Today's Stage: Bola del Mundo.
One of the craziest climbs in professional cycling.
Who won today's stage? Katusha
sent two men into the breakaway to assist Joaquin Rodriguez later in
the stage. That breakaway ended up staying away as it had 20 men in
it, so former double Vuelta overall winner Denis Menchov (Katusha)
took the stage win instead of helping his teammate.
What matters in the GC race?
Though Rodriguez dropped Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) who in turn
dropped Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff), everyone stayed in
their same positions. The final top 10 is also complete as the last
stage is mostly ceremonial until the final sprint. This is the final
GC barring something crazy though Valverde and Rodriguez's Green
Jersey fight could play a role in the battle for second as they
battle for the Green Jersey:
1 Alberto Contador (Saxo Bank-Tinkoff)
2 Alejandro Valverde
(Movistar) +1'16”
3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) +1'37”
4 Chris Froome (Team Sky) +10'16”
5 Daniel Moreno (Katusha) +11'29”
6 Robert Gesink (Rabobank) +12'23”
7 Andrew Talansky
(Garmin-Sharp) +13'28”
8 Laurens Ten Dam (Rabobank) +13'41”
9 Igor Anton (Euskatel) +14'01”
10 Benat Intxausti (Movistar) +16'13”
What matters in the other
competitions?
Green Jersey (Points) –
Rodriguez extended his lead further by a point. Still, this will go
to tomorrow as the final sprint will determine the winner. With two
intermediate sprints before that, the Rodriguez-Valverde battle will
continue from mid stage all the way through the final sprint.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the
Mountains, it's blue in Spain, not red) – Simon Clarke
(Orica-GreenEdge) got himself into the breakaway again and took
enough points that the Bola del Mundo did not matter in the race of
the King of the Mountains. With no climbs tomorrow, Clarke has won
the jersey. Special note that four-time defending champion of this
classification David Moncoutie (Cofidis) finished 10th.
White Jersey (Allround, instead of
young rider, calculated by adding the rankings in GC, Points and KoM,
lowest score wins) – There is still a battle to be waged here
as well. If Valverde steals the Green Jersey on the final day he
would be tied with Rodriguez as Rodrgieuz lost a spot in the King of
the Mountains today bringing Valverde in range. Just something else
to watch on the final stage.
Team Classification (top 3 times by
team on each stage) – Movistar lost over 8 minutes today to
Euskatel, but they had over 17 minutes to spare so they still
clinched the team victory.
Biggest surprise: No Thomas De
Gendt (Vacansoleil) in the breakaway. De Gendt is a talented climber
and the King of the Mountains jersey was in range as was a possible
stage win (remember that De Gendt won the Queen Stage at Stage 20 of
the Giro d'Italia in May), but De Gendt didn't get himself in the
breakaway today.
Biggest disappointment:
Rodriguez didn't attack early enough. He was unlikely to pull back
over 2 minutes today, but he should have made the effort as his
podium position was never going to be at risk, even if he exploded
and lost a ton of time. As it turned out, had he attacked earlier, he
might have pulled enough time to pass Valverde.
What is coming tomorrow?
Processional stage into Madrid to finish with a bunch sprint.
Tomorrow's Prediction: John
Degenkolb (Argos-Shimano) will remind everyone why he was the best
sprinter in the field early in the race with an easy win.
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