Vuelta a Espana: Stage 19

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-19/results)

The Vuelta a España's return to the Basque Country for the first time in 33 years could hardly have been better scripted as local hero Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took victory on stage 19 to rapturous acclaim in Bilbao.

In the battle for overall honours, Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) had to resist two forceful accelerations from Chris Froome (Sky) on the final climb of the Alto El Vivero, but proved more than up to the task, and he retains his 13-second overall lead as the race enters its final weekend.

The stage belonged to Anton, however, and to Basque cycling as a whole. Hailing from nearby Galdakao, which featured on the finishing circuit, Anton was not even born when protests from Basque separatists disrupted the race during its last visit to the area in 1978, and his win crowned a day that saw the Vuelta vigorously saluted on its re-entry into one of cycling's true heartlands.

Anton described his triumph as "a dream" and said that it was the greatest win of his career. "The first victory is always special, as was the one on the Zoncolan, but this is the best because it's special, it has feeling," he said.

Part of an early four-man break alongside teammate Gorka Verdugo, Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) and Alexsandr Dyanchenko (Astana), Anton set out his stall by leading over the Puerto de Las Muñecas, which brought the race into the Basque Country with over 100km to go. The decisive arena proved to be the short, sharp ascent of El Vivero, however, which was tackled twice as part of a 32km-long finishing circuit around Bilbao.

"Just being in the break today in front of these fans and my family would have been worth the effort, even if I hadn't won," Anton said afterwards. "I felt goose bumps when we entered the Basque Country."

The first time up the climb suggested that Anton and Bruseghin were the strongmen of the break, and so it came to pass, as first Dyachenko and then Verdugo were dropped on the final lap of the circuit. Conscious of Bruseghin's ability as a rouleur, Anton knew that he had to try to make the difference uphill, and after setting a high tempo at the bottom, he kicked definitively as the road pitched up to 11 percent with a shade under 2km to the summit.

Exhorted by the passionate Basque following that thronged the climb, Anton edged clear on the steepest section, with the crowds that blocked his view of the road parting at the last minute to let him through. The problematic lines between politics and sport have been blurred by events at the Giro di Padania this week, but while the Basque flag, the distinctive ikurrina, was naturally prominent at the roadsides on Friday, it was flown as a symbol of identity rather than as one of division, as the Vuelta was roundly welcomed back into the Basque Country after its 33-year absence.

By the summit, Anton had 31 seconds in hand over Bruseghin, and familiar with the 14km from there back down into Bilbao, Anton even tacked on another 10 seconds to his lead by the finish to seal the win and compensate for his lacklustre Vuelta showing to date.

"It was a difficult Vuelta for me from the beginning, and really at La Covatilla, I had to give up on the general classification," Anton said. "I was in a hole, physically and psychologically, but maybe I've learned from this Vuelta than the last one."

Froome takes the race to Cobo

While Anton was delighting the Basque fans up ahead, Team Sky and Chris Froome were looking to find a way to wrest the red jersey away from Juan José Cobo. Every second counts in this tightest of Vueltas, with just 13 seconds separating Froome from Cobo at the beginning of the stage, and it was no surprise to see Sky keep the race together ahead of the first intermediate sprint.

Unfortunately for Froome, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) has his mind set on carrying the green jersey to Madrid, and he picked up the six seconds on offer in Laredo. David De La Fuente (Geox-TMC) patrolled affairs for Cobo by taking second place, while Bauke Mollema (Rabobank), slipped in for third.

Shortly afterwards, at the 29km mark, Sky allowed the day's breakaway to slip clear, and the quartet built up a maximum lead of six minutes over the peloton. As temperatures reached 35 degrees (Celsius) in mid-afternoon, there was an understandable lack of urgency in the bunch's pursuit of the escapees, but Sky returned to their task of trying to break Cobo as the race reached Bilbao for the first time with 64km to go.

On the first ascent of El Vivero, the British squad delegated Thomas Lofkvist to set the tempo at the front end of the peloton, and the Swede took to his task with gusto. Tapping out a fierce rhythm with Wiggins and Froome lined up in his slipstream - and with Cobo sitting directly behind them - Lofkvist tore the bunch to shreds and whittled it down to fewer than 30 riders by the summit.

