Euskatel-Euskadi rider Igor Anton took his second stage win and took the leader’s red jersey for the second time in Stage 11 of the 2010 Vuelta a España. Anton outpowered everybody up the final Beyond Category climb to the finish after looking tired approaching the final climb.
Stage 11 featured 100 kilomters of climbing; the entire second half of the stage sloped uphill, to the final 10-km ascent up to Estació de Vallnord. The final climb was not steep, at a maximum of 13 percent, and Anton climbed steadily in a big gear, and still found extra power to attack and drop his rivals on the slopes.
The day started with two riders, Mikael Cherel (FDJ) and Johann Tschopp (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) attacking right after the first sprint point. The pair opened a gap of almost 15 minutes, but the peloton, led by Rabobank, really put the hammer down approaching the final climb.
Three km into the final climb, the peloton caught the breakaway and the race began in earnest. Rabobank had been pushihng the pace, hoping to set up their leader Denis Menchov, but apparently his knee was not fully healed, and he dropped back considerably on the climb.
Katusha then took up the pace, protecting their rider Joaquin Rodriguez in the red jersey. But the first attack came from Ezequiel Mosquera of Xacobeo-Galicia with 4.4 km to go. Mosquera, seventh in the standings, had dreams of wining the stage and the red jersey, but others shared his dream.
Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas, who had quietly been maintaining his place near the front all through the Vuelta, covered Mosquera’s attack. Niblai is almost certainly determined to take the overall win, and saw this as a stage where he could gain time.
Joaquin Rodriguez also responded, determined to keep the lead all through the mountains. Further back, Igor Anton seemed to be struggling to bridge the gap, on the verge of cracking.
Instead it was Rodriguez who cracked. Three kilometers from the end, Anton passed him as though Rodriguez were rooted; the Katusha rider came up empty, while Anton seemed to have found the switch for his afterburner.
At the front, Mosquera surged and Nibali didn’t have the legs to stick. The Liquigas rider started losing ground. Anton kept on jetting up the hill, passing Nibali 2.4 km for the top and taking off after Mosquera.
With 2 km to go Anton was only 10 seconds behind Mosquera. Another half a kilometer and they were together, and Anton never slowed; he rode right past the Galicia rider and opened a lead.
Coming under the one-kilometer banner, Anton attacked again, amazingly finding even more speed. Clearly the win was his—or perhaps not, as Cervelo’s Xavier Tonda, who had been waiting wisely for the right moment, decided to pounce.
Tonda, fourth overall, had saved everything for a final dash, and in the last kilometer he closed to within 13 seconds of Anton. Had he started 500 meters earlier, he might have won the stage. As it was, he gave the crowd a thrill, and moved himself up one spot in the General Classification.
Anton never looked back, still riding strong as he crossed the line. The Spanish rider took the lead in the Vuelta by 45 seconds over Vincenzo Nibali, the lone Italian rider in an otherwise all-Spanish top six.
Vincenzo Nibali, despite dropping back to fifth at the finish, still manged to take second in the overall standings. It remains to be seen if he has the form to match Anton in the coming climbs.
Saxo Bank’s Fränk Schleck, who had announced his desire for an overall win before the start of the Vuelta, made a good effort after being dropped early. Schleck finished 7th overall, and 9th in GC, moving up from 13th.
Stage 12 holds one serious climb, the Cat Two Coll de Bóixols, but the second half of the 172.5-km stage has only a few bumps and one real but unclassified climb 55 km from the end. This should be a sprinters’ stage; even if they get dropped on the climb, the sprinters have plenty of time to recover and catch up.
Stage 11 featured 100 kilomters of climbing; the entire second half of the stage sloped uphill, to the final 10-km ascent up to Estació de Vallnord. The final climb was not steep, at a maximum of 13 percent, and Anton climbed steadily in a big gear, and still found extra power to attack and drop his rivals on the slopes.
The day started with two riders, Mikael Cherel (FDJ) and Johann Tschopp (Bbox Bouygues Telecom) attacking right after the first sprint point. The pair opened a gap of almost 15 minutes, but the peloton, led by Rabobank, really put the hammer down approaching the final climb.
