Vuelta a Espana: Simon Yates takes major step towards maiden grand tour with dominant stage 19 display

Simon Yates powered away from his closest rivals to open up a gap of around a minute and a half from his nearest challenger, Alejandro Valverde

Thibaut Pinot won the stage as Yates, background, finished second (Getty)

Simon Yates took a crucial step towards winning his first grand tour after powering away from his rivals en route to Andorra to extend his advantage in the Vuelta a Espana.

Yates finished second on the stage to Frenchman Thibaut Pinot to open up a significant gap of 1 min 38 sec from his nearest challenger in the general classification, Alejandro Valverde, at the end of stage 19.

The 25-year-old Briton must now overcome only one more stage – Saturday’s explosive 97km route to Coll de la Gallina, featuring five categorised climbs – to all but clinch the red jersey, with only Sunday’s procession to Madrid to follow.

Valverde’s teammate Nairo Quintana made the first move of the leading contenders, attacking at the foot of the day’s final climb, but Yates remained unmoved and instead chose to mark the veteran Spaniard. Quintana eventually slipped back and then suffered a rear puncture which pushed him out of podium contention.

Yates drove clear alongside Pinot and the Dutchman Steven Kruijswijk over the final 10km, putting 52 seconds into Rigoberto Uran (eighth overall), Miguel Angel Lopez (fifth) and Enric Mas (fourth), and 1 min 12 sec into Valverde.

Yates allowed Pinot to clinch his second stage victory of the race safe in the knowledge that he is in the driving seat heading into Saturday’s decisive stage in Andorra, where he can cap a sensational three weeks for himself and an unprecedented trio of grand tour victories for British riders.