2012 Tour de France Stage 17, 7/19/12

I'm back from vacation and slacking...

Sorry for not keeping up with the blog. I'm not going to post all the stages I missed, but i will try to post from here on out:

July 19, Stage 17: Bagnères-de-Luchon - Peyragudes 143.5km

Valverde lays claim to final mountain stage

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/tour-de-france/stage-17/results)

Alejandro Valverde salvaged the 2012 Tour de France for himself and his Movistar squad as the Spaniard soloed to victory on stage 17, the final day in the high mountains. Valverde, part of the day's early escape, rode the final 35km of the Pyrenean stage from Bagnères-de-Luchon to Peyragudes alone, having dispatched of his breakaway companions for good on the hors categorie-rated ascent of the Port de Bales.

Sky's Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome once again asserted their dominance, dropping their general classification rivals on the mountain finish to Peyragudes to cross the line together just 19 seconds in arrears of Valverde. In the final kilometre, as the Sky duo had dropped the remains of a very select group formed on the climb to the finish, it appeared that Froome had the legs to bridge to Valverde, but Wiggins' super domestique backed off the throttle to pace Wiggins to the finish line.

Thibaut Pinot (FDJ-BigMat) crossed the finish for fourth three seconds later while Pierre Rolland (Europcar) pipped Jurgen van den Broeck (Lotto Belisol) for fifth at 26 seconds.

Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) arrived alone in seventh place, 18 seconds behind the Sky duo of Froome and Wiggins, on a stage which must have proved bitterly disappointing for the Sicilian. Starting the day third on general classification behind the Sky pair, Nibali had his team on the front of the peloton for most of the stage in an attempt to crack Wiggins and Sky. In the stage finale, however, the Sicilian did not have the legs to even launch an attack on the climb to Peyragudes as he found himself in the final selection of Wiggins, Froome, Pinot, Rolland, Van den Broeck, Tejay van Garderen (BMC) and Chris Horner (RadioShack-Nissan).

Wiggins remains first on general classification, continuing to lead his teammate Froome by 2:05. Nibali keeps his third place position, but ceded some time on the final day in the mountains to trail Wiggins by 2:41. Jurgen Van den Broeck maintains his fourth place position overall, at 5:53, while BMC teammates Tejay van Garderen and Cadel Evans each move up a position to fifth and sixth respectively as Haimar Zubeldia(RadioShack-Nissan) cracked in the stage's endgame and dropped from fifth to eighth at 10:11.

Last chance for the climbers

At just 143.5km in length, the shortest and last stage in the Tour's high mountains provided a tantalizing medium for several Tour sub-plots to perhaps find resolution. With a 53.5km individual time trial on Saturday, Nibali's final chance to put time into Wiggins and Froome, both more talented against the clock, would be today.

The mountains classification was still very much up for grabs between Thomas Voeckler (Europcar), ensconced in polka dots after sweeping all four KOMs en route to stage victory yesterday, and Fredrik Kessiakoff (Astana), who lost the jersey the previous day but trailed the Frenchman by just four points, 107 to 103. As a maximum of 65 points were up for grabs on the day's five classified climbs, the polka dot jersey could still change hands.

And finally, only eight different teams had scored stage wins thus far in the Tour, and many squads with talented climbers yet to leave their mark on this year's La Grande Boucle were itching for a chance to deliver a stage victory on the last day of climbing.

Attacks were launched from the gun as the peloton sped out of Bagnères-de-Luchon, but nothing stuck until the peloton arrived at the lower slopes of the day's first ascent, the category 1 Col de Menté.

A fairly large group went out on the attack with riders such as Denis Menchov (Katusha), Movistar's Juan Jose Cobo and Alejandro Valverde, Europcar's Pierre Rolland and Thomas Voeckler, Chris Horner
(RadioShack-Nissan) and Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank) prominent in the mix on the mist-shrouded ascent.

The battle for the mountains classification picked up where it left off yesterday as Voeckler and Kessiakoff locked horns again. Voeckler's teammate Rolland was alone in the lead near the climb's summit, but waited for his team captain after Kessiakoff dropped Voeckler. With Rolland's help, Voeckler reached Kessiakoff in time to take maximum points atop the Menté, with Kessiakoff taking second.

On a wet and dangerous descent, conditions almost as treacherous as those which spelled Luis Ocana's doom in the 1971 Tour de France, Vincenzo Nibali took advantage of his descending prowess to bridge the gap from the maillot jaune group to the break. Sky remained vigilant, however, and closed the gap to within 20 seconds, prompting Nibali to sit up and be caught while the break could once again stretch its advantage.

Seven riders emerged at the head of affairs after the descent of the Col de Menté including Voeckler, Kessiakoff, Movistar's Alejandro Valverde and Rui Costa, Sandy Casar (FDJ-BigMat), Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Jean-Christophe Peraud (AG2R La Mondiale).

Additionally, an 11-man chase group had escaped from the peloton in pursuit of the leaders. On the attack in this selection were Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank), Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM), Blel Kadri (AG2R La Mondiale), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana), Gorka Izaguirre and Jorge Azana (both Euskaltel-Euskadi), Pieter Weening (Orica GreenEdge), Ruben Plaza (Movistar), Levi Leipheimer (Omega Pharma-QuickStep), Simone Stortoni (Lampre-ISD) and Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank).

On the summit of the next climb, the category 1 Col de Ares at 55.5km, Voeckler once again edged Kessiakoff for top honours, extending his lead on the KOM standings to eight points, 122 to 114.

