Vuelta Stage 15: Lampre's Przemyslaw Niemiec wins at Lagos de Covadonga, Alberto Contador keeps lead

Przemyslaw Niemiec of Lampre-Merida has won Stage 15 of the Vuelta a Espana at Lagos de Covadongo, with Movistar’s Alejandro Valverde second, five seconds back, and Joaquin Rodriguez of Katusha third.

Tinkoff-Saxo’s Alberto Contador finished fourth on the hors-categorie ascent at the end of the 152.2km stage from the Asturian capital, Oviedo, and retains the race leader’s red jersey.

However, a five second gap at the line over Contador and bonus seconds mean that Valverde has got some of the time back that he lost yesterday, and he now lies 31 seconds off the lead.

Team Sky’s Chris Froome finished sixth today and lost the seven second he had gained on Contador yesterday and remains third position overall, 1 minute 20 seconds off the race lead, with Rodriguez fourth on an identical time.

<iframe width="500"   src="http://www.procyclingstats.com/widgets/pcs-race-results.php?id=139145&re... scrolling="YES" frameborder="0" height="356">