Vuelta a Espana 2015: Full Standings and Highlights After Stage 19 Results

Alexis Gougeard won Stage 19 of the Vuelta a Espana as Tom Dumoulin extended his lead in the general classification on Friday.

The Frenchman made a solo attack with just over 20 kilometres remaining and ultimately won comfortably—40 seconds ahead of his nearest competitor.

In the general classification, Dumoulin gained a crucial three seconds over Fabio Aru ahead of the final competitive stage on Saturday.

Here are the results from Stage 19 from CyclingNews.com and the updated standings, courtesy of Sky Sports Cycling:

Rank	Rider	Time
1	1 Alexis Gougeard (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 4:19:20	4:19:20
2	2 Nelson Oliveira (Por) Lampre-Merida 0:00:40	0:00:40
3	3 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Lotto Soudal 0:00:44	0:00:44
4	4 Andrey Amador (CRc) Movistar Team 0:00:44	0:00:44
5	5 Tiago Machado (Por) Team Katusha 0:00:44	0:00:44
6	6 Amael Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:00:44	0:00:44
7	7 Fabio Duarte (Col) Colombia 0:00:53	0:00:53
8	8 David Arroyo (Spa) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA 0:01:03	0:01:03
9	9 Christian Knees (Ger) Team Sky 0:01:17	0:01:17
10	10 Francisco Ventoso (Spa) Movistar Team 0:01:17	0:01:17

A 24-strong break including Gougeard powered ahead of the peloton just five kilometres into the stage and built up a 12-minute lead over the first hour, but with no one from Dumoulin's Giant-Alpecin or Aru's Astana among them, both teams remained content back with the group.

Indeed, after 70 kilometres, the lead had stretched to over 13 minutes and 20 seconds.

Back in the peloton, a crash saw both contenders at the top of the classification go down, per Sporza Wielrennen, via cycling commentator Jose Been:

Aru saw the team doctor twice in the aftermath of the collision, but he remained with the main group as Giant-Alpecin and Astana headed the peloton.

Back in the break, Maxime Bouet was first over the climb at the category-three Alto de Valdavia, with Christian Knees and Ricardo Vilela close behind, over 15 minutes ahead.

With 42 kilometres to go, Katusha's Tiago Machado made a solo attack. The Portuguese rider built up a 30-second lead over the break, but he was reeled in and passed 12 kilometres later as Gougeard and Leonardo Duque caught up with him—the former claiming the sprint at El Barraco.

The 8.7-kilometre, category-two Alto de la Paramera proved punishing for Duque as he dropped away from the others, followed swiftly by Machado, leaving Gougeard alone at the front.

The 22-year-old topped the climb 30 seconds ahead of his rivals and pushed on to win the stage by a further 10 seconds. 

Velocast's Scott O'Raw and VeloNews' Andrew Hood anticipated fireworks from Dumoulin and Aru at the close in Avila, owing to the climbing, cobbled section along the medieval walls of the Spanish town:

The pair were not disappointed.

With nine kilometres remaining for the red jersey riders, Alejandro Valverde was the first to attack and built up a narrow 10-second lead over his competitors as Aru and Dumoulin remained virtually joined at the hip.

Valverde was soon caught by John Degenkolb and Lawson Craddock though, before Dumoulin made his move with just over a kilometre to go.

The Dutchman roared ahead of Aru, who could only chase in desperation as he finished three seconds ahead of the Italian. Hood was impressed with the display:

Dumoulin was pleased with the result, but conceded that it will be far from smooth sailing for the remainder of the Tour. Per Susan Westemeyer of CyclingNews, he said:

"

I am satisfied, every additional second is good. There were some unexpected moves by Movistar. Up front, some people had doubts about the strength of the team but today we showed that we and ride very strongly. They did a perfect lead out on the final uphill section and I could finish it off.

We have to look at ourselves, believe in our own strength and make a good plan for tomorrow. Tomorrow will be a decisive stage and a very tough one too.

"

Ultimately, this year's Vuelta will excitingly come down to the final competitive stage on Saturday.

Stage 20 is incredibly hilly with four category-one climbs as the riders make their way to Cercedilla. Aru still has a strong chance of snatching the Tour victory from Dumoulin, so expect Astana to race hard in a bid to seal the win for their rider.