After another tricky descent the chase group finally made contact with the seven leaders, albeit without one member, Chris Anker Sorensen, who suffered an injury to several fingers as he tried to extract a newspaper from his front wheel at the top of the descent. Sorensen received treatment from the Tour doctor and returned to the peloton.

Liquigas-Cannondale continued to set the pace in the peloton and kept the break's lead pegged at approximately 2:30 as Voeckler once again beat Kessiakoff to the stage's next KOM, the category 3 Côte de Burs with 67.5km remaining.

Port de Bales looms

With the monster ascent of stage 17 looming, the hors categorie Port de Bales, the Euskaltel duo of Azana and Izaguirre attacked the break and were joined by Kadri on the wooded, false flat valley road leading to the base of the climb. The three Movistar riders tapped out a steady tempo for the remainder of the escapees while the Liquigas-led peloton continued to trail at 2:30.

Once the leaders began to ascend the Port de Bales whatever cohesion remaining in the group remained was shattered as the better climbers pushed the pace. At the front Izaguirre and Kadri dropped Azana while four riders emerged from the chase group: Valverde, Costa, Leipheimer and Martinez. The quartet would catch Izaguirre and Kadri with 8.5km of climbing remaining to the summit and almost immediately Costa surged ahead alone in the lead.

Five kilometres from the summit, Costa still climbed alone in the lead while the first chase group was trimmed to contain just Valverde, Martinez and Leipheimer, who at 15 seconds back had the Portuguese rider in sight. Further down the slope Voeckler was glued to Kessiakoff's wheel, the duo one minute behind Costa, while Liquigas-Cannondale's tempo had reduced the yellow jersey group to approximately 30 riders.

Soon Valverde made his move with a sharp surge that immediately distanced Martinez and Leipheimer. The Spaniard crossed the gap to his Movistar teammate Rui Costa with ease and after sharing the pace for several hundred metres Valverde's pace proved too much for Costa as well.

Once Valverde ascended through the tree line the mist enshrouding the climb disappeared as he kept a steady rhythm through the exposed switchbacks approaching the Port de Bales summit. Valverde took maximum points at the top, followed by Costa and Martinez. Kadri and Leipheimer crossed together in fourth and fifth, while Voeckler once again outsprinted Kessiakoff at a KOM for the fourth time today as the pair rode topped the hors categorie climb in sixth and seventh place respectively.

The select maillot jaune group was led over the KOM by Jurgen Van den Broeck, who accelerated in the approach to the summit, and still trailing Valverde by more than two minutes.

After another treacherous, Pyrenean descent the race had now arrived at the final kick to the finish, first ascending the Col de Peyresourde on the side they descended the previous day, followed by a turn onto the climb of the Peyragudes for the stage finish.

With Liquigas-Cannondale still setting the tempo in the maillot jaune group, one-by-one the escapees were absorbed and dropped on the Peyresourde until only Valverde remained off the front. At 10.5km to go Valverde still held a lead of 2:20, but the strain of his day's effort began to creep into his pedal stroke while behind the yellow jersey group's tempo increased significantly as attacks started to occur.

After cresting the Peyresourde and enjoying a bit of recovery on a short descent, Valverde began his climb to the finish at Peyragudes with a lead reduced to 1:15 ahead of a 14-rider group containing the general classification contenders. The maillot jaune group was led by Liquigas-Cannondale's Ivan Basso and Vincenzo Nibali, with the Sicilian still not showing any sign of aggression since his initial dig in the early portion of the stage.

Indeed it would be Lotto Belisol who would commence attacking on the final climb, as Jelle Vanendert sped up the road soon to be joined by teammate Jurgen Van den Broeck. A re-shuffling took place culminating with eight riders climbing together in pursuit of Valverde: Wiggins, Froome, Nibali, Van den Broeck, Pinot, Rolland, Horner and van Garderen.

Wiggins had a word with Froome and soon Froome upped the tempo enough to drop everyone but his teammate in the yellow jersey. Soon, however, even Wiggins couldn't handle the pace as they drove into the final kilometre, rapidly closing the gap to Valverde who was clinging to hopes of a stage win with all his might. Froome waited for his captain, however, and while they may have lost the opportunity for another Sky stage win, they crossed the finish line together 19 seconds behind the Spanish stage winner and ahead of their general classification rivals yet again. As was the case to the finish in La Toussuire, however, the question remained as to who amongst the Sky duo was indeed the strongest.

Full Results

#	Rider Name (Country) Team	Result
1	Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team	4:12:11
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:19
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling
4	Thibaut Pinot (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat	0:00:22
5	Pierre Rolland (Fra) Team Europcar	0:00:26
6	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
7	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:00:37
8	Tejay Van Garderen (USA) BMC Racing Team	0:00:54
9	Christopher Horner (USA) RadioShack-Nissan	0:01:02
10	Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin - Sharp	0:01:11

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 21

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-21/results)

Peter Sagan's Vuelta a España debut got even better as the Liquigas-Cannondale rider made it three stage wins in this year's edition by beating Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Daniele Bennati in the final stage through Madrid this afternoon.

The 21-year-old Slovakian sprung from nowhere in the finale and cheekily swept under the drag race between Petacchi and Bennati to take another stage win in his first grand tour and indicate that he'll be a man to watch at the UCI Road World Championships later this month in Copenhagen, Denmark.

"It's been a great day. I was riding at the front and I took the wheel of Bennati but I got boxed in a bit, so I had to stop my effort and had to re-start from behind. It was hard, but I was still fresh because my team protected me from the wind during the whole stage.

"I was only focused on winning today. It was a technical course, exactly what I like and I was feeling very well," Sagan said.

