So much can happen in a mountain stage like this one that it can sometimes be hard to keep track. There are always several riders who walk away very happy and several others who leave bitterly disgusted with their close misses and overall defeat. David Moncoutie would certainly fall at the top of the "happy" list, as his day went perfectly according to his plan. He attacked on the late climbs, and then kept his 54 second lead intact on the descent to win yet another career Vuelta stage. He also moved into decent position on the KOM jersey, in which he trails leader Serafin Martinez (who finished 2nd on the stage) by 10 KOM points. Igor Anton is also all smiles today, as he assumed control of the GC lead after Gilbert faltered. Joaquin Rodriguez made a late attack and did make up the needed 3 seconds exactly but the red jersey was awarded to Anton by the judges. Rodriguez sits in very good position, as does 3rd place Vincenzo Nibali, who only trails by 2 seconds. Beyond that, Xavier Tondo is the next closest, sitting over 40 seconds behind the top 3. I would say it is way too early to call it a 3 horse race now, but many riders did not help their own cause today. There were some moderate losers, like Schleck, Van Garderen, and LL Sanchez, who limited their time loss to the top 3 to about 1 minute, but there were some who suffered much more than that. Overnight leader Gilbert had a horrible day, getting involved in a early accident (which also involved stage 7 winner Petacchi) and then running out of steam trying to defend his red jersey on the last climbs. Denis Menchov was equally bad on the climb, and finished a few seconds behind Gilbert and severely damaged his chances to win the GC title. Team Sky also had a somber day, as they pulled their entire team (or whatever was left of it) out of the race to mourn the sudden death of massage therapist Txema Gonzalez. This is not the only misfortune to happen to the team this Vuelta, as most of the team came down with food poisoning in the earlier stages of the race. Nevertheless, it was a very sad day for Team Sky and all of cycling.
Tomorrow is pretty much the same as today. Impossible to predict
So much can happen in a mountain stage like this one that it can sometimes be hard to keep track. There are always several riders who walk away very happy and several others who leave bitterly disgusted with their close misses and overall defeat. David Moncoutie would certainly fall at the top of the "happy" list, as his day went perfectly according to his plan. He attacked on the late climbs, and then kept his 54 second lead intact on the descent to win yet another career Vuelta stage. He also moved into decent position on the KOM jersey, in which he trails leader Serafin Martinez (who finished 2nd on the stage) by 10 KOM points. Igor Anton is also all smiles today, as he assumed control of the GC lead after Gilbert faltered. Joaquin Rodriguez made a late attack and did make up the needed 3 seconds exactly but the red jersey was awarded to Anton by the judges. Rodriguez sits in very good position, as does 3rd place Vincenzo Nibali, who only trails by 2 seconds. Beyond that, Xavier Tondo is the next closest, sitting over 40 seconds behind the top 3. I would say it is way too early to call it a 3 horse race now, but many riders did not help their own cause today. There were some moderate losers, like Schleck, Van Garderen, and LL Sanchez, who limited their time loss to the top 3 to about 1 minute, but there were some who suffered much more than that. Overnight leader Gilbert had a horrible day, getting involved in a early accident (which also involved stage 7 winner Petacchi) and then running out of steam trying to defend his red jersey on the last climbs. Denis Menchov was equally bad on the climb, and finished a few seconds behind Gilbert and severely damaged his chances to win the GC title. Team Sky also had a somber day, as they pulled their entire team (or whatever was left of it) out of the race to mourn the sudden death of massage therapist Txema Gonzalez. This is not the only misfortune to happen to the team this Vuelta, as most of the team came down with food poisoning in the earlier stages of the race. Nevertheless, it was a very sad day for Team Sky and all of cycling.
Tomorrow is pretty much the same as today. Impossible to predict
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