At that point, the red jersey group was just 1:43 behind the leaders, and Lofkvist continued his work on the front on the run-in to the second climb of El Vivero with just over 18km to race. Once on the ascent, Joaquim Rodriguez made a speculative effort, followed by Chris Anker Sørensen, while Wiggins took over at the front of the red jersey group.

The Englishman's pace was initially steady rather than searing, and Cobo sat comfortably on Froome's wheel. Approaching the summit, however, Wiggins began to raise his tempo slightly to prepare the ground for Froome, and the Kenyan-born rider's attack finally arrived with a shade over a kilometre to climb. Cobo was alert to the move, and the duo instantly distanced the rest of the group. As the road pitched up steeply for the final time, Froome followed up with a second acceleration, but again he was unable to shake of the implacable Cobo.

The duo crossed the summit just ahead of Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi), but they all sat up on the descent and were quickly engulfed by the main group. While Anton and Bruseghin were already certain to ride off with first and second place, there was still an eight-second bonus for third place on offer, and Cobo sensibly stuck like a limpet to Froome's rear wheel all the way down into Bilbao.

As it turned out, Dominik Nerz (Liquigas-Cannondale) clipped off the front to take third, just ahead of local rider Haimar Zubeldia (RadioShack), but Cobo was vigilant right to the end, coming home a place behind Froome in 17th, 1:33 down on Anton.

Just two days lie between Cobo and one of the most unexpected Grand Tour victories in recent memory, but with only 13-second buffer and another undulating day in the Basque Country to come tomorrow, Madrid must still seem a lifetime away.

Result
1	Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	3:53:34
2	Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team	0:00:41
3	Dominik Nerz (Ger) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:01:30
4	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
5	Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard	0:01:31
6	David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:01:33
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
9	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
10	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

GC Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	77:59:12
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:13
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:41
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:02:03
5	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:48
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:04:13
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:04:31
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:45
9	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:05:20
10	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:05:33

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 15

http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-15/results

Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) turned the Vuelta a España on its head Sunday afternoon, with victory atop the Angliru after a race-defining stage that saw Bradley Wiggins lose the overall lead and the Spaniard inherit the red jersey.

It was reward for a gutsy performance that the Geox-TMC rider has threatened to deliver during the mountain stages of this Vuelta; while he hasn’t shown much of the same blistering form at any point this season, Cobo pulled out the best when it mattered the most – on the mythical Angliru.

Wiggins cracked in the final three kilometres of the final climb and now sits in third overall, 46 seconds behind Cobo, with his Team Sky teammate Chris Froome in second, 20 seconds behind the general classification leader.

Cobo beat surprise packet Wout Pouls of Vacansoleil-DCM by 48 seconds, with two-time Vuelta champion and Geox-TMC teammate Denis Menchov taking third.

“I’m very tired – everybody is at this point [in the race] but nobody could get around me today, which was good,” said Cobo after the finish.

And after several years in the relative wilderness, Cobo has blasted back in the consciousness of the cycling public, something to which he alluded after the finish. “I can enjoy this victory because this job is my passion,” he said. “I thought about leaving the sport but this is very important to me.”

While Cobo was celebrating his climb up the leaderboard, defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liguigas-Cannondale) was continuing his slip down it, the Italian now sitting in eighth overall, 3:27 behind the red jersey and facing a soul-searching rest day tomorrow.

Another man who will tomorrow be wondering where it went wrong is Wiggins, the Briton finishing 1:20 behind after finding the final brutal slopes of the Angliru too hard following his heroics during this second week of the Vuelta. Whilst he is still on the podium overall, he has a lot of work to do if he’s to make up the lost ground to Cobo in the final six days.

All eyes on the Angliru

Boasting a finish on the famous Angliru climb, the queen stage of this year’s Vuelta promised to be the defining day of the event; organisers applied the same formula to the parcours as yesterday’s test – a second half heavy in climbing that would definitely strain the big guns on the general classification.

With Wiggins starting the day seven seconds in front of teammate Chris Froome and 45 seconds ahead of Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema, the mission for Team Sky was simple: minimize the Brit’s losses and if possible try to bolster his overall lead.

