Today's stage: 158 km with more mountains and a category 2 climb just 14 km from the finish
Who won today's stage? Igor Anton (Euskatel) saved his season by winning from the breakaway today. Anton had built his entire season around winning the overall competition in the Vuelta and his trials (especially during week 1) have been well-covered here. For Anton, this is the biggest victory of his career as it comes on the home stage for his Euskatel team in the first Grand Tour stage raced through the region in over 30 years. If the Vuelta was not to be won, this was, by far, the most important stage for Anton's Euskatel team.
What matters in the GC race? Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) was able to match the attacks of Chris Froome (Team Sky). With only one stage of any consequence left and that one flat for the final 50km, Cobo has likely locked up the overall victory.
What matters in the other competitions?
Green Jersey (Points, Sprinter Competition) – It is now a two man race between Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) and Bauke Mollema (Rabobank). Just two points separate them with two stages to go. I give the edge to Rodriguez because of Mollema's overall standing. Rodriguez could get into the breakaway tomorrow while Mollema is close enough to Cobo and the Sky riders that the peloton will never let him go. Way on the fringe sits Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale). To win this, he likely needs to find the breakaway tomorrow, win the stage and then win the sprint on the final stage. Not likely, but still possible.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Tomorrow has the final mountains of the race to decide the competition between David Moncoutie (Cofidis) and Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale). Montaguti is a long shot at best. Nobody of consequence gained any points on today's stage.
White Jersey (Allround) – Cobo has sthis all but locked up. Froome continues to wear the jersey as the second placed rider, but he is unlikely to catch Cobo even if he somehow overtakes and wins the overall.
Biggest surprise: Nobody was able to hang with the Euskatel riders. It was obvious with this being their home stage and it having not appeared for over 30 years Euskatel would do anything and everything to control the race and win it. They did exactly that in part because everyone else allowed them to without question.
Biggest disappointment: Where was this Anton earlier in the race? He won easily today and was with the top group on the Angliru stge on Sunday. Where was he before that? I still think the Giro took too much out of him as he pretty much dropped off the face of the Earth after winning the Zoncolan stage there.
Other items of note: Thankfully, the Basque region did not protest today. There have been delicate political issues enveloping the region for much of the last decade and there were fears that there would be a race disrupting protest that thankfully, never came to pass... Geox-TMC still leads the team competition by over 10 minutes over Leopard-Trek... Movistar Team is now riding with only five men with two of those sick after a virus hit the team. Hopefully next season is better for this snakebitten team.
What is coming tomorrow? Exiting the Basque country and one last major climb. It comes too far from the finish to really remake anything though. I think the points battle between Rodriguez and Mollema and the KoM battle between Moncoutie and Montaguti take center stage tomorrow. I also expect Rodriguez, Montaguti and Moncoutie to all be in the breakaway or attempt to get into the daily breakaway searching for points.
Follow me on twitter, I will be following the race live tomorrow once again.
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