Dumoulin rides into red as Froome recovers while Chaves run out of steam

Tom Dumoulin produced yet another surprise in a Vuelta de Espana (Tour of Spain) cycle race already full of surprises when he won stage nine of the race on Sunday to once again claim the overall leader's red jersey.

The Giant-Alpacein rider had already worn red earlier in the race before losing it to Esteban Chaves after just one day, but on Sunday he produced hereto unexpected talents to win a thrilling stage ahead of the overall favorites.

The ninth stage began under a cloud following the news that Belgian rider, Kris Boeckmans was in an induced coma following a fall in Saturday's stage, which had also caused four more riders to abandon the race as the result of their injuries.

The stage profile offered a day of flat racing with a second category climb 40 kilometers from the finish and then the short-sharp shock of the first category Alto del Puig Llorenca, which included a brutal section of 19 percent gradient.

It looked the perfect stage for a breakaway, while the explosive climbers, such as Nairo Quintana or overall leader, Esteban Chaves would relish the final climb, which is more suited to their talents than a rider such as Chris Froome, who needs time to find his rhythm and who performs better on longer climbs with fewer changes in gradient.

The reality was somewhat different as Tom Dumoulin, who had been second in the standings, but not known as a specialist climber, attacked on the last climb, while Chaves' legs gave way and he fell back out of a select group, which included Froome, Quintana, Valverde and Joaquin Rodriguez.

Froome had suffered two days earlier, confessing his legs had felt 'empty', but he looked stronger on Sunday and finished just behind Dumoulin, while Rodriguez was third.

Chaves meanwhile slips out of the top positions after finishing over a minute down on the select leaders' group. Endi