Vuelta: Breakaways and Bonuses

Rodriguez wins on time bonus while Erviti takes stage. Another day, another breakaway, another Spaniard. This time it was Imanol Erviti who stole the show, with a move that was nearly a mirror image of Lopez on Sunday. Erviti recognized the final steep descent as a good place to break away from the breakaway and then made his move. It was almost the same story as Sunday, involving a large breakaway slowly dwindling down to just a few riders battling it out for the victory. The only major exception about this breakaway was the presence of GC contender Philippe Gilbert, who fell back to the peloton after realizing the break stood no chance with him in it.
Joaquin Rodriguez also had a very good day, finishing with the main field but gaining a time bonus along the way that was enough to give him the GC lead. He is extremely happy to be wearing red, stating that "every second counts" in his situation.
Of course the big story of the day was the decision to pull Andy Schleck and Stuart O'Grady out of the race by Saxo Bank director Bjarne Riis. TdF runner up Schleck and domestique O'Grady, both leaving for the new Luxembourg team next year, were kept from starting due to a violation of team rules the night before. (Both men consumed alcohol after supper yesterday, which is against team policy.) Whether this is just a routine punishment or an attempt by Riis to light the fire between Saxo and the new Lux team next year remains to be seen, but I wouldn't expect to see Andy in a Saxo Bank uni anymore from here on out. Frank will still finish the race (hopefully) as he is in GC contention, while Andy was having a dismal race and had fallen out of GC hopes early.

Yikes, look at tomorrow's profile. The end is one of those make it or break it stages for the climbers, and it would be an excellent for guys like Rodriguez or Nibali to pull away and guys like Frank Schleck and Menchov to get themselves back into the hunt. Don't miss it!