined jersey, with him as they skipped past Chaves with 700 metres remaining.

Behind there was a rally of sorts from Contador, whose Tinkoff team-mates had set a fast tempo going into the climb to bring down the advantage of the break from five minutes to practically nothing in the space of 40 kilometres.

But Contador was unable to match the explosiveness of his rivals as Quintana and Froome rode clear. A brief ceasefire ensued when the road flattened out on the penultimate hairpin of the climb before Froome put in a trademark surge to sweep past Quintana and take his first win of the race.

"I've got some special memories from 2011 here and today adds to that incredible feeling,” said Froome, who was runner-up behind Cobo that year despite his win at Peña Cabarga. "Quintana is definitely riding strongly at the moment. He has the leader's jersey and I'm doing what I can to get closer and closer."

The Vuelta continues on Thursday with the hilly 193.2km stage 12 from Los Corrales de Buelna to Bilbao where four categorised climbs should encourage a break to go the distance ahead of a downhill finish in the Basque city.