Today's stage: 187 km stage starting at near the Sierra Nevada and continuing over a couple of medium sized mountains before an uphill finish with an obscene 23% grade in the final km.
Who won today's stage? Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) won the stage that seemed made for his abilities, dropping everyone else on the wall of a finishing hill. It was a bit of redemption for Rodriguez who was a big favorite when the race finished here last season before finishing 3rd because he attacked too early and tired before the end of the hill.
What matters in the GC race? Race leader Sylvain Chavanel (QuickStep) retained the red leader's jersey by surviving the stage. His lead was cut to 9 seconds over yesterday's stage winner Daniel Moreno (Katusha). In third is Rodriguez, one of the prerace favorites, but a terrible time trialer who could lose a ton of time at the stage 10 time trial. Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) is 10 seconds behind Rodriguez. Meanwhile, Igor Anton (Euskatel) is pretty much done as a GC threat. He lost more time and is now over 3 minutes behind Chavanel and well out of the running.
What matters in the other competitions?
Green Jersey (Points, Sprinter Competition) – I use the term sprinter competition loosely here as this is the single most sprinter unfriendly Grand Tour course in memory. That's saying something considering how hard the Giro was this season on sprinters. Leading is Moreno, a climber, followed by Rodriguez, another climber, then Pablo Lastras (Movistar) who got all his points by winning a stage from a breakaway.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Moreno is also the leader here after his stage win atop the Sierra Nevada yesterday. Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxo Bank-Sungard) is second and will wear the blue Polka Dots tomorrow
White Jersey (Allround) – Moreno is the leader here too, not a surprise since its a combination ranking of the other competitions. His teammate Rodriguez is now second as one of the nine men who have qualified for the competition thus far (riders must score both sprinter and King of the Mountain points to qualify).
Biggest surprise: Nothing at all. Rodriguez was expected to win the stage, he did. Nibali was expected to lose some time, but ultimately limit his losses to some degree, he did. Anton didn't look good yesterday and didn't seem in good form, it showed again. There was nothing surprising as all despite the stage being an entertaining ride.
Biggest disappointment: Anton's explosion is disappointing. He crashed out as the leader last year and built his entire season around winning the Vuelta. That isn't happening after he lost more time today. He and his Euskatel team are now reduced to being stage hunters. They will be trying really hard to win when the race goes to their Basque homeland.
Other items of note: David Moncoutie (Cofidis) attacked on the final climb looking for the stage win and King of the Mountain points. He has won the KoM competition at the last three Vueltas. He was absorbed on the final hill by the peloton... Today was a great exercise in team tactics (something Rabobank missed badly yesterday). The Katusha team controlled the race to set up their leader, then had his lieutenant up front to absorb one of the other time bonuses from the other GC contenders. Well done by that team after a nightmare Tour de France with an all Russian squad.
What is coming tomorrow? The closest thing we have to a sprint stage. 193 km that is flat until a cat. 2 climb summits 21 km from the end. The remaining sprinters should be able to stay in contact over the climb and rejoin on the descent to contest a real sprint finish for the first time in the race (as opposed to the uphill sprints we have seen thus far).
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