While he took three stage victories, Sagan said he was frustrated at the botched sprint on stage 16 when a wrong turn at a roundabout ruined his chance to gain points toward the green jersey. He ended up fourth in that classification, just 22 points off Bauke Mollema's winning margin.

"I'm satisfied anyway. This experience of three weeks will help me for the future," Sagan said, downplaying his hopes for winning the world championship in Copenhagen at the end of the month.

"I prefer not to think of the coming world championship. It's difficult to plan. Luck is needed. Team work is an important factor and we'll have a team of three Slovakians. I believe the Velits brothers will be on my side. I'm not bothered about the future. I'm happy with how I go. At the beginning of this season, I didn't think that I could win all these races."

'The Bison' charges into Madrid

The man upon which all eyes focused as the peloton swept into Madrid was Juan José Cobo however, the unexpected leader and champion elect of the Vuelta a España enjoying the limelight with a little fanfare and plenty of satisfaction.

That's because it's been a long and arduous journey for Cobo, the man who was considered one of Spain's best prospects for stage race victory just three years ago when he finished second to Leonardo Piepoli on the Hautacam stage of the Tour de France while riding for the now-defunct Saunier Duval squad (he was later awarded the stage when Piepoli tested positive for CERA).

Since then he's been embroiled in controversy surrounding that team, fallen into obscurity and even considered retirement several months ago; on Sunday afternoon that was the last thing on his mind.

"I've passed through some bad moments the past few months, but now I see things differently. You realise that hard work and sacrifice are worth it – this win makes up for the suffering that I've gone through on the bike," Cobo said, admitting that he's suffered from depression for a year and a half.

He came into the race with no pressure, there presumably to help Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov, and he admitted that he wasn't doing well in the first week of the race. "I've suffered a lot up the Sierra Nevada. I didn't have the legs. I didn't have the race rhythm and I was lucky the head wind neutralized the race uphill."

"On that day, I was far from imagining that I'd be the eventual winner of the Vuelta. After that, it's been with no worries."

After terrific performances in stage 14 and 15 to La Farrapona. Lagos de Somiedo and Anglirú, respectively, Cobo defended the red jersey with gusto until the final day, which took riders into the heart of Madrid. He celebrated with that leader's jersey, where 12 months earlier Vincenzo Nibali had stood, the latest champion of the Vuelta a España.

"I knew that I was in a good shape since the Tour of Burgos at the beginning of August and I've had two weeks after that to improve my condition," Cobo said. "But I came to the Vuelta to help Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov and three weeks later, I'm here to talk about winning the Tour of Spain, it's unbelievable!

Following his win on the Anglirú, Cobo told reporters "The objective was to take time on Wiggins and things turned out better than expected. We will defend to the death, but when you're in the lead, things are easier."

And so it was, his Geox-TMC teammates often riding at the front of the race to shut down any potential threats to Cobo's lead and the 30-year-old himself did everything he could – successfully – to prevent Team Sky's Chris Froome usurping his advantage on the stage to Peña Cabarga.

By race's end, his margin of victory was just 13 seconds over Chris Froome, with the Brit's Team Sky stablemate Bradley Wiggins in third, 1:39 behind Cobo. Bauke Mollema recorded his best grand tour result with fourth and Cobo's teammate Denis Menchov took fifth.

Double podium presence for Sky

Despite several attempts to gain back his missing 13 seconds in the past few days, Froome and his teammate Wiggins remained in second and third, respectively, giving Great Britain and Team Sky an excellent Grand Tour performance.

Wiggins came in as the team's top contender, but it was Froome who was able to challenge Cobo. Ultimately he fell shy, but Froome captured the hearts of two nations - Kenya, where he grew up, and Great Britain, where he holds his racing license.

"Three weeks ago, I couldn't envisage such a result and I believe it's the beginning of great stuff," Froome said. "For the first time I got the opportunity to ride a Grand Tour in the best conditions and I took my chance.

Wiggins, who crashed out of the Tour de France and eyed the Vuelta as his chance for redemption, couldn't hide his disappointment.

"The Vuelta isn't the Tour, you have to win the Vuelta," Wiggins said. "I put pressure on myself during three weeks. I saw myself as the winner. I truly believed that I was going to win, that's why I'm not satisfied.

"I'm speaking negatively but there's some positive as well. Nine weeks ago, I broke my collarbone and I would have laughed if anyone told me that I was going to finish third of the Vuelta after that. I've also learned more on how to ride a Grand Tour. At the end of 2010, some people thought that I had come fourth at the 2009 Tour de France by coincidence, now I've made those people understand that it was not the case."

Making their way to Madrid

At only 94km, the final stage of this year's Vuelta was a procession, to say the least, and after a tough three weeks the Spanish capital was a sight for sore eyes within the peloton.

Having made the ceremonial entrance into the city it was time to get on with some racing, and subsequently various groups tried their luck getting away from the bunch until a selection of just three was made with about 58km remaining.

The trio consisted of Joan Horrach (Katusha), Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale) and Jose Alberto Benitez (Andalucia Caja Granada), although a solid group of pursuers had assembled behind, with a thundering peloton – led by the vigilant men of Geox-TMC – keeping a close eye on the leaders.

Facing the final 50km of this year's race, the break had itself 32 seconds over the peloton and it looked unlikely that the plucky trio was ever going to get much more than that. Ten clicks later and that proved to be the case as the gap sat at 51 seconds, the main field keeping the escapees on a short leash.

With 26km left in the 63rd Vuelta a España, the break led by 50 seconds, a sprint finish never in doubt as the likes of Lampre-ISD, Leopard Trek and Saxo Bank-Sungard ensured that the gap wouldn't stretch too far and they could set up their fast men for a dash to the line.

