Today's stage: 142 km stage with the fearsome Angliru climb to finish the stage
Who won today's stage? Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) rode away from the field, Armstrong style, and won the stage easily the ay after finishing second after attacking on the final climb.
What matters in the GC race? The whole GC leaderboard changed entirely. Cobo's stage win moved him into the race lead. He now leads Chris Froome (Team Sky) by 20” and Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) by 46”. Further down, Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) was dropped again and now sits 3'27” behind. At this point, the race is really a 3-man race though.
What matters in the other competitions?
Green Jersey (Points, Sprinter Competition) – No changes here as leader Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) was dropped on the Angliru and scored no points. Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) also scored no points and Peter Sagan (Liquigas-Cannondale) didn't either.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – David Moncoutie (Cofidis) attacked on the climb before the Angliru to extend his lead further over Matteo Montaguti (Ag2r La Mondiale).
White Jersey (Allround) – Cobo now leads this competition as well. Of course he is in red, so second place Mollema will wear the jersey Tuesday when the race resumes.
Biggest surprise: Cobo's ride. Cobo attacked yesterday and dropped everyone. It was thought to be a risky attack because of the presence of the Angliru today. No worries necessary though. Cobo attacked again and nobody could match him on the Angliru as it was a sufferfest where nobody attacks.
Biggest disappointment: Nobody could stay with Cobo. Wiggins couldn't match and was dropped, even sending teammate Froome up the road without him. Denis Menchov (Geox-TMC) might have been able to match Cobo, but he wasn't going to carry the others back up to his teammate and everyone else really had no answers.
Other items of note: We had an Anton sighting today. Igor Anton (Euskatel) attacked on the lower slopes of the Angliru, but was reeled in by Cobo. He ultimately finished the stage with Wiggins, over a minute behind... Geox now has a stranglehold on the team competition. Cobo, Menchov and Carlos Sastre are a truly formidable combination on mountain stages for the team competition... Leopard-Trek also has a debate about team leadership like Team Sky, just a bit further down. Jakob Fuglsang has been the leader, but he was dropped and fell behind teammate Maxime Monfort in the overall standings. Who will be supported ?
What is coming tomorrow? Rest day tomorrow. Then a pure sprint stage Tuesday. Then Wednesday is the final summit finish of the race.
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