That tactic went to plan as three men got away early in the stage – Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Cervélo), Dimitry Champion (AG2R-La Mondiale) and Skil Shimano’s Simon Geschke had themselves an advantage over the field of six minutes, with 80km remaining.

Game over… Game on!

As the peloton crested the Alto de Tenebredo – with 57km until the finish – the break still had itself 5:10; 17km later that had dropped to just 2:10 however, as the tough climbing began in earnest and the escapees’ time out front was limited.

Next on the menu was the first category Alto del Cordal, the perfect site for Geschke to drop his two breakaway companions, who were soon absorbed by a peloton that was being whipped up by the likes of Liquigas-Cannondale.

Active in yesterday’s stage, Movistar’s Marzio Bruseghin was at it again today and soon caught the lone German out front; with the summit of the Cordal approaching the Italian was joined by stage winners David Moncoutie and Dan Martin plus Carlos Sastre to form a small group at the front of the race.

As the main field approached the Angliru it was time for 2008 Tour de France champion Sastre to make a mark on this year’s Vuelta and he set off solo, boasting a lead of 16 seconds with eight grueling kilometres remaining. Behind him Nibali was starting to falter, falling back before the hardest sections of the climb had even begun.

Getting into the Les Cabañes section, with its maximum gradient of 22 per cent, Sastre was joined by Euskaltel-Euskadi’s Igor Anton, who hasn’t enjoyed a good Vuelta and was hoping to make amends on the race’s biggest day. Aware of the danger present ahead, the peloton wasn’t giving the duo much leeway but before long Anton had gone solo in pursuit of the stage win.

Enter the Cobo

On the maximum slopes it was game over for Martin, Bruseghin and Sastre, the cue for Cobo to jump across to lone leader Anton and leave him flailing with six kilometres remaining, getting into the same rhythm that saw him take second on yesterday’s stage and sit in the top 10 overall.

Positioned perfectly in the group behind Cobo, Wiggins had Froome for company, with Menchov, Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez and Pouls sitting on for the ride, the Team Sky men riding themselves closer to overall victory as the kilometres dragged by.

Despite the torturous gradient, Cobo continued his scything run to the finish and had 40 seconds over Wiggins’ group, which had shed Rodriguez in pursuit of the lone Spaniard. Hitting the Cueña les Cabres section – with a maximum gradient of 23.5 per cent and three kilometres until the finish – the Geox-TMC man was riding towards the overall leadership.

Struggling to stay in the hunt was Mollema, Martin, Fuglsang and Nibali whilst ahead chaos seemed to prevail amongst the crowds, motorcycles and mist. Digging deep into his reserves as a potential grand tour winner, Wiggins managed to keep Cobo to 43 seconds with less than two kilometres remaining… Or so it seemed.

While he was passing under the flamme rouge, his rhythm undisturbed despite the gradient, Cobo enjoyed a gap of 1:10 over Wiggins as it became apparent the British rider was losing his fight to maintain his overall advantage.

Zipping up his jersey in preparation for the finish line celebrations, Cobo had time to enjoy a win that seemed unlikely over the past two seasons; one of the men to suffer from the fallout surrounding Saunier Duval’s demise, he could announce his return to the top of the sport with a stunning solo effort on one of the cycling world’s most fearsome climbs.

1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	4:01:56
2	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:00:48
3	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
4	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
5	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:21
6	Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
7	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:01:35
8	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team

GC Overall

1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	59:57:16
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:20
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:46
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:36
5	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:02:37
6	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:01
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:03:06
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:03:27
9	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:03:58
10	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:04:13

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 13

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-13/results)

Michael Albasini of HTC-Highroad powered his way to victory in Ponferrada, dominating the sprint of an escape group on the thirteenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana. Eros Capecchi (Liquigas) was the only one of the 20-man group able to keep up with him, with Dani Moreno of Katusha coming in third.

"It's a big sensation, I'm so happy to win the stage," Albasini said. "I did the right move, I got in the right group. I suffered a lot over the mountain, but once I got over the last climb I knew it was possible."

It was his third win of the season, having previously won a stage of the Bayern Rundfahrt (where he wore the leader's jersey for one day), and the GP Kanton Argau. The Swiss rider also took the mountain jersey at the Vuelta al Pais Vasco.

