Irish riders Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin were in the thick of the action on day two of the Vuelta a España, fighting it out for the stage win atop the Alto de la Mesa climb.

Roche was one of those who pushed forward on the final climb and, after Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was dropped from the group, headed into the final kilometre with two other riders. He attacked in a bid to drop the Colombian Esteban Chaves (Orica-GreenEdge) and Dutchman Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), but they were able to contain his move.

Nine seconds

Chaves then surged and held off Dumoulin for the win, with his acceleration dislodging Roche. The Sky rider took third, nine seconds back, while fellow Irishman Dan Martin overtook Quintana and placed fourth.

The Cannondale-Garmin rider had tried to chase down the move but finished 14 seconds back. He was 12 seconds ahead of overall contenders Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Tour de France winner Chris Froome (Sky), with other team leaders further behind.

“For sure if I had waited until later attacks, it would be harder,” said Roche after the stage. “So I thought, why not anticipate and go early?

“In the final kilometre I got a bit hasty, over optimistic. I tried and then when Chaves went, I didn’t have it.”

The Irish duo are third and fourth overall behind race leader Chaves.

Controversy erupted after the stage when footage emerged of former race winner and 2014 Tour de France champion Vincenzo Nibali taking a tow from his Astana team car. The Italian had been delayed by a large crash which took down many riders inside the final 30 kilometres.

He needed a bike change and while trying to recoup the lost time, took the decision to hold onto his team car, which accelerated and dragged him at high speed away from the group he was with at the time.

Nibali was able to rejoin the leaders before the final climb, but is now out of the race.

Also going home is the team’s directeur sportif Alexander Shefer, who was driving the car in question.