And with just 11km remaining it was Horrach who held out the last piece of resistance, having left Caruso and Benitez behind the local lad was content to carry on until the peloton deemed his time out front over and set up the final sprint to the line.

That time would come some nine kilometres from home, the pace lifting dramatically thanks to the work of Lampre-ISD and Leopard Trek, the squads of Italian sprinters Alessandro Petacchi and Daniele Bennati toiling to try and take one last win from the Vuelta.

Aiding in their cause was Saxo Bank-Sungard, with Juan José Haedo waiting in the wings for another crack at glory; it wasn't much match for Stuart O'Grady and Leopard Trek's effort, which was gargantuan in the final three kilometres.

As the sprint opened Sagan still hadn't shown his figure and as Petacchi and Bennati went to the left, the Slovakian sprung into the middle of the road, accelerating impressively to grab another win, much to the disappointment of the experienced Italian duo.

Little noticed in the mix just behind was Mollema, who was helped to ninth on the stage by his Rabobank teammates and therefore took the green points jersey from Joaquim Rodriguez of Katusha.

David Moncoutie (Cofidis) strolled in two minutes after the stage winner, his polka dot climber's jersey wrapped up the day before.

With now three Grand Tour champions in its midst, the Geox-TMC squad earned the title of best team, with race winner Cobo also netting the win in the combination classification. The performance of the Spanish underdogs will go a long way toward helping the team climb up the UCI's overall rankings for the 2012 WorldTour selection.

Vuelta a Espana: Stage 20

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-20/results)

Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati has been a frustrated sprinter at this year’s Vuelta a España but victory beckoned in Vitoria on stage 20 on Saturday afternoon and he ensured he wouldn’t leave the race empty handed with an impressive win in the Basque city.

The Italian prevailed in a long sprint over Enrico Gasparotto (Astana) and Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), who finished second and third respectively, with Garmin-Cervélo rider Sep Vanmarcke fourth and Skil-Shimano’s Koen De Kort fifth.

Bennati recognised how hard today’s stage was for a sprinter aiming for victory and thanked his teammates for their efforts throughout the day, particularly in the final 50km. “Today is the penultimate stage; there’s been a lot of climbing in this stage for a sprinter… But for me it’s a win for the team,” Bennati said immediately after the stage.

The man who won two stages and the points classification at the 2007 edition of the Vuelta did it the hard way, spending much of the day in the 26-man break that formed before dropping back into the protective custody of his Leopard-Trek squad that controlled proceedings in the finale to ensure Bennati claimed a win in this year’s race.

Despite Chris Froome’s calls for an attacking day to chase the general classification lead, the red jersey remained on the shoulders of Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) at day’s end, the Vuelta champion elect well protected by his teammates to ensure the Spanish squad would go into tomorrow’s stage with little with which to concern themselves except a celebration.

There had been a 13-second margin between the two heading into the penultimate day, which prompted the Team Sky rider’s claim that he could make something of the day’s offerings but in reality it was going to prove a mountain too high against a Cobo in top condition and extremely motivated to take the biggest victory of his career on home turf.

Last chance hotel

It may have boasted a flat finish but the penultimate stage of this year’s Vuelta still had its fair share of climbing – a brace of first category ascents in addition to a category two and three climb, which offered something for the men desperate to take their shot at a stage win late in the event.

This was reflected in the number of noted climbers getting themselves into the day’s break, which detached itself from the peloton early in the stage, as the overall heavyweights looked to conserve ahead of what promised to be an interesting finale.

With Froome and Cobo separated by the aforementioned 13 seconds, there was the possibility of fireworks near the finish, although 26 men were keen to try their luck the hard way – in the break – before that point.

Those men were: Damiano Caruso (Liquigas-Cannondale), AG2R La Mondiale pair Nicolas Roche and Lloyd Mondory, Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Andalucia Caja Granada), Greg Van Avermaet (BMC Racing Team) and Euskaltel-Euskadi riders Inaki Isasi Flores and Amets Txurruka.

Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad) was trying his luck in the move again, along with Katusha trio Vladimir Karpets, Eduard Vorganov and Luca Paolini; Lampre - ISD was represented by Marco Marzano, Daniele Righi and Manuele Mori while Leopard Trek’s Daniele Bennati was in the mix, as was Pablo Lastras Garcia (Movistar), Jan Bakelants and Kristof Vandewalle (Omega Pharma-Lotto).

Also present were Matteo Carrara (Vacansoleil-DCM), Robert Kiserlovski (Astana), Rabobank’s Carlos Barredo and Steven Kruijswijk, Saxo Bank-Sungard had Jaroslaw Marycz and Nick Nuyens while Koen de Kort was representing Skil – Shimano and Christophe Le Mevel flew Garmin-Cervélo’s flag.

After 99km of racing the 20-man move had itself a lead of 4:10 but unsurprisingly with 70km until the finish that had dropped to 1:27. That mark dipped below a minute with 55km remaining as it became obvious the peloton was preparing to stretch its legs on the final climb of the day, the category one Puerto de Urkiola.

That was down to 36 seconds, with 52km remaining, and as expected the break was on its knees on the opening slopes of the Urkiola. It was Barredo’s cue to go solo from the leading group, hitting out ahead of his fellow escapees, who were being swamped by the peloton.

The Spaniard had 53 seconds on the peloton with 48km to go to the finish, battling slopes that touched 15 percent in sections and putting in a brave showing on the final categorised climb of this year’s Vuelta. He added 22 seconds to his lead over the peloton during the following kilometres in a sign that he was motivated to throw everything at the stage win.

