The first rest day of this year’s Vuelta a Espana will provide some welcome relief to the riders, particularly after a brutal weekend.

Having battled the crosswinds en route to Albacete, the second summit finish of this year’s race in Valdelinares saw the general classification given a huge shake-up.

Nairo Quintana (Movistar) was among the biggest winners, moving into the red jersey for the first time in this year’s race as he looks to follow his Giro d’Italia success with a second Grand Tour victory.

But with just 30 seconds separating the top six riders overall, with 12 stages to race, there is plenty of action still to come.

For now, however, UCI WorldTour photographer Stefano Sirotti was on hand to capture the best of the action over the second weekend of this year’s race.

Catch up on how the two stages unfolded in our bumper full-width photo gallery below.