What started out as a 23-man group never had more than about a 3:20 lead over the peloton, but it was enough as the field went over five ranked climbs, including Vuelta debutante Puerto de Ancares. The field crossed the finish line 1:32 behind the winner, and Bradley Wiggins easily defended his leader's jersey.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) moved up from fourth to second place by taking a six second time bonus for first place in the first intermediate sprint. The 2010 champion is now only four seconds behind Wiggins.

The first of three serious mountain stages saw a change in the lead of the mountain rankings. David Moncoutie of Cofidis trailed Matteo Montaguti (AG2R) by only one point coming into the stage, and he was determined to reclaim the jersey he has won the last three years. Losing out to Montaguti at the first two climbs, the Frenchman joined the day's break to pick up major points at the remaining three climbs, with his rival being shut out.

Moncoutie now leads Montaguti by 12 points in the climber's competition.

Five climbs on the day

The stage got off to a fast and furious start. A large group got away early, with mountain classification rivals Montaguti and Moncoutie in it. Montaguti defended his lead by winning the first climb of the day, the Alto O'Pico Da Pena, ahead of Moncoutie.

The group was joined by such big names as race leader Bradley Wiggins (Sky) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas). Nibali took advantage of the situation to jump for the points and time bonuses at the first intermediate sprint of the stage. The six seconds moved him up to virtual second place.

The top names dropped out and the rest of the group made it to the second climb. The category the Alto de O Lago didn't offer many mountain points, but Montaguti and Moncoutie were in a neck-and-neck race for the climbing title. Benat Intxausti of Movistar took the top points, with Montaguti second and Moncoutie third.

David Le Lay of AG2R got away on the 15km descent, jumping about 47km into the stage. He was soon joined by a large group, so that the break consisted of: Jan Bakelandts and Olivier Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Marc De Maar and Kevin Seeldraeyers (Quickstep), Dominik Nerz and Eros Capecchi (Liquigas), Amets Txurruka, Igor Anton, Mikel Nieve and Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Andalucia-Caja Granada), Yohan Bagot and Moncoutie (Cofidis), Filipe Oliviera Nelson (RadioShack), Daniel Moreno and Alberto Losada (Katusha), Chris Sørensen (Saxo Bank-SunGard), Michael Albasini (HTC-Highroad), Carlos Sastre, David Blanco and David De La Fuente (Geox), David Le Lay and Nicolas Roche (AG2R), Oliver Zaugg (Leopard Trek), Evgeny Petrov (Astana), David Lopez and Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Movistar).

Moncoutie had made the jump to the group, while Montaguti missed out on it. The Frenchman took advantage of that to be second over the top of the category one Alto de Folgue de Algas, behind Le Lay.

The group carried a lead of about 2:40 into the start of the major climb of the day. The Ancares, 11.8 km long and 7.7%, was making its long-awaited debut in the Vuelta. The gruelling climb took its toll on the group, and Anton was the first to lose contact.

The crowds and clouds were thick at the top of the climb. Once again Moncoutie was only second at the top, this time behind Moreno.

Despite the ominous clouds, there was sunshine on the descent. A potentially dangerous group with Nibali, Kessiakoff and Mollema tried to get away from the chasing peloton, but was roped back in. The fearsome climb, with its equally dreaded descent, did not play the decisive role for which some had hoped.

There was one final climb, the category three Puerto de Lumeras after 116 kilometers. Moncoutie finally was able to take this one, topping it out ahead of Sørensen and De Maar.

The peloton, noticeably smaller than before, kept moving slowly towards the equally diminishing lead group, with the gap bouncing around the two minute mark.

With 15km to go, it was becoming clear that the group would make it through to the end. The riders in the chasing group of favourites adjusted their strategy to one of limiting their time losses, and making sure their rivals didn't slip out to gain a few seconds advantage.

With three in the group, Euskaltel had the advantage and led the group, keeping the pace up. The peloton rode furiously and got closer and closer but was unable to totally close the gap.

Albasini and Madrazo jumped with about 3km to go, and were joined by Moncoutie. De Maar didn't join them but flew past. Meanwhile, Bakelandts tried to go but a traffic island brought him down.

The group came together again and crossed under the 1km flag. Albasini opened the sprint and easily powered his way to the finish line ahead of Capecchi, with Moreno a bit back in third. The field came in 1:32 later.

