Spain's Igor Anton reclaimed the red leader's jersey at the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday with an explosive attack on the summit finish that also earned him a second stage win.
Having just lost the red jersey on Tuesday after leading the race for two days, it looked like Anton, 27, had run out of gas at the bottom on the 6-mile climb to the finish of Stage 11.
He survived with the overall leaders such as the red jersey Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas), however, then found his legs by attacking with about 2 miles left.
Anton dropped Rodriguez like he was doing a trackstand, then caught and passed Nibali without so much as a nod. He slowed briefly when he caught stage leader Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia), who had attacked earlier on the climb, then rocketed past him with about a half-mile to go.
Breakaway
Most of the day, the peloton let a two-man breakaway remain out front. At one point, they had a 9-minute gap on the field.
Rabobank rode hard at the front of the peloton over much of the 129-mile course to set up teammate Denis Menchov. Rabobank was replaced by Katusha, however, as soon as the climb started and Menchov was not a factor in the finish.
Lead grows
Due to his stage win and 20-second time bonus, Anton will start Thursday's stage with a 45-second lead over the rest of the field. His effort seriously spread out the General Classification and put some early favorites, such as Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank), that the end is near.
Nibali, for instance, started the day in 3rd place, 4 seconds behind the overall leader. He moved up to 2nd place on Wednesday, but suffered a 45-second time gap to the red jersey.
Rodriguez, who started the day in 1st place, dropped back to 4th, 1:17 behind Anton.
US cyclist Tejay Van Garderen (HTC-Columbia) dropped out of the Top 10 for the first time since Stage 1.
Top 10
1. Igor Anton (Eukaltel Euskadi)
2. Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre) – 45 seconds behind
3. Xavier Tondo (Cervelo) – 1:04
4. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) – 1:17
5. Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) – 1:29
6. Ruben Plaza (Caisse d’Epargne) – 2:07
7. Rigoberto Uran (Caisse d’Epargne) – 2:14
8. Nicolas Roche (AG2R) – 2:30
9. Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) – 2:30
10. Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) – 2:37
Stage 12
Thursday's Stage 12 sports a Category 2 climb about halfway to the finish, but the rest is mostly downhill. Looks like a stage the sprinters can contest.
More race details and results at CyclingNews or the official Vuelta a Espana website.
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