Ireland's Nicolas Roche claimed the 18th stage of Spain's Vuelta on Thursday as Dutch rider Tom Dumoulin maintained his three second advantage over Italian Fabio Aru in the overall standings.

Roche was part of a 25-man breakaway early in the stage and held off Spain's Haimar Zubeldia on the descent to the finish to win the 204km stage from Roa to Riaza in a time of 5hr 03min 59sec, with Portugal's Jose Goncalves in third.

Aru attacked several times on the climb up Puerto de la Quesera just before the finish, but couldn't distance Dumoulin as all the top contenders finished 38 seconds back.