Result
1	Michael Albasini (Swi) HTC-Highroad	4:19:39
2	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
3	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team
4	David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Geox-TMC
5	Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
6	Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Leopard Trek
7	Angel Madrazo Ruiz (Spa) Movistar Team
8	David Blanco Rodriguez (Spa) Geox-TMC
9	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
10	Marc De Maar (AHo) Quickstep Cycling Team

GC Overall

Result
1	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	51:14:59
2	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:04
3	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
4	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:09
5	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:19
6	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:36
7	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:01:04
8	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:01:27
9	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:01:52
10	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack	0:01:53

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 10

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-10/results)

Chris Froome (Team Sky) pulled off the performance of a lifetime to take the overall lead in the Vuelta. The Kenyan-born climber finished second behind stage winner Tony Martin (HTC-Highroad) in the 47km time trial around Salamanca to move 12 seconds clear of Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) in GC.

Froome's teammate Bradley Wiggins set the fastest time at the first check point at 13km but gradually lost time, finishing third on the stage. However, like Froome he moved up the overall classification to third overall as a number of big name climbers suffered on the course.

Overnight race leader Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) had a respectable ride but slipped down the GC and sits 1:07 down on Froome in seventh overall.

"I wasn't really expecting that," Froome said at the finish.

"I was just trying to stay in contention and be there along with Bradley Wiggins, the team leader. I just had a fantastic day and somehow I've ended up in the leader's jersey. It's a dream come true."

The dream became a reality though as he made his way to the podium to pick up the red jersey with the knowledge that he had outclassed the likes of Fabian Cancellara, Taylor Phinney and perhaps most importantly Bradley Wiggins.

In fact Froome's and Wiggins's rides couldn't have been more different. While Wiggins went out like a bullet, setting the fastest time at the first check, Froome set of far steadier. At the second time check at 30km, Wiggins had lost 20 seconds and the stage lead to Martin, with Froome only beginning to show his true strength.

The real indication of Froome's form only came when he reached the 1km to go mark, with commentators realising that he was on course to beat Cancellara's time and challenge Mollema for red. With Wiggins fading further over the final kilometres and losing his rhythm on the final climb to the finish, his 29 second loss to Froome was a major surprise.

Yet Sky will be buoyed by their performance that now leaves them with two men inside the top three on GC and major daylight between themselves and the likes of Michele Scarponi, Carlos Sastre, Joaquim Rodriguez and Igor Anton, who all saw their GC aspirations go up in smoke. Sky's management will nevertheless still be scratching their heads after Froome's ride. With no more time trial kilometres left in the race and they now have two serious GC cards to play for the podium. Deciding who sacrifices his chances for the other could be the defining choice for the team's bid to place a rider on a podium in a Grand Tour for the first time.

Martin's marker

The stage threw up more surprises than just Froome's excellence against the clock. Tony Martin who came into the stage as genuine contender, set down a major maker for the Worlds next month, dismantling Fabian Cancellara's dominance against the Spanish heat. That he beat Cancellara was not necessarily the talking point – he put 1:42 into him at the major time trial at the Tour – but with just weeks to go until Copenhagen, Cancellara is running out of time to find the form that has carried him to four rainbow jerseys against the clock.

It was Martin's possible future successor, Taylor Phinney (Team BMC), who shone brightest in the early stages of the day. In his first grand tour, the American is beginning to find his feet at the WorldTour level, and despite Cancellara and the Martin setting faster times in quick succession, Phinney's fifth place deserves praise.

Podium contenders shape up

While the time gaps between Martin and the rest seemed gaping, the results showed a general bunching of true GC contenders. Nibali, who now sits fourth, 31 seconds down, looks to be in pole position considering the mountainous terrain still to come. The fact that the Italian is the only rider within the top 12 to have won a Grand Tour will serve him well.

Jakob Fuglsang, who came to the Vuelta after a disappointing Tour de France, continues to impress here and but for a mechanical in the opening few hundred meters of today's ride he would be even closer to Froome on GC. Kessiakoff, Monfort, Mollema, Cobo Brajkovic and even Jurgen Van den Broeck and Denis Menchov will still claim to have realistic podium ambitions though.

