Spain's Joaquin Rodriguez finally broke the tie with Igor Anton on Tuesday to take the overall lead of the Vuelta a Espana.
The Katusha cyclist won 2 seconds in an intermediate sprint on the 108-mile race to Vilanova i la Geltru. He had been ranked second place to red jersey wearer Anton for the past two stages even though they shared the same overall time.
Meanwhile, the Caisse d'Epargne cycling team marked a repeat stage victory when Imanol Erviti attacked the all-day breakaway about 12 miles from the finish and survived by more than 30 seconds.
Top 10 intact
Even though Rodriguez took over the lead in the General Classification on Wednesday, the top 10 cyclist have remained fairly intact for the past 6 or 7 stages. Rodriguez and Anton, for instance, have been in the top 3 places for about a week.
Ranked third is Italy's Vincenzo Nibali, a frequently mentioned contender for the championship.
That may change for Stage 11 on Wednesday when the peloton faces its first of five summit finishes at Andorra. It's good stage for one of the pre-race favorites to attack.
Andy booted
One of the few cyclists in the Top 10 since the beginning of the Vuelta is the US's Tejay Van Garderen. He broke in among the top racers by virtue of HTC-Columbia's team time trial won on the first day and has remained there ever since. He currently ranked 10th at 1:28 behind the leader.
Another race favorite has been Frank Schleck, who remains just out of the Top 10. If he is to win, he'll have to do it without his brother, and Team Saxo bank teammate, Andy Schleck. He and Stuart O'Grady broke team rules by going out for a drink after the last stage and were sent packing.
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