Battling Carlos holds eighth at Vuelta rest day

Carlos Rodriguez sits eighth overall at the Vuelta a Espana as the race arrives at its second rest day.

The Spaniard battled hard through the mist atop the fearsome Cuitu Negru climb, limiting his losses and finishing 15th on stage 15 of the race.

The result saw Rodriguez relinquish the white jersey by just seven seconds, with plenty of racing to go in the final week.

Pablo Castrillo (Kern Pharma) secured a second stage victory from the day's breakaway, while Ben O'Connor (Decathlon AG2R La Mondiale) still leads the race, but with a reduced margin of 1:03.

Following a lively start, Oscar Rodriguez fought his way up into the breakaway, but the move quickly split back apart on the day's penultimate climb.

The race action resumes on Tuesday with another major summit finish atop Lagos de Covadonga.