Latour wins penultimate stage as Quintana holds off Froome to virtually assure Vuelta

Pierre-Roger Latour won the 20th stage of the Vuelta de Espana cycle race on Saturday on a day when Nairo Quintana virtually assured he will be crowned as the winner of the race when the final stage reaches Madrid on Sunday.

Quintana saw 2.16 minutes clipped off his lead by Froome who began the day 1.21 behind in the overall classification.

The stage saw four second category climbs before finishing on the special category Alto de Aitana, but supported by his powerful Movistar team Quintana was able to hold off the repeated attacks by Froome, who was left with just David Lopez for support on the final climb.

Perhaps Froome knew all along that he would be unable to make up over a minute on the Colombian, but that didn't stop him giving everything and his legs were empty when Quintana sprinted away from him in the final meters.

In the end the only change to the podium sees Esteban Chaves (Orica Bike Exchange) overtake Alberto Contador to move into third place.

Chavez also attacked on the final climb to claw back over a minute from the Spaniard, who was clearly suffering from his efforts on Friday. Enditem