Astana's Lopez 6th in GC of La Vuelta a Espana Stage 16

ASTANA. KAZINFORM - The Vuelta a España has restarted after the second rest day with a tough individual time trial for 32 km from Santillana del Mar to Torrelavega. Astana's leader Miguel Angel Lopez did all he could on the distance and finished 31st, 2 minutes 19 seconds behind the stage winner Rohan Dennis, Kazinform has learnt from the club's press service.

"I think, Miguel Angel did a good time trial, he rode really well, did not do any mistake on the distance, so he showed all he could in this discipline. We had a plan for this TT and he performed it perfectly. This is his current level in this kind of races and we knew it before the start. The main goal was not to lose too much to the other favorites and I think he succeeded. Of course, would be nice to lose less, but this is the situation for the moment. So, the time trial is passed, now we are heading to the last and the most decisive stages in the mountains. For sure, we will try to do something in the next days. The race will end in Madrid," said sports director Dmitri Sedoun.

The individual time trial of today's stage 16 produced some changes in the general classification of La Vuelta. The Britton Simon Yates still holds the lead, having 33 seconds on Alejandro Valverde and 52 seconds on Steven Kruijswijk, who moved up to third position after a solid ITT. Astana's Miguel Angel Lopez moved down to 6th place, having 1 minute 34 seconds behind the leader, but still close to all the favorites.

Stage 17 will become another tough challenge for the riders: 157 km from Getxo to the top of a very steep climb Balkon de Bizkaia.