In what was the toughest summit finish of the season so far, BORA - hansgrohe leader
Aleksandr Vlasov took a strong win and set himself up for GC glory.
It took almost half of the stage for the breakaway to set off and once it did 11 riders took the head of the race. Lars van den Berg and Attila Valter (Groupama - FDJ), Jan Polanc (UAE - Team Emirates), Jan Tratnik (Bahrain - Victorious), Nicholas Prodhomme and Valentin Paret-Peintre (AG2R Citroën Team), Dimitri Claeys and Sven Erik Bystrøm (Intermarché - Wanty - Gobert Matériaux), Fernando Barceló (Caja Rural - Seguros RGA), Daniel Navarro (Burgos-BH) and Kenny Molly (Bingoal Pauwels Sauces WB) made up for the group.
The peloton never let the gap grow, despite being a strong group it didn't resist, with Jan Tratnik the final survivor being caught within the final climb.
Movistar set a rough early pace and Alejandro Valverde attacked at the base of the steep section of the climb. A calmer period came after though as the riders recollected their strenghts. Inside of the gravel section Aleksandr Vlasov made his move off the front and got a gap over the favourites group, and after getting back on the road the Russia only extended it.
Taking the win, he also took 14 seconds on
Carlos Rodriguez and 21 on
Enric Mas who rounded up the podium. Vlasov is the new leader, and
Remco Evenepoel who started the day in yellow cracked in the final kilometer and arrived 41 seconds after.