But this Vuelta, which has seen several different race leaders, crashes, excitement and unpredictable racing, is far from over. Rodriguez, despite lying 3:23, could yet be the key. Licking his wounds outside the Katusha team bus after a demoralizing ride, he will be looking for revenge once the race begins to tilt upwards once again. The race win may be behind him but his explosive prowess could be the catalyst to blow this race wide open again.

Result
1	Tony Martin (Ger) HTC-Highroad	0:55:54
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:59
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:22
4	Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Leopard Trek	0:01:27
5	Taylor Phinney (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:01:33
6	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:01:37
7	Tiago Machado (Por) Team RadioShack	0:01:54
8	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack	0:01:56
9	Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:02:02
10	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:02:06

CG Overall

Result
1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	38:09:13
2	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:12
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:20
4	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:31
5	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:34
6	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:00:59
7	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:07
8	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:01:47
9	Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack	0:02:04
10	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack	0:02:13

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 9

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-9/results)

The first ‘real’ summit finish of this year’s Vuelta a España produced the desired effect and sparked fireworks as Garmin-Cervélo’s Daniel Martin took his first Grand Tour stage win at the end of a tough opening week.

The Irishman claimed the spoils for his toil over the final seven kilometres of the stage – when the finishing climb to La Covatilla hit its hardest slopes – beating Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema and Geox-TMC’s Juan Jose Cobo, who finished second and third respectively.

Overnight general classification leader Joaquin Rodriguez lost his red jersey after finishing 49 seconds behind the front group as Mollema gained the overall ascendancy by a single second over the Spaniard.

Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali now sits in third overall and featured in the finale as did Team Sky leader Bradley Wiggins, who now occupies 13th overall and goes into tomorrow’s 40km time trial well poised to make a massive jump on the general classification thanks to his sterling performance on today’s final climb and his prowess against the clock.

Martin sits one place above Wiggins, and the 25-year-old Irishman was ecstatic with his first Grand Tour stage win as he benefited from a gutsy and uncompromising performance in the finale to reap the rewards of persistence in the face of such a tough proposition.

Getting to the main course

After the day’s opening climb, the Puerto de la Cruz di Hierro, Omega Pharma-Lotto man Sebastian Lang instigated the move of the day – the German was joined by local boy Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea of Andalucia Caja Granada and later Vacansoleil-DCM duo Pim Ligthart and Martijn Keizer to form the leading quartet with 45km traveled.

After 80km of racing the leaders had themselves an advantage in excess of nine minutes, with the peloton content to leave them plenty of leash. 14km later that had dropped to 7:50 and a further 25km down the road, the leading quartet had become a brace of duos, with Ligthart and Lang leaving Toribio and Keizer behind.

With 30km remaining, the gap between the ‘Two Ls’ and their chasers stood at 2:40, with the peloton – unsurprisingly led by the Katusha team of Rodriguez and Dani Moreno – over six minutes behind the leading duo. But as the climb to La Covatilla loomed, that main bunch would soon be split.

And just as those splits occurred, a blast from the past in the form of Andrey Kashechkin found his way to the front, the Astana man revisiting the scene of a success in 2007, when he finished third on the stage to La Covatilla – the last time the Vuelta visited the town.

Ready for the sparks to fly

As the peloton began the climb in earnest, the gap between it and the leading two had decreased to five minutes; with a little over 20km before the finish and neither man a particular mountain goat of note, they would surely be reeled in – it was merely a question of when.

Heading through the town of Bejar, the leaders had themselves four minutes, although it was game over for their chasers, Toribio and Keizer, who were swallowed up and spat out by a peloton blazing in its pursuit of the plucky characters holding court at the front of the race.

When the peloton hit Bejar that gap had been lowered to 3:29 as Katusha continued to lead the field with Moreno and Rodriguez in tow. With the Russian squad’s pursuit of the leaders, that mark continued to fall and dropped to 1:13 when the peloton passed under the 10km-to-go banner.

By that stage Lang had dropped his Dutch companion and continued on his march to the finish, the hardest slopes of the climb still to ride and the big teams – Katusha, Liquigas-Cannondale, Lampre-ISD and Team Sky – charging their batteries for a manic dash to the line. And they needed to; as the bunch passed eight kilometres remaining, the road noticeably tilted skywards and instantly claimed victims on the 12 percent gradient.

