Vuelta a Espana 2016: Stage 20 Winner, Highlights, Updated Standings, Schedule

Pierre Latour of AG2R won Stage 20 of the 2016 Vuelta a Espana on Saturday, while Nairo Quintana of Movistar all but secured the overall win, easily keeping up with Team Sky's Chris Froome during the penultimate stage.

Froome had to make up 81 seconds but couldn't shake off the Colombian, who sprinted past his main rival in the final meters. With just one stage left, the battle for the red jersey is surely over.

Orica-BikeExchange's Esteban Chaves passed Alberto Contador of Tinkoff-Saxo in the standings with a risky attack on the penultimate climb, all but securing a podium finish. 

Here's a look at the stage results, per CyclingHub:

The current standings:

Recap

Saturday's stage of the 2016 Vuelta saw the final uphill finish of this year's race, and after Froome's fine showing in the time trial, he chased leader Quintana by just 81 seconds entering the stage.

Movistar were favoured to keep hold of the top spot, with Quintana doing well in the mountains throughout the race. VeloVoices anticipated a sensational penultimate stage:

BMC's Samuel Sanchez didn't start the stage after his crash on Friday, and another bad crash took place not long after the stage started, as Jose Joaquin Rojas was lucky not to fly into a barrier, via Eurosport UK:

According to cycling writer Neal Rogers, Rojas' season is over, as he fractured his ankle. But it could have been far, far worse:

A group of 30 riders went clear of the peloton early, including the top candidates for the mountain classification, who were all aiming for the last haul of points. Seven eventually jumped from that group, including Robert Gesink (LottoNL-Jumbo), Luis Leon Sanchez (Astana) and Mathias Frank (IAM Cycling).

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The frantic start to the stage continued, as Orica-BikeExchange set a high pace in the peloton, hoping to wear out the opposition ahead of the final climb, the Alto de Aitana. The stage finally went into a lull with 80 kilometers left to go, ahead of the highly anticipated finale.

Chaves didn't want to wait until the final climb, however, shocking everyone by launching his first attack with over 40 kilometers still to race. Etixx-Quick-Step were shocked:

The Colombian quickly gained 30 seconds, forcing Contador to take control of the reduced peloton with a long way to go still. Quintana was surrounded by team-mates, but the rest of the favourites found themselves in a less-than-ideal situation.

Contador did bring the gap down to 20 seconds, before Team Sky took control of proceedings in the descent. Damien Howson dropped out of the break to aid team leader Chaves, and his efforts virtually put the Colombian into third place.

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At the front of the race, Rudy Molard of Cofidis and Luis Leon Sanchez of Astana started the final climb in the lead, with the latter keeping an eye on proceedings behind him. Yuri Trofimov of Tinkoff dropped back to aid Contador, while Howson dropped Chaves off with a lead of one minute and 40 seconds over that group.

Eurosport's Felix Lowe was impressed with the domestique:

Sanchez dropped Molard with 12 kilometers remaining, with Lampre-Merida's Valerio Conti on his way. Further back, Orica's Simon Yates attacked Trofimov, hoping to break his cadence and force Contador to take the lead earlier than he liked.

Yates shadowed Contador everywhere he went, and Movistar always kept a man at the front in anticipation of the inevitable attack from Froome. At the front, Frank and BMC's Darwin Atapuma had Sanchez in their sights, and it was the Colombian who first closed the gap.

Behind, Leopold Konig of Team Sky dropped the first bomb, and Quintana followed Contador. Froome launched his attack over four kilometers from the line, immediately dropping Contador, but Quintana easily kept up with the pace. Rogers thought he had to try harder:

The Tour de France winner opened up on the steeper flanks, but Quintana easily parried every attack. At the front, Atapuma and Latour had an epic battle for the stage win, with the latter winning the sprint.

Chaves did enough to beat Contador to the third spot in the overall standings, and Quintana left Froome in his wake at the finish line. The Kenyan sat up and applauded Quintana, a clear gesture this year's Vuelta is over, per Shane Stokes of Cyclingtips.com.au:

Per Cycling News' Barry Ryan, Quintana praised Froome for the fight he put up:

"Froome started attacking very early today, even on the descent of the Rates, but we were always attentive and on that final climb I had no problem to defend myself from the attacks. He's a great rival, and he did a super time trial yesterday. That made me suffer, he is always my top rival."

Froome returned the favour:

Sunday's stage will be little more than a ceremonial ride that will give the leaders a chance to smile for the cameras and drink champagne, with another bunch sprint likely.

Barring a massive crash, the overall standings should remain unchanged.