Anton crashes. Rodriguez attacks. Nibali hangs on for GC
It was pretty clear after the first week who the top 3 were, and today was all about them. The first rider is GC leader Igor Anton, who can only be summed up by the word unfortunate. Anton was in good position among the leaders, when he hit a pothole and lost control of his machine. He wildly swerved into teammate Egoi Martinez in a spectacular crash that knocked both of them out of the race and both men seemed quite banged up. Martinez had to be taken to the hospital, while Anton just received some care on location. This left the stage, and the GC lead, wide open for the lead group approaching the summit.
A few riders like Roman Kreuzinger and Niki Terpstra tried to make their move, but were unable to hold their advantage. Finally, Vincenzo Nibali made his move and only Rodriguez could follow him. Nibali kicked again, and seemed sure to hold on to his virtual GC lead. Rodriguez was not ready to throw in the towel, however, as he found the strength inside of him to get right back up to Nibali and continue on past him. He gained quite a bit of time on the summit, and seemed poised to take over the GC title. Nibali, struggling but still determined, recovered well enough to cross the line in time to preserve 3 seconds of his lead. Ezequiel Mosquera followed closely, and assumes third place in the GC. Frank Schleck, Nicolas Roche, Xavier Tondo, and Peter Velits also all stayed in the hunt, and kept their top 10 placings. The true story of the day was Anton, though, and you can't help but feel for the guy. The race must go on, however, and Nibali will be leading the field tomorrow as the Vuelta rolls on.
Brutal summit finish tomorrow, as the stage is dead flat beforehand. If you look at the profile below, you may even get tired just from looking at the finish. Ouch!
It was pretty clear after the first week who the top 3 were, and today was all about them. The first rider is GC leader Igor Anton, who can only be summed up by the word unfortunate. Anton was in good position among the leaders, when he hit a pothole and lost control of his machine. He wildly swerved into teammate Egoi Martinez in a spectacular crash that knocked both of them out of the race and both men seemed quite banged up. Martinez had to be taken to the hospital, while Anton just received some care on location. This left the stage, and the GC lead, wide open for the lead group approaching the summit.
A few riders like Roman Kreuzinger and Niki Terpstra tried to make their move, but were unable to hold their advantage. Finally, Vincenzo Nibali made his move and only Rodriguez could follow him. Nibali kicked again, and seemed sure to hold on to his virtual GC lead. Rodriguez was not ready to throw in the towel, however, as he found the strength inside of him to get right back up to Nibali and continue on past him. He gained quite a bit of time on the summit, and seemed poised to take over the GC title. Nibali, struggling but still determined, recovered well enough to cross the line in time to preserve 3 seconds of his lead. Ezequiel Mosquera followed closely, and assumes third place in the GC. Frank Schleck, Nicolas Roche, Xavier Tondo, and Peter Velits also all stayed in the hunt, and kept their top 10 placings. The true story of the day was Anton, though, and you can't help but feel for the guy. The race must go on, however, and Nibali will be leading the field tomorrow as the Vuelta rolls on.
Brutal summit finish tomorrow, as the stage is dead flat beforehand. If you look at the profile below, you may even get tired just from looking at the finish. Ouch!
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