Santiago Buitrago took his second runner up finish of this year’s La Vuelta on Stage 19, following another strong performance from Bahrain Victorious in the mountains.

The 210.8 km stage from Velez – Malaga to Peñas Blancas featured more than 4000 metres of climbing and was decided from a 16 rider breakaway that included both Buitrago and Pau Miquel.

Miquel produced a huge effort in support of his teammate before Buitrago made his move on the final climb. The Colombian pushed clear in the closing kilometres, but was caught and passed by Eddie Dunbar inside the final 400 metres.

Dunbar (Pinarello – Q36.5) won the stage, with Buitrago finishing second at 14 seconds and Thomas Gloag (Pinarello – Q36.5) completing the podium at 23 seconds.

Buitrago also retained the KOM jersey ahead of another decisive mountain stage on Saturday.

Buitrago said: “Stage 19 and another second place. Above all, I want to thank Pau, who did an exceptional job. I couldn’t have asked any more from him, and it’s a shame I couldn’t reward his work with the victory. Personally, it’s a little sad to come so close to raising my arms again, but this shows our spirit and that we will keep fighting until the end. We still have the jersey, and tomorrow is a very hard stage. We hope to recover well and try again.”