Carlos runs into flat finale fun

Having crested the Urkiola, Barredo set about consolidating his lead on the descent and subsequent flat run to Vitoria with a slender lead of 36 seconds over the remnants of the break, with the peloton a further minute behind. Trailing him by 43 seconds with 40km remaining was a seven-man group of chasers that included teammate Kruijswijk, plus Kiserlovski, Le Mevel, Roche, Caruso and Txurruka.

Undeterred, Barredo continued his run to the line and with 35km until the finish he still had 27 seconds on the chasing group – not a heavy buffer but a lead he would fight gallantly to protect as Vitoria – and victory – beckoned. That advantage sat at 33 seconds with 31 clicks remaining but the peloton, led by Leopard Trek, had moved to within 20 seconds of the chasers.

The proximity of the peloton to the chasers caused some consternation in the group and before long the septet was caught, the dream over with exactly 30km before the finish. It wasn’t a good sign for Barredo’s chances of staying away but with about half a minute separating him from the main field, the likes of Leopard Trek and Team Sky called a temporary halt in hostilities to prepare for the hectic finale.

It was a case of marking time for the sprinters’ teams leading into the final 20km of the stage as Barredo continued his doomed run to Vitoria, which would come to an end with 15km remaining when he was caught by a solo Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC), but not before Froome and Cobo had shaped up to battle the final intermediate sprint in pursuit of precious bonus seconds, which ended in a no-contest.

Their die cast, it was time for Sastre and Barredo to work together and with 10km remaining they had 31 seconds over the peloton. That was reduced by just one second a kilometre later and had hit 23 seconds with eight clicks until the finish. At that point Barredo put up the white flag and left Sastre to his own devices out front, with a feisty field bearing down on the lone Spaniard.

His bolt shot, Sastre’s resistance ended with just under three kilometres remaining, which was time for Leopard Trek to go back to work for Bennati; coming into the final kilometer, the plan seemed to be working to perfection and with the Italian’s overwhelming strength in the finale he was able to open a long sprint and hold on to take a sought-after stage win.

Result
1	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek	4:39:20
2	Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Pro Team Astana
3	Damiano Caruso (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
4	Sep Vanmarcke (Bel) Team Garmin-Cervelo
5	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
6	Manuele Mori (Ita) Lampre - ISD
7	Davide Malacarne (Ita) Quickstep Cycling Team
8	Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10	Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale

CG Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	82:38:32
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:13
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:01:39
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 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 18

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-18/results)

Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre) won the sprint of a two-man group to take the eighteenth stage of the Vuelta a Espana in Noja, easily out-sprinting Quickstep's Kristoff Vandewalle. The two had broken out of a large escape group to fight for the win. Skil-Shimano's Alexandre Geniez took third.

It was the third win of the season for the 27-year-old Gavazzi, who also won stages at the Tour of the Basque Country and the Tour of Portugal.

"I dedicate this victory to my team-mate Alessandro Spezialetti who had to quit the Vuelta because of a broken collarbone. We're friends and we've had fun together until he crashed," Gavazzi said.

He and Vandewalle nullified a dangerous attack by RadioShack's Sergio Paulinho in the final few kilometers, and with Vandewalle leading most of the final kilometer, it was Gavazzi who had the advantage in the sprint to the line.

"Paulinho went away strongly but luckily, he was alone and the finale was difficult for a lone rider because of the head wind. With 2km to go, when I saw Vandewalle attacking, I followed as the other guys were looking at each other.

"Maybe I'm lucky in this part of the world. I've won here in Cantabria and nearby in the Basque Country, possibly because the courses are adapted to my characteristics. For sure, I like to race in this area."

Vandewalle was disappointed not to win, but encouraged by his ride in today's finale. "I haven't been lucky today but I think that I rode well when Paulinho was brought back. Unfortunately, Gavazzi, who was the fastest rider of our front group, came across.

"Straight away, I understood that I couldn't win but I still tried. To finish second means nothing. Only the winners are remembered. But today's result puts a smile back on my face. I've had a very hard Vuelta so far. I suffered the heat. I've had stomach bugs. It feels good to ride at the front again."

The peloton had given up trying a serious chase early on, and enjoyed the view of the coast in the closing kilometers. Simon Geschke of Skil-Shimano led them across the finish line 7:42 after Gavazzi.

Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) didn't have to fear for his jersey or his 13 second lead over Sky's Christopher Froome. Apart form the stage win, the real battles of the day were for the points and mountains jerseys.

"The breakaway went early. It helped me enjoy my day with the red jersey on home soil," Cobo said. "Today it was just a question of being vigilant and lucky. There was no danger. Everything went well. We’ve controlled the first part of the stage with two riders from Geox-TMC at the front of the bunch. With the help of other teams whose spots on GC were threatened, we've reached the finish the way we wanted."

Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) rebounded from his injuries and crash from two days ago to reclaim the points jersey. The Spaniard had dropped to third place in the ranking, but made sure that he was in the day's escape group. 'Purito' won both of the intermediate sprints and finished eighth, giving him enough of a boost to move back into green.

"After the bad day I had at La Covatilla and the two crashes I had before the stage finishes at Talavera and Haro, the remaining goal I have is to win the points classification," Rodriguez said. "I wasn't able to go for the stage win today but I went in the breakaway for the green jersey. It would be so nice to go on the final podium in Madrid!"

