The final Grand Tour of the year, the Vuelta a España, has come to a close. As expected, pre-race favourite Chris Froome (Sky) came out on top, becoming the first rider to win the Tour de France and Vuelta a España in the same season since Bernard Hinault in 1978.
In what was arguably the hardest Grand Tour of the year, Froome saw off the challenge of Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrain Merida) to win by a comfortable margin of just over two minutes. Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) rounded out the hotly contested podium, edging out Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) and crowd favourite Alberto Contador (Trek-Segafredo).
The Vuelta was the final race of Contador’s career, and in the final week the Spaniard was at his aggressive best. He was on the attack on seemingly every stage, showing the same tenacity that helped him to victory in seven Grand Tours. He capped it all off with a storybook victory on top of the Alto de L’Angliru on stage 20.
While the Vuelta may not have been the major general classification battle we were hoping for, it was still a fascinating Grand Tour with multiple stage winners and plenty of action every day. In the end, the strongest rider with the best team came out on top.
Enjoy our gallery of selected images from the last week of the season’s final Grand Tour.
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- Miguel Indurain was the VIP guest of the day for the stage 16 individual time trial. “Big Mig” won the Tour de France five times in a row, but never won his home Grand Tour.
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- Wilco Kelderman (Sunweb) rode strongly to finish second, only 27 seconds down on Chris Froome, to boost his podium chances.
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- While it was not the dominant performance many expected, Chris Froome still extended his lead by winning the 40km time trial.
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- Contador rode well in the final time trial of his career to place fifth.
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- Romain Bardet (AG2R La Mondiale) is not known for his time trialling ability and did not do anything to convince people otherwise at the Vuelta, crashing early and having to finish on a spare bike.
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- Esteban Chaves (Orica-Scott) had a bad day, losing more than four minutes.
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- Froome had every reason to smile. His second stage win of the Vuelta saw his lead grow to nearly two minutes.
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- Contador spent much of the last week attacking off the front and stage 17 was no different. He finished second on the stage and gained over 30 seconds on his rivals.
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- Eventual stage winner Stefan Denifl (Aqua Blue Sport) grinds his way up the final climb.
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- Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) and Vincenzo Nibali (Bahrian Merida) distanced Chris Froome on the final climb and stole 42 seconds to put the race leader under pressure.
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- Signs of Froome cracking? Both he and Team Sky were under the pump on the final ascent.
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- Wout Poels digs deep.
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- Aussie Nick Schulz (Caja Rural-Seguros) battles his way through his first Grand Tour.
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- Denifl gives Aqua Blue Sport its first Grand Tour victory in what is the Pro Continental team’s debut season.
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- The peloton makes its way through the scenic stage 18
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- Team Sky controls the peloton for team leader Froome.
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- The Spanish fans always put on a show.
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- Miguel Angel Lopez (Astana) had a breakthrough Grand Tour finishing in the top 10 and winning two stages.
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- The 2017 Vuelta was Contador’s final race as a professional. He was relentless throughout, attacking seemingly every day of the race, particularly in the mountains.
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- Sander Armee (Lotto Soudal) was part of a 20-rider breakaway that was whittled down in the closing kilometres of the stage.
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- Sander Armée (Lotto-Soudal) punches the air in celebration after reaching the finish line solo. It was the 31-year-old’s first victory as a professional.
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- After struggling through the previous stage, Chris Froome bounced back on stage 18 to further extend his overall lead.
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- Another day, another stage in the mountains.
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- “Don’t go Contador”
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- Contador went on the attack once again on stage 19.
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- Mountains classification leader Davide Villella (Cannondale-Drapac) spent much of the Vuelta in the breakaway on his way to securing the jersey.
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- Thomas De Gendt (Lotto-Soudal) celebrates his team’s fourth victory in the race, taking stage 19 from a sprint in the breakaway.
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- De Gendt spent 15 stages in the breakaway during his two Grand Tours this year.
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- Stage 20 presented Contador with his last chance of a stage win. It finished on the brutal Alto de l’Angliru, where he’d won back in 2008 to set up his first Vuelta win.
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- … and went on to win on the final summit finish of his career.
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- Chris Froome secured his first Vuelta a España victory by finishing third on the day.
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- Wilco Kelderman battled hard to defend his third place overall…
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- … but ultimately fell just short, losing out to Zakarin by 24 seconds.
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- For much of the peloton, simply making it to the finish is a battle on l’Angliru.
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- The podium leaders congratulate each other in the traditional laid-back start to the final stage.
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- The final stage through Madrid was the last chance for the crowds to see Alberto Contador in action.
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- Contador rode part of the stage solo off the front to thank the crowds.
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- Matteo Trentin (Quickstep Floors) again showed he was the best sprinter at the 2017 Vuelta, winning the final stage — his fourth of the race. Trentin came agonisingly close to winning the green points jersey but Chris Froome’s 11th place on the final stage meant the Briton held the jersey by a slim two points.
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- The final general classification podium after a tough three weeks.
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- The most dominant team in cycling? Team Sky after winning their second Grand Tour of the year.
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- In 2017, Froome became the third person to win the Tour de France and Vuelta a España in the same year, and the first since the Vuelta became the final Grand Tour of the year, in 1995. He might yet lose that Vuelta title …