CHRIS FROOME tightened his grip on the overall lead at La Vuelta by coasting to victory in the stage 16 time trial
The Team Sky rider, who is aiming to become the first person to win the Tour de France and La Vuelta in the same year since 1978, clocked 47 minutes exactly over the 25-mile course.
Froome’s time was almost a full minute faster than nearest rival Vincenzo Nibali, of Bahrain-Merida, who was third.
With five stages left, Froome now leads Italian Nibali by 1min and 58sec in the race for the red jersey.
Froome said: “To extend my lead and to be in this position with four big days of racing left is obviously a great position to be in, but I am going to take it one day at a time.
“I’ve got a good buffer but the race is not over. I have to keep fighting every day now, but this is one step closer to Madrid.
“To extend my lead now and to be in this position with 4 big days of racing left now is obviously a great position to be in, but I am going to take it one day at a time.
“I’ve got a good buffer but the race is not over. I have to keep fighting every day now, but this is one step closer to Madrid.
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“Tomorrow will be brutal. Absolutely brutal. From what I can see the final climb is a wall, so it will be a big GC battle.”
Team Sunweb rider Wilco Kelderman, meanwhile, climbed up into the top three of the general classification standings after being closest to Froome in the time trial, some 29 seconds off the pace.
Russian Ilnur Zakarin (Katusha-Alpecin) is now fourth, 27 seconds back from Kelderman, as the battle for a podium place in Madrid intensifies, but Fabio Aru (Astana) looks out of contention after only managing 26th place in the time trial.
Veteran Spaniard Alberto Contador, the Trek-Segafredo rider who is set to retire following the conclusion of La Vuelta 2017, moved into fifth place overall after his run of 47mins 59secs.
La Vuelta continues on Wednesday with stage 17 of 180.5km from Villadiego to Los Machucos, which includes another summit finish.
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