David Moncoutie held on to his polka dot mountain jersey thanks to his Cofidis teammate Nico Sijmens, who was in the escape group along with Matteo Montaguti (AG2R), second in the ranking. The Italian did all he could to claim the jersey, but Sijmens managed to foil his plans by finishing ahead of him at four of the day's five climbs.

"It was the worse case scenario but thanks to Nico Sijmens who did a great job marking Montaguti," Moncoutie said. "I've kept the polka dot jersey with an advantage of seven points. It's going to be tight until Saturday. In the second or third category climbs, Montaguti might be faster than me but I'm probably superior in the first category climbs. The crucial stage is on Saturday but if I have to force myself at the beginning of tomorrow's stage, I'll go for it. Ag2r-La Mondiale and Cofidis are fighting hard for the polka dot jersey. I want to win it badly!"

Battles for the jerseys

It took all of 10 kilometers for today's break group to form and get away. Joaquin Rodriguez, who has suffered since a crash two days ago, seemed to want to prove he wasn't done for yet and joined 16 others in flight.

Matteo Montaguti (AG2R), Martin Kohler (BMC), Nico Sijmens (Cofidis), Juan Jose Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Francesco Gavazzi (Lampre-ISD), Francis De Greef (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Robert Kiverlovski and Josep Jufre (Astana), Davide Malacarne and Kristof Vandewalle (Quickstep), Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank), Volodymir Gustov (Saxo Bank), Alexandre Geniez and Albert Timmer (Skil-Shimano), Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervelo) and Sergio Paulinho (RadioShack) made up the group.

After a strenuous few days in the mountains and with so many teams represented up front, the peloton seemed delighted to let this group do what it wanted. The gap got up to 10:50 and then stayed within the nine-to-ten minute range.

Rodriguez showed himself eager to gain back as much time and pride as he could. The Spaniard was wearing the green points jersey when he crashed on the 16th stage, and despite his time losses had dropped to only third in that ranking, 11 points behind Rabobank's Bauke Mollema. He helped himself by winning both of the day's intermediate sprints.

There were a total of five ranked climbs on the day's stage, and they were the reason that Montaguti was in the escape. He had dropped to third in the mountain ranking, one point behind race leader Juan Jose Cobo (Geox) and 22 points behind David Moncoutie of Cofidis.

The Italian won the first climb, the category 3 Puerto de Bragula, gaining three points, but was only second at the second climb, the Alto del Caracol (category 2), for another three points and at the category 1 Puerto de Alisas. The latter two were won by Sijmens, who sprinted for the points to protect the lead of his Cofidis teammate.

The day's only category 1 climb, which came with about 50km to go, and the fight for the mountain points was enough to start breaking up the lead group. Behind them, individual riders tried to break from the peloton, including Nicolas Roche (AG2R) and Wouter Pouls (Vacansoleil), riders who could potentially pose a threat to the red jersey if they were allowed to get too far away. But they were caught again.

After that climb, a ten-man lead group formed: Montaguti, Sijmens, Oroz, Rodriguez, Gavazzi, De Greef, Kiserlovski, Vandewalle, Gustov and Paulinho. They casually stretched the lead out to over 12 minutes.

Sijmens also took the mountain points on the category 3 Puerto de la Cruz Ursano, with Montaguti having given up hope and not sprinting for the summit, although he still finished second.

A disorganized group

With 30km to go, Paulinho took off out of the lead group. The Portugese rider just kept on going and built up his gap. Sijmens didn't have to worry about snapping up the points at the final climb, the Puerto de Fuente las Varas (category 3) as Paulinho took the top points, followed by, who else, Sijmens and Montaguti.

Paulinho had a lead of up to 50 seconds and looked clearly on his way to a solo win, but with 12km to go, it had dropped to 35 seconds. The chasers were eager to get their chance at the stage win, and turned up the speed on the chase. The disorganized group came closer and closer and if they hand managed to work together and co-ordinate their efforts, they could easily have caught him with eight or nine kilometers to go.

But with each riding for himself, they couldn't get things together – much to Kiserlovski's disgust, who was thinking he was doing far too much of the lead work. Whether it was the sheer power of their number, or whether Paulinho was slowing down, they came closer and closer.

Paulinho doggedly hung on, helped by the fact that the group continued to work against itself with constant attacks. Despite themselves, they caught the RadioShack rider with 2.5km to go.

That was the cue for Vandewalle to attack, soon followed by Gavazzi, who hung on to the Belgian's wheel. They went under the one kilometer marker seven seconds ahead of the nearest chaser, and Vandewalle led out the sprint and looked nervously over his shoulder. His fears were justified, as the Italian moved around him to easily take the sprint.

The remainder of the escape group dribbled over he finish line for the next four minutes. Behind them, the field was finally coming closer. A Leopard Trek rider tried to get away, but was caught again. Geschke won the sprint of honour of the large group.

Result
1	Francesco Gavazzi (Ita) Lampre - ISD	4:24:42
2	Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
3	Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Skil - Shimano	0:00:10
4	Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
5	Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
6	Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Saxo Bank Sungard
7	Juan José Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
8	Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
9	Robert Kiserlovski (Cro) Pro Team Astana
10	Francis De Greef (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:00:15

GC Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	74:04:05
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	0:02:05
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 17

(http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-17/results)

In taking the stage win atop Peña Cabarga this afternoon Team Sky's Chris Froome very nearly decided the fate of this year's Vuelta a España, forcing Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) to defend his red jersey in a stunning battle mano-a-mano on the tough slopes of the day's final climb.

The Brit won the day and undoubtedly the hearts of many fans with his stunning attack within the final two kilometres but the Spaniard held onto his overall advantage, narrowly finishing second to Froome on the stage, with Rabobank rider Bauke Mollema taking third, 21 seconds behind the duo. Daniel Martin finished fourth, three seconds behind Mollema.

