Today's stage: 170 km stage with the first summit finish of this year race, the Sierra Nevada, a long and high climb but not very steep.
Who won today's stage? Daniel Moreno (Katusha) took his first career Grand Tour stage victory, attacking Chris Anker Sorenson (Saxo Bank-Sungard) in the final km after both broke away late on the Sierra Nevada climb.
What matters in the GC race? The big news is pre-race co-favorite Igor Anton (crashed out last year while leading the race overall) losing time. Anton struggled up the first half of the Sierra Nevada and then cracked. He is now 2'44” behind new race leader Sylvain Chavanel (QuickStep) and close to 2 minutes behind defending champion Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale). Overnight leader Pablo Lastras (Movistar) was dropped early on on the Sierra Nevada climb as he paid for his efforts from yesterday. Also, stage winner Moreno is now second overall, 43” behind Chavanel. He is no major threat though as he is at the Vuelta to work for teammate Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha).
What matters in the other competitions?
Green Jersey (Points, Sprinter Competition) – Lastras retained his lead in this competition and none of the top finishers today had any point entering the day. He will wear the green jersey tomorrow.
Polka Dot Jersey (King of the Mountains) – Moreno will wear the Polka Dot jersey as the final climb gave big points today as it was also the races highest point. Sorenson is second in this competition.
White Jersey (Allround) – Moreno is the leader here too, but he will be wearing polka dots. Normally the jersey would go to second place, but that is overall leader Chavanel meaning third place Dan Martin (Garmin-Cervelo) will be wearing the white jersey tomorrow.
Biggest surprise: One of Joaquim Rodriguez's lieutenants was given the leash to go for the stage win. The Katusha team for the Vuelta has been built entirely around Rodriguez. Normally (see the Lance Armstrong years) that means everybody working for the leader and the leader only. Not here as Moreno's stage win also gives Katusha another contender.
Biggest disappointment: Anton cracking was a shocking disappointment. He was tipped as the co-favorite here along with defending champion Nibali. He just hasn't looked quite right since his win on Monte Zoncolan at the Giro d'Italia. On that day he moved into 3rd overall though he said he was just a stage hunter. He cracked the next day and ended up 19th and his form the last two days has looked a lot like that final week at the Giro and not like the first two weeks or the Vuelta before the crash last year.
Other items of note: HTC-High Road super sprinter Mark Cavendish retired from the race today. That leaves the HTC squad with very little to do here. For the first time in ages, we may see them in some breakaways at a Grand Tour hunting for stage wins... The team classification has started to take shape Radioshack leading, followed Rabobank, Quickstep and Katusha within 2 minutes.
What is coming tomorrow? 187 km medium mountain stage with an uphill finish. While it is not a summit finish, the hill does have a small section of over 20% gradient. A great chance for GC guys to get some time and also a great chance for a breakaway to stay away with no chance for the sprinters to win and no reason for the sprinter teams to chase.
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