Three km into the final climb, the peloton caught the breakaway and the race began in earnest. Rabobank had been pushihng the pace, hoping to set up their leader Denis Menchov, but apparently his knee was not fully healed, and he dropped back considerably on the climb.
Katusha then took up the pace, protecting their rider Joaquin Rodriguez in the red jersey. But the first attack came from Ezequiel Mosquera of Xacobeo-Galicia with 4.4 km to go. Mosquera, seventh in the standings, had dreams of wining the stage and the red jersey, but others shared his dream.
Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas, who had quietly been maintaining his place near the front all through the Vuelta, covered Mosquera’s attack. Niblai is almost certainly determined to take the overall win, and saw this as a stage where he could gain time.
Joaquin Rodriguez also responded, determined to keep the lead all through the mountains. Further back, Igor Anton seemed to be struggling to bridge the gap, on the verge of cracking.
Instead it was Rodriguez who cracked. Three kilometers from the end, Anton passed him as though Rodriguez were rooted; the Katusha rider came up empty, while Anton seemed to have found the switch for his afterburner.
At the front, Mosquera surged and Nibali didn’t have the legs to stick. The Liquigas rider started losing ground. Anton kept on jetting up the hill, passing Nibali 2.4 km for the top and taking off after Mosquera.
With 2 km to go Anton was only 10 seconds behind Mosquera. Another half a kilometer and they were together, and Anton never slowed; he rode right past the Galicia rider and opened a lead.
Coming under the one-kilometer banner, Anton attacked again, amazingly finding even more speed. Clearly the win was his—or perhaps not, as Cervelo’s Xavier Tonda, who had been waiting wisely for the right moment, decided to pounce.
Tonda, fourth overall, had saved everything for a final dash, and in the last kilometer he closed to within 13 seconds of Anton. Had he started 500 meters earlier, he might have won the stage. As it was, he gave the crowd a thrill, and moved himself up one spot in the General Classification.
Anton never looked back, still riding strong as he crossed the line. The Spanish rider took the lead in the Vuelta by 45 seconds over Vincenzo Nibali, the lone Italian rider in an otherwise all-Spanish top six.
Vincenzo Nibali, despite dropping back to fifth at the finish, still manged to take second in the overall standings. It remains to be seen if he has the form to match Anton in the coming climbs.
Saxo Bank’s Fränk Schleck, who had announced his desire for an overall win before the start of the Vuelta, made a good effort after being dropped early. Schleck finished 7th overall, and 9th in GC, moving up from 13th.
Stage 12 holds one serious climb, the Cat Two Coll de Bóixols, but the second half of the 172.5-km stage has only a few bumps and one real but unclassified climb 55 km from the end. This should be a sprinters’ stage; even if they get dropped on the climb, the sprinters have plenty of time to recover and catch up.
| Vuelta a España Stage Eleven | |||
|
| Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Igor Anton | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 5:25:44 |
| 2 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Xacobeo Galicia | +0:00:03 |
| 3 | Xavier Tondo | Cervélo Test Team | +0:00:10 |
| 4 | Rigoberto Uran | Caisse d’Epargne | +0:00:16 |
| 5 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Doimo | +0:00:23 |
| 6 | Frank Schleck | Saxo Bank | +0:00:23 |
| 7 | David Moncoutie | Cofidis | +0:00:23 |
| 8 | Inigo Cuesta | Footon-Servetto | +0:00:32 |
| 9 | Carlos Sastre | Cervélo Test Team | +0:00:32 |
| 10 | Ruben Plaza | Caisse d’Epargne | +0:00:32 |
| 2010 Vuelta a Espana General Classifiaction | |||
|
| Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Igor Anton | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 47:37:15 |
| 2 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Doimo | 0:00:45 |
| 3 | Xavier Tondo | Cervélo Test Team | 0:01:04 |
| 4 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha | 0:01:17 |
| 5 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Xacobeo Galicia | 0:01:29 |
| 6 | Ruben Plaza | Caisse d’Epargne | 0:02:07 |
| 7 | Rigoberto Uran | Caisse d’Epargne | 0:02:14 |
| 8 | Nicolas Roche | Ag2R-La Mondiale | 0:02:30 |
| 9 | Frank Schleck | Saxo Bank | 0:02:30 |
| 10 | Peter Velits | HTC-Columbia | 0:02:37 |
