SIMON Yates finished the final climb up Aubisque of a punishing 14th stage of the Vuelta a Espana in overall contention for the red jersey.

The Bury cyclist helped execute a perfectly crafted team plan by ORICA-BikeExchange to finish fifth on the day and pull back more than a minute on race leader Nairo Quintana.

He attacked with more than 40km remaining, taking a jump off the main peloton to latch on to team-mates further up the field before going it alone up the final of four category climbs on the day.

The 24-year-old's mammoth effort looked as if it might result in a stunning win on the grand tour's queen stage.

But while he ultimately finished 39secs behind Dutch stage winner Robert Gesink, Yates' supreme ride was enough to move him from seventh up to fourth in the overall standings.

The Bury Clarion member is now just 16secs behind team leader Esteban Chaves in third and 2mins 17secs down on Quintana, who leads favourite Chris Froome by 54secs.

Yates said:"We managed to get the guys in the break, which was the plan, and it worked out to a tee. I caught the guys right at the top (of the penultimate climb).

"Hats off to the guys, we executed that perfectly and I went full gas on the last climb, which hurt.

"We will have to see how tomorrow goes, it could be a lot of effort for nothing, but we'll see.

"Today's was a team performance, we nailed that.

"The best I have been on this team, everybody really committed to the plan and it worked perfectly so hats off to the guys."

British former pro rider David Millar, who commentates for ITV, believes Yates - a first-time grand tour stage winner in the opening week of the Vuelta - is now a serious challenger for the red jersey.

He said: "Sir Dave Brailsford (leader of Team Sky) and Chris Froome said it was one of the hardest day's racing they had ever seen, so to put it into context, for Yates to attack 40kms out and for him to put over a minute into first and second for the race for GC is remarkable, truly remarkable.

"I haven't seen a ride like that in a long time.

"We saw the reaction from Movistar (Quintana's team) and Team Sky when Simon Yates went. They do respect him. They used up their whole team trying to chase him down so they were definitely in pursuit of him.

"Simon Yates I think after today he is a genuine threat so they are not going to let him go again. He's not going to get a second chance like that again I don't think.

"There are three in the fight for GC in my opinion - Nairo Quintana, Chris Froome and Simon Yates.

"Esteban Chaves is there but Simon is looking so much stronger."

Today is another hard stage in the Pyrenees, finishing at the top of the first category climb to Aramon Formigal.