Froome loses time on stage 7 of Vuelta de Espana

Tour de France winner Chris Froome was the big loser in the seventh stage of the Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race on Friday.

The British rider ceded 27 seconds to the main group of favorites, including riders such as Alejandro Valverde and Nairo Quintana on what was the first major mountain top finish of this year's race.

The 191 kilometer stage between Jodar and la Alpujarra ended with the 18km climb of the Alto de Capileira, a first category climb, with ramps of up to 14 percent in the final kilometers.

While Froome faltered in the heat, the stage was won by Bert Jan Linderman, who had formed part of a five-man breakaway which had at one stage opened up a gap of 13 minutes over the main peloton.

He ended up just over half a minute behind the main group, which included overall race leader, Esteban Chaves, who retains the red jersey for another day.

Saturday's stage takes the race to Murcia where two third category climbs in the last 40km will likely tempt some riders to strike out for glory, but there could well be a mass sprint if riders such as John Degenkolb or Peter Sagan are able to keep in touch over the climbs. Endi