Britain's Chris Froome tightened his grip on the overall lead at La Vuelta by coasting to victory in the stage 16 time trial from Circuito de Navarra to Logrono.
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 40.2km 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 one minute and 58 seconds 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.”
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 47minutes 59 seconds.
Ireland's Nicolas Roche finished in 29th place to lie in 17th position overall.
La Vuelta continues on Wednesday with stage 17 of 180.5km from Villadiego to Los Machucos, which includes another summit finish.