While only 565m in altitude, the finishing climb of stage 17 provided a launch pad for plenty of attacks and some intriguing racing, as man after man tried his luck with forays off the front of the peloton, only to be dragged back. Froome bided his time and kicked hard when it mattered, turning himself inside out in the final 1,500 metres to take the spoils.

Despite not snatching the jersey off Cobo's shoulders, the Kenyan-born rider was pleased with his efforts. "That was indescribable," said Froome after the finish. "It was one of the hardest days on the bicycle of my life."

"It was the last mountain top finish and both Bradley and myself came into the stage trying to do as much as we could. But as you could see, Cobo was so strong and he holds the jersey by 13 seconds."

While Wiggins went into the Vuelta as Team Sky's leader, Froome's finishing move was an obvious sign that he's currently the stronger of the squad's two men who sit high on general classification and he explained the rationale of team leadership after the stage: "Some days Bradley is stronger [than me] and other days I'm stronger; the team has been fantastic – it's been a real team effort.

"The worst is now over – we still have to go out and make the most of it but the hardest is over," he added.

Sting in the tail

The Vuelta's 17th stage didn't appear too complicated or difficult on paper but at 211km and with climbing most of the day, it would prove to be taxing for most, even those who finished the day high on the standings.

Consequently, the peloton kept matters in check for over half of the parcours, despite an aggressive start to proceedings. A 20-man group containing the likes of Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step), Greg van Avermaet (BMC Racing), Oliver Kaisen (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Guillaume Bonnaford (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Evgeni Petrov (Astana) and Johannes Frohlinger (Skil-Shimano) got away with 116km raced.

With 80km until the finish, the group had 2:50, which was cut to 1:17 at the summit of the day's first climb, the third category Portillo de Bustos, where Christophe Le Mevel picked up the intermediate points.

On the slopes of the day's second climb, the Portillo de Lunada, Kaisen tried his luck with an attack but was reeled in by his breakaway companions with 57km remaining in the stage. Five kilometres later that leading group was caught by Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar), Mathias Frank (BMC Racing) and king of the mountains David Moncoutié (Cofidis) to form a potent combination at the head of the race.

While the leaders played around with mountains points, the peloton was getting stuck into the task of making progress ahead of the day's finishing climb. At the base of the descent the break's number was up, the cue for Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) and Pablo Lastras (Movistar) to counter-attack, albeit in a short-lived endeavour.

Let the attacks begin!

Despite some one-off attacks it wasn't until five kilometres remaining that the quality moves started in earnest as stage nine winner Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) jumped clear, followed by Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Chris Anker Sorensen (Saxo Bank-Sungard) and Bruseghin in pursuit.

Four kilometres from home, Martin had eight seconds over Bruseghin but that would only last for another 600 metres, as the Italian caught his Irish rival and pushed the pace even higher. With three clicks until the finish they were joined in their advance and held 14 seconds over the peloton, with Sorensen somewhere in the middle.

Unwavering in his pursuit of the leading duo, Sorensen caught Martin and Bruseghin just as Omega Pharma-Lotto's Jurgen Van Den Broeck launched the attack he'd been threatening to unleash for some time. The Belgian pinned his ears back and within 500 metres had caught and passed the front three, his sights set on the finish.

The final 1.5km averaged 13 percent and boasted a maximum gradient of 19 percent and it hurt Van Den Broeck – he was caught ahead of the flamme rouge, with Nieve keeping pace ahead of Cobo, Wiggins and Froome.

Undeterred, he attacked again, putting Wiggins in difficulty while Froome went with the Belgian's move and impressively countered in an attempt to take the overall lead; belting out the final metres of the stage, his face wracked in agony, Team Sky's second in charge signaled his status as the squad's main man during the final week of racing.

He carried on his run to the line as attention turned to Cobo, whose red jersey was at stake. He was briefly distanced and looked to be losing time to Froome, but he defended valiantly to battle back to the Sky rider's wheel and very nearly took the stage win. Froome dug deep and dove into the last corner to take the stage with Cobo only just falling short. Both riders were completely spent and sitting on the ground in agony after the finish.

Behind the exhausted duo at the front, Bruseghin, Igor Anton and his Euskaltel-Euskadi teammate Mikel Nieve, Van Den Broeck and Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC) rolled in over the next 30 seconds. Wiggins would finish 39 seconds behind but remains in third overall and now looks destined to take his first Grand Tour podium, although it could have been so much more.

1	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	4:52:38
2	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	0:00:01
3	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:00:21
4	Daniel Martin (Irl) Team Garmin-Cervelo	0:00:24
5	Igor Anton Hernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi	0:00:27
6	Mikel Nieve Ituralde (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
7	Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team	0:00:29
8	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:00:31
9	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC
10	Beñat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team	0:00:35

GC Overall

1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	69:31:41
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	0:02:05
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 16

http://www.cyclingnews.com/vuelta-a-espana/stage-16/results
Juan José Haedo (Saxo Bank-Sungard) took victory on stage 16 of the Vuelta a España in bizarre circumstances ahead of Alessandro Petacchi (Lampre-ISD) and Daniele Bennati (Leopard Trek). while Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) retained the red jersey.

As Bennati's Leopard Trek squad strung out the peloton in the closing kilometres, it looked as though a long, hot day in the saddle was going to end as scripted with a straightforward bunch sprint in the streets of Haro. Although a plethora of sprinters have already left the race, Petacchi, Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo) and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) were among the riders lined up behind Bennati and his lead-out man Robert Wagner approaching the final bend, and the stage seemed set for a grandstand finish.

