David Gaudu took the honours on stage 11 of the Vuelta a Espana as he triumphed at the summit of the Alto de La Farrapona.

The Groupama-FDJ rider claimed his first Grand Tour stage win at the end of Saturday's 170-kilometre route from Villaviciosa.

Frenchman Gaudu held off General Classification contender Marc Soler, with the Movistar rider still looking up at Primoz Roglic, Richard Carapaz and Dan Martin in the top three of the standings.

Cofidis' Guillaume Martin and Team Sunweb duo Mark Donovan and Michael Storer rounded out the top five on the day, having gone in the breakaway and stayed clear of the peloton.

Soler's move, which saw him climb from 10th to sixth in the GC, was not considered enough of a threat for the key Vuelta contenders to waste the energy reeling him in.

The home hope is now two minutes and 44 seconds back as he seeks to improve on last year's ninth-place finish.

It proved a profitable day for Martin, too, as he strengthened his grip in the King of the Mountains classification.

STAGE RESULT

1. David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ) 04:54:13
2. Marc Soler (Movistar) +00:04
3. Michael Storer (Team Sunweb) +00:52
4. Mark Donovan (Team Sunweb) +00:52
5. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) +00:55

CLASSIFICATION STANDINGS

General Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 45:20:31
2. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) same time
3. Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) +00:25

Points Classification

1. Primoz Roglic (Jumbo-Visma) 135
2. Dan Martin (Israel Start-Up Nation) 91
3. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) 90

King of the Mountains

1. Guillaume Martin (Cofidis) 50
2. Sepp Kuss (Jumbo-Visma) 24
3. Richard Carapaz (INEOS Grenadiers) 24

What's next?

More mountains await on stage 12, with three category-one climbs on Sunday's 109km slog from La Pola Llaviana to a summit finish at Alto de l'Angliru.