Lang himself became a victim a kilometre later when the man who had kicked off the day’s break became the last card to be drawn back into the pack, which was being controlled by Lampre’s fearless troops who continued to set a blistering pace.

It takes one to start the fight

Active in yesterday’s finale, Rein Taaramae was at it again within the final six kilometres, slicing past Jurgen Van Den Broeck and Michele Scarponi at the front of the bunch and chancing his hand at breaking up the group of overall favourites. But the Italian wasn’t going to let the plucky Estonian steal his thunder, and he countered, forcing the remaining big names to follow his lead.

One man not present was Igor Anton, the Euskaltel-Euskadi captain’s poor showing at this Vuelta continuing as he slipped further back. His life wasn’t made any easier when Kevin Seeldrayers (Quick Step) and Sergio Pardilla (Movistar) hit out hard and defending champion Vincenzo Nibali immediately chased with Van Den Broeck on his wheel.

When they were reeled in, Garmin-Cervélo’s Daniel Martin and his cousin Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-La Mondiale) were the next riders to go off the front, with the two working as a good family should and swapping off to try and stay clear.

While Roche dropped back to Scarponi and co, Martin continued his march alone with just four kilometres – but so much suffering – left until the finish. The Irishman was joined shortly afterwards by Vincenzo Nibali, and he worked with the Italian into a stiff headwind to keep the charging peloton behind at bay.

When seven is better than two…

With Christopher Froome dragging his Team Sky captain Bradley Wiggins back to the two leaders, Martin and Nibali’s time at the head of the race seemed limited and 2km from the line, the elite selection at the front that also boasted Van Den Broeck, Cobo and Mollema caught and began working with the hitherto leading duo.

Behind them, Rodriguez was slipping out of contention for the stage win and the overall lead, falling over 40 seconds in arrears while Wiggins forced the pace hard at the front of the race. With 250 metres to go, Martin opened the sprint to the line, kicking hard over the final crest and winning his first grand tour stage and reaping the rewards of his persistence at the front of affairs.

A whopping 49 seconds later Rodriguez rolled over the line, his red jersey just slipping away and with a flat time trial facing the Katusha captain, a place in the podium spots could be gone after tomorrow’s test against the clock. Another man to lose plenty of time was Scarponi, who eventually finished over a minute in arrears.

Result
1	Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Cervelo	4:52:14
2	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
3	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:03
4	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:04
5	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:07
6	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:11
7	Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne	0:00:12
8	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
10	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana

GC Overall

Result
1	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	37:11:17
2	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:01
3	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:09
4	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:18
5	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:00:27
6	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:35
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:37
8	Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:00:42
9	Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack
10	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:46

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 4

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-4/results)

Daniel Moreno (Katusha) took advantage of a degree of status quo between the Vuelta’s main favourites to claim victory at the race’s first summit finish on the Sierra Nevada. The Katusha rider came up towards the line on the wheel of Saxo Bank’s Chris Anker Sorensen. Then with 400 metres remaining, the Spaniard flashed by on the Dane’s left and had plenty of time to zip up his jersey and celebrate his first grand tour stage win.

The pair had come together just four kilometres from the summit. Sorensen had already jumped across from the main group to three riders who remained from the break of the day. Sorensen pushed on past them and worked hard but had no answer when Moreno jumped hard.

“I’m so happy with this beautiful win,” said Moreno. “I felt in great shape this morning. I knew I could produce a great performance because the course suited my characteristics. Before going after Sorensen, I talked with my team leader, Joaquim Rodríguez. He thought I had good chance of winning today because I’m faster than the Danish rider and told me to go for it.”

Moreno’s win lifted him up to second place overall, 43 seconds down on new race leader Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) but he was quick to downplay his own prospects.

“Despite my move up general classification, my job is still to help our leader to win the general classification,” said the 29-year-old from Madrid. “I think ‘Purito’ and me form a great partnership, I’m sure we can gain some more brilliant results in this Vuelta.”

After the red jersey of Pablo Lastras dropped away from the main group on the early slopes of the Sierra Nevada, Chavanel knew that if he could stick with or close to that group he would take over the lead.

