Joaquim Rodriguez made one final big attempt to win a stage in the Vuelta a Espana and move onto the podium but the Spaniard was passed by the three strongest riders in the race. Admitting that there were better riders than him, the Katusha leader tried to catch them by surprise.

It was a final day to battle in the mountains of the 2014 Vuelta a España; a final day for big gaps to open up in the general classification. Sitting in fourth place and needing 57-seconds to move into third, Team Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez knew his only chance to move onto the podium would come if he went long on the final climb of stage 20.

At 9 km to go ‘Purito’ made his move on the steepest part of the climb and quickly opened up a gap of some 30 seconds on the 12,7 km climb, leaving the top general classification contenders behind him as he tried to gain time on third place. At the stage end Rodriguez remained in fourth place but was satisfied in knowing his gave his best effort to make something happen. 

"My attack was not for show – I attacked to win. I wanted to gain time. I wanted to surprise everyone when I attacked. In the end it was too hard for me but I went for it. I had to. I knew if I was in front it would work better for me to have a gap before Contador and Froome started attacking each other. I have to be realistic – those two are on a higher level at this Vuelta. I’m happy I could stay with Aru in the end as he was my closest competitor for 4th place," said team leader Joaquim Rodriguez. 

"There were better riders than me in this race. I could only make a surprise. I gave everything today and I am happy. I liked this climb of Puerto de Ancares. Once Froome passed me, I knew there were an easier section and I hoped to reach it with them but I could not follow his first acceleration."

Once the pitch was less, Alberto Contador and Christopher Froome (Sky) rode back to Rodriguez and eventually passed him to fight for the stage win between the two of them. With Froome needing 1.19, Contador only needed to follow the wheel and respond to every attack Froome made. In the end Contador simply rode around Froome in the last kilometer and won the stage by a 16-second gap to the Sky rider after more than five hours of racing. Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) found his legs and managed to take third place at 57-seconds, followed by Rodriguez at 1.18 and Fabio Aru at 1.21, making the stage finish positions the same as those for the general classification with only one stage left to race. Team Katusha remains the best in the teams classification with more than 39-minutes to Movistar.

"I’m very happy with the work of the team this entire Vuelta. It’s a pity that I could not offer more than a fourth place, but I gave the maximum. We were so close to a stage win a few times, like with Moreno. It looks easy to win a stage as we’ve always done in the Vuelta with Katusha, but that’s not always the case. This Vuelta was hard and every day we rode faster. It certainly wasn’t boring for TV watchers but for us it was very hard. I’m proud of the team. Katusha is the strongest team and we will win the teams general classification. We kept fighting every day and there has been tremendous team spirit," said Joaquim Rodriguez.

After tackling 40 climbs in a three week period, Contador opened up his lead once again by taking the win. After 81 hours of racing, he leads by 1.37 to Froome, 2.35 to Valverde, 3.57 to Rodriguez and 4.46 to Aru. Daniel Moreno is 11th, while Giampaolo Caruso, who finished 7th today, is 14th in overall.

The 186 km stage began in Santo Estevo de Ribas de Sil and moved over four climbs to finish on the beyond category Puerto de Ancares. An original break of four riders saw a maximum advantage of 8 minutes but fell apart on the final two climbs, with the lone figure of Przemyslaw Niemiec (Lampre) the last to be reeled in near the start of the last climb. Rodriguez was the first to go, followed by several attacks from Froome, but in the end the results remained the same going into the final day of racing. At 9,7 km the flat individual time trial for stage 21 is in Santiago de Compostela.

"For me this has been a difficult year with a lot of bad luck, but I’m happy and the season is not over yet. After one week with my family I will concentrate on the Worlds," said Joaquim Rodriguez.  

"I am realistic, I am not at the top but I was at my level. This is my first Vuelta since 2010 without a stage win, unless I win the time trial. Contador and Froome are a level above the rest and it is logical that Valverde is the leader in Spain at the next World Championships. I have not seen the ciruit but I have been told it suits him perfectly. He will be the favorite."