Letterkenny's Philip Deignan enjoyed a double delight yesterday on the 18th stage of the Tour of Spain.

In taking the stage victory, the 26-year-old catapulted himself into the top 10 in the overall standings, and rode into the history books. He became the first Irish rider to win a stage in a three-week grand tour since Irish legend Stephen Roche won a stage in the 1992 Tour de France.

"It's a very big day for Irish cycling. It's been a big year for Irish cycling and this just caps it off," Deignan said. "I cannot believe it. It just worked about perfectly in the final kilometres. I was just riding as hard as I could. I knew (Roman) Kreuziger was really strong, and when he went, I went with him."

Deignan was looking to make an impact in the final week of the Tour of Spain and the challenging, mountainous route over the wet and cold Sierra de Gredos in central Spain provided the perfect opportunity yesterday.

Deignan made the junction into a 16-man breakaway that finally managed to escape the main pack on the descent of the day's major climb at the category one Puerto de Míjares after 57km.

With the move sure to make it to the line, the Donegal cyclist played it cool and patiently reacted as riders began to attack over two climbs late in the stage.

"It was very slippery in the last kilometres. I could feel my wheel slipping around. I thought for sure Kreuziger would attack me on the cobblestones in the last kilometres, but maybe he couldn't," he said. "Kreuziger looked strong in the group, so when he attacked, I went with him. It worked out perfectly." Deignan, of the Cervelo Test Team, finished the 165km ride from Talavera de la Reina to Avila in a time of four hours, 19 minutes and 14 seconds, finishing three seconds clear of Liquigas rider Kreuziger after the duo had mounted a late breakaway.

Dane Jacob Fugslang was third, 16 seconds behind Deignan, while the main group of riders were around 10 minutes adrift of the Irishman.

A group of four riders -- Alejandro Valverde, Cadel Evans, David Garcia and Samuel Sanchez -- stole a march on the rest of the pack to provisionally finish a second clear of the main group, meaning yellow jersey wearer Valverde's lead over second-placed Robert Gesink is now set to be 32 seconds heading into the final three days of the Tour.

Gesink, along with sixth-placed Ezequiel Mosquera, had gone to hospital last night for tests after crashing on yesterday's stage, and although both were able to race today, Gesink's hopes of pipping Valverde to glory on Sunday are getting slimmer by the day.

Sanchez remains in third overall, one minute and 10 seconds back on fellow Spanish rider Valverde.

- Tommy Campbell