For the second stage in a row, a cyclist in an all-day breakaway survived for a solo victory on Stage 9 at the Vuelta a Espana.
The stage winner, David Lopez (Caisse d'Epargne), attacked the other cyclists in the breakaway about 2 miles from the finish in Alcoi, ending a 116-mile day with seven category 2 and 3 climbs.
Meanwhile, there was no change among the top contenders for the overall lead, as Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) failed in his bid to drop Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) in a sprint at the finish. Rodriguez and Anton have the same official time in the General Classificiation, but Rodriguez is ranked in second. Italy's Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) remained in 3rd place, just 2 seconds behind Anton.
Up the ranks
When the breakaway crossed the finish line, it looked as if one of its members, France's Jean-Christophe Peraud (Omega Pharma-Lotto), might have jumped into first place. He started the day in 37th place, 6:59 behind the leaders.
The peloton let the breakaway escape on Sunday and never tried to reel in the 10 or so riders. At one point just 20 miles from the finish, race leader Gonzalo Rabunal (Xacobeo Galicia) had about 9:30 over peloton.
Euskaltel-Euskadi rode at the front of the peloton and didn't seem concerned with the riders up the road. When the breakaway riders crossed the finish line, Peraud had enough of a gap to take the lead.
The peloton picked up the pace in the closing kilometers and Rodriguez launched his bid for 1st place. They closed enough of a gap that Peraud wasn't awarded the leader's red jersey, but he did improve 32 places to 5th place overall.
A new winner
Saturday's stage winner, David Moncoutie (Cofidis) was in the breakaway on Sunday, but couldn't catch up to the attack by Lopez.
So far in the 2010 Vuelta, there has been a different stage winner everyday.
With the addition of Peraud in the mix, American Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) dropped one place to 11th overall, still 1:26 behind the leader. Another highly placed US cyclist, Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions), ended the day in 14th place, 1:52 behind the Anton.
The peloton will rest on Monday. Stage 10 is a 109-mile race from Tarragona to Vilanova i la Geltrú with a Category 1 climb along the route.
Recent Comments