The Team Sky rider reduced his overall deficit from 3min 37sec by beating Quintana by 2min 16sec in a brilliant performance on stage 19’s individual time trial.
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Pierre-Roger Latour of France won the 193-kilometer stage traversing three category-two ascents from Benidorm to a special-category finish at the Alto de Aitana summit in over five hours.
Just days before the end of his maiden Grand Tour, Nielsen outsprinted Germany’s Nikias Arndt (Giant-Alpecin) and stage 16 victor Jean-Pierre Drucker (BMC) of Luxembourg in a fiercely contested bunch sprint to take his second win of the season.
Friday’s 37km time trial represents Froome’s best chance of making up time on favourite Quintana, although his hopes of wresting the red jersey from the Colombian have diminished since he finished 2:37 behind him in stage 15.
Froome, a three-time Tour victor, is set to finish the Vuelta as runner-up for a third time.
It will be the first time the 26-year-old Colombian has defeated Froome in a Grand Tour, having been edged out by the Briton at the Tour de France in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
Meanwhile Quintana’s compatriot Esteban Chaves lost his third place overall to Contador.
“It was the last day possible to do something, and we approached it as a one-day race”, said Cioni. “We still have an advantage and we need to defend it”.
“I had no problem following Froome”.
But Quintana and Froome, as well as Chaves, responded to the three-time former Vuelta winner’s advances and reeled the Spaniard back in as the quartet finished 3:27 down on Frank.
Quintana (Movistar) was unable to match Froome’s exceptional speed and had to settle for 10th position.
The stage is set to begin at 5:45 a.m. ET, with an approximate finish just before 11 a.m.
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He held a 49-second lead over Dutchman Tom Dumoulin after Friday’s challenging sixth stage from Sidmouth to Haytor on Dartmoor.