Instead, it turned out to be something of a damp squib; when Wagner swung off the front on a roundabout with 300 metres to go, he took a wrong turning, veering off to the right instead of following the race route on the left.

"Unfortunately due to tiredness and the chaotic nature of a finish, Robbie [Robert Wagner] followed the motorbike right around the roundabout instead of heading left towards the finish," Leopard Trek directeur sportif Luca Guercilena explained. "Daniele had to brake too much. He wasn't able to go straight to the line."

While Bennati hesitated momentarily before choosing the right path, the well-placed Sagan started to follow Wagner but then locked up the brakes as he recognized his mistake and fell out of contention. Sensing the confusion, Haedo cleverly launched his sprint early, and emerged from the roundabout with a healthy advantage over Bennati and Petacchi.

The Argentinian even had time to sit up and savour his first Grand Tour triumph in the final 50 metres, and Petacchi's impressive final effort ultimately proved to be in vain. A disappointed Bennati recovered to come home in third, just ahead of Vicente Reynes (Omega Pharma-Lotto) and Leigh Howard (HTC-Highroad).

"It crowns my career so far, absolutely! I’ve won stages at other important races like the Critérium du Dauphiné, Tirreno-Adriatico or the Tour of Catalunya, but this one is the most beautiful of them all," Haedo said afterwards. "This success is a gift for the sixteen days of suffering I've experienced. I’ve done the right thing staying in the race…"

While there was considerable consternation among the sprinting fraternity about the confused final kilometre, Saxo Bank directeur sportif Brad McGee was adamant that Haedo would have won regardless of Wagner's wrong turn.

"He was ready, was in the perfect position in the finale and he was better tactically and physically in the technically demanding sprint where some riders took the wrong turn in the last roundabout," McGee said. "But it would have made no difference. JJ (Haedo) was simply better than everyone today and we hope he can repeat this win on Sunday in Madrid."

Froome's move checked by Cobo

The finish-line intrigue was not confined just to the sprinters, as Juan José Cobo and Team Sky brought their battle for overall supremacy from the vertiginous slopes of the Angliru to the plains of La Rioja.

Barely 10km from the finish, Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Caja Granada), the final survivor of the day's breakaway, was engulfed by the peloton on the cusp of the second intermediate sprint. With seconds at a premium in the fight for the red jersey, Froome sensed his opportunity and moved towards the front of the bunch.

Although he was thwarted in his hunt for the full six bonus seconds by the quick thinking of Cobo's teammate David De La Fuente, Froome did manage to pick up the two seconds on offer for third place behind Heinrich Haussler (Garmin-Cervélo).

By the time the stage was done, however, Froome's hypothetical advantage would be wiped out. The Briton and his teammate Bradley Wiggins were caught behind when the peloton split on the high-speed run-in to the finishing line, and Froome handed back his short-lived two second gain to Cobo before it even registered with the time keepers.

While the gap was minimal, there is no underestimating the impact that Cobo's tenth-place finish will have on his morale. With the race poised on a knife edge and with a series of tight stages to come in the Basque Country, every gain, temporal or psychological, is to be treasured in a tense final week to the Vuelta.

Rodriguez crash

For a stage that culminated in such dramatic fashion, its beginnings were altogether more banal. Barely a kilometre after the flag was dropped, Julien Fouchard (Cofidis) jumped clear with Andalucia-Caja Granada pair Jesus Rosendo and Antonio Cabello, and a weary-legged peloton duly left them to it.

The trio built up a lead of 8:30 after just 40km, but when the sprinters' teams stirred from their slumber shortly after the midway point, their gap began to fall softly. With 30km to go, Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) thundered to the front of the bunch, in what is set to be his final appearance of this year's Vuelta – the Swiss rider announced before the stage that he will leave the race this evening to fine-tune his preparation for the world championships.

Perhaps sensing that Cancellara had a plane to catch, Rosendo opted to leave his breakaway companions behind and try his luck alone shortly afterwards. Although he put up solid resistance to the chasing pack, he knew that his time off the front was limited, and he was duly snaffled up on the run-in to the final intermediate sprint.

As the pace picked up in the main field, a crash removed a number of riders from contention, with the worst affected riders being Rafal Majka (Saxo Bank-Sungard) and Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha). Although Rodriguez was able to ride gingerly to the finish in the company of a loyal platoon of Katusha teammates, the Spaniard had conceded 5:30 by the finish, and said that he would decide on his continued participation on Wednesday morning.

Rodriguez, so dominant in the opening week of the race, has endured a rather more difficult spell since. The home favourite before the Vuelta, Rodriguez's crash was overshadowed on the day by the dramatic incident in the final kilometre, while in overall terms, Spanish hopes were already pinned to Juan José Cobo.

	Result
1	Juan José Haedo (Arg) Saxo Bank Sungard	4:41:56
2	Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Lampre - ISD
3	Daniele Bennati (Ita) Leopard Trek
4	Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Omega Pharma-Lotto
5	Leigh Howard (Aus) HTC-Highroad	0:00:02
6	Koen De Kort (Ned) Skil - Shimano
7	Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
8	Nikolas Maes (Bel) Quickstep Cycling Team
9	Christopher Sutton (Aus) Sky Procycling
10	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC

GC Overall

Result
1	Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC	64:39:14
2	Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:22
3	Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Sky Procycling	0:00:51
4	Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team	0:01:41
5	Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek	0:02:40
6	Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC	0:03:06
7	Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek	0:03:08
8	Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale	0:03:49
9	Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto	0:04:03
10	Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team	0:04:18

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