Adam Yates solos to Vuelta stage nine win, Eddie Dunbar stays 23rd

Britain's Adam Yates went all alone to win stage nine of the Vuelta a Espana, with Ben O'Connor finishing third and holds on to his overall lead, while Eddie Dunbar remains 23rd in the general classification.

Yates was part of an early breakaway group but, with 58 kilometres still to race, the UAE Team Emirates rider went off alone and held off the challenge of Ecuador's Richard Carapaz (EF Education-EasyPost) who finished one minute 39 seconds behind.

O'Connor outsprinted Mikel Landa and Florian Lipowitz on the line to take third on the stage and claimed four bonus seconds to increase his lead over three-times former champion Primoz Roglic (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) to three minutes 53 seconds.

Carapaz moved up to third overall and Yates was rewarded for his efforts when he went from 27th to seventh in the general classification after his first Vuelta stage win.

Corkman Eddie Dunbar (Team Jayco Alula) came home 27th in Sunday's stage, over 11 seconds behind Yates, and remains 23rd overall.

Darren Rafferty (EF Education-Easypost) is up to 95th from 102nd in the overall standings, after finishing 76th in stage nine.

The 178.5-km ride from Motril to Granada was the toughest stage of this year's race so far, with three category-one climbs and the riders tackling the Alto de Hazallanas twice before descending into Granada for the finish.

Wout van Aert was the first to launch an attack from the start and eventually a group of 26 riders formed, but Yates and his UAE teammates Marc Soler and Jay Vine pushed the pace, dropping riders on the first climb.

Carapaz attacked from the peloton and went on a solo chase, while the lead group splintered further with just three riders remaining as they went up Alto de Hazallanas for the first time