Although he did fall back from the front group, which was eventually led home by Garmin’s Dan Martin 11 seconds behind Moreno, the French champion did enough to attain his objective for the day.

Antón cracks, Cavendish retires

While Moreno and Chavanel took the plaudits, the big loser on the day was Euskaltel’s Igor Antón. The Basque rider struggled all of the way up the final climb to the finish and in the end may not have been too disappointed to lose 1:36.

But Antón was far from the only rider to suffer on another blisteringly hot Vuelta day. Winner of the points title last year, Mark Cavendish (HTC-Highroad) abandoned on the second of the day’s three climbs, while 2008 Tour de France champion Carlos Sastre saw his hopes of a high overall finish disappear as the race climbed to the 2112-metre summit.

Seven riders for the break of the day

After a number of attacks had been neutralised in the opening few kilometres, the break of the day formed at the 10km mark as the riders started up the slopes of the first-category climb of Alto de Filabres.

Seven riders got into it: Guillaume Bonnafond (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Matthew Busche (RadioShack), Yohan Bagot (Cofidis), Thomas Rohregger (Leopard-Trek), Eduard Vorganov (Katusha), José Vicente Toribio (Andalucía-Caja Granada) and Koen de Kort (Skil-Shimano).

By the time De Kort led the seven over the Filabres ahead of Vorganov and Rohregger, their advantage was seven minutes on the peloton. Lastras’ Movistar team tried to keep it under control but it did edge out to more than eight minutes with less than 60km remaining.

After the third-category Blancares climb, where Cavendish became the second rider to abandon the race after HTC team-mate Matt Goss on stage two, Rabobank began to push the pursuit of the seven breakaways with a little more purpose.

Sierra Nevada’s long and winding road

Soon after the escape reached the first slopes of the 23km ascent of the Sierra Nevada, riders began to drop away as the heat hurt as much as the gradient. Bagot was the first to go, followed by De Kort and Torobio, although the Spaniard did battle back up to the four leaders at one point, only to blow apart in visibly painful fashion once he got up to them.

Rabobank were still leading the peloton as it started up the final climb, by now less than four minutes down on the break. Their pace soon saw Lastras fall out of the back. RadioShack’s Andreas Klöden was another early casualty of the Dutch team’s pace. This front group thinned down to 50-odd riders, with Antón struggling right at the back.

Up front, Bonnafond and Rohregger were doing most of the pace-making, although with 10km remaining the four leaders had little more than a minute in hand on the peloton as defending champion Vincenzo Nibali’s Liquigas team went to the front. Their efforts saw Antón finally fall away from the back of the group containing the main contenders.

Perhaps sensing that some of his other rivals might be in difficulty as the race headed towards 2000 metres, a very comfortable-looking Nibali launched a brief foray with 7.5km left. The Italian got a decent gap before easing off as the chase began behind.

As Nibali was brought back, Sorensen made his move off the front of this group, and got across to the four leaders inside the 5km mark. The Dane pressed on through the tiring escapees, with Moreno by now chasing hard behind, perhaps with a view to setting up a late attack by his team leader, Joaquim Rodríguez.

But over the closing couple of kilometres the Katusha leader and his main rivals were content to sit in behind Sky’s Chris Froome as he set the pace for Bradley Wiggins, allowing Moreno and Sorensen the chance to battle over the day’s spoils and Chavanel the chance to lead the Vuelta for the first time in his illustrious career.

This was just an early skirmish for overall victory in the Vuelta, with Antón the big loser and Moreno and Chavanel the day’s victors.

Result
1	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	4:51:53
2	Chris Anker Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank Sungard	0:00:03
3	Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Cervelo	0:00:11
4	Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
5	Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre - ISD
6	Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
7	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto
8	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
9	Michele Scarponi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
10	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team

Overall Standings:

Result
1	Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Quickstep Cycling Team	13:19:09
2	Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team	0:00:43
3	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:00:49
4	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek
5	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:53
6	Kanstantsin Sivtsov (Blr) HTC-Highroad	0:00:58
7	Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana	0:00:59
8	Sergio Pardilla Belllón (Spa) Movistar Team	0:01:03
9	Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team
10	Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team	0:01:04