The Avila finish will always be on Nelson Oliveira's mind as the place where he almost succeeded in realizing an outstanding double of victories in the 2015 Vuelta a Espana. The Portuguese rider from Team Lampre-Merida confirmed his top form in the 19th stage too, obtaining 2nd place at 40" from the winner Gougeard.

Oliveira tried to achieve the big goal in the same way he had obtained the victory in the 13th stage in Tarrazona, which was also from a breakaway. The group of attackers who escaped from the bunch after few kilometers was very large, 24 riders, and it had full liberty from the peloton, reaching a maximum advantage of more than 18 minutes.

Thanks to this large gap, the front riders could focus their attention on the last climb, the 2nd category climb of the Alto de la Paramera, where the battle for the victory of the stage began.

In the many attack attempts, Oliveira tried to gauge his effort but Gougeard was too strong: the French rider attacked and no one could follow him.

Behind Gougeard, Oliveira was the most brilliant on the final climb and he succeeded in taking second.

"Nelson was great in combining his very good condition with his skill in understanding the most interesting actions to escape from the bunch,” sports director Orlando Maini said. “The breakaway, with 24 riders, had good chances to be a winning action, Oliveira succeded in being competitive, but Gougeard was too strong today.

“The victory would have been an outstanding result, but Lampre-Merida can be happy with the second place, because it's another top result which gives value to the very positive performances we have delivered in the Spanish race.”