Mollema is the biggest favorite for the win. I would be surprised if anyone can beat him given how strong he has been in the first week.

Well I just hope he doesn't blow out of steam

Stage 9: Villacastin - La Covatilla



The second mountain-top finish of the race awaits the riders on the 9th stage of the Vuelta. The stage is overall rather easy, as there are no other difficulties in the stage than the final climb to La Covatilla. Therefore, not big gaps are expected at the finish line. Nevertheless, the worse time trialists may want to put a bit of time ahead of the other favorites ahead of the long time trial in Salamanca.



The break of the day had 9 riders today, including Vincenzo Nibali (Lampre), Andreas Kloden (HTC), Lars Boom (Saxo Bank), Eros Capecchi (Liquigas) and Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana). They had a good gap of 8' 40'' ahead of the peloton halfway through the stage but the teams of the favorites seemed more keen to chase today than in previous days.



Discovery, Vacansoleil and Rabobank were leading the chase as the bunch crossed the second intermediate sprint in Bejar. From there the terrain will always be uphill toward the ski resort in La Covatilla. The gap of the break was still 3' 45'', so the favorites will have to push if they want the stage win.



Vincenzo Nibali and Tony Martin reached the crossing towards La Covatilla 30 seconds ahead of the rest of the break after attacking in the easier uphill part (8 km to go). They still had 2' 40'' on the main bunch so their chances of a stage win were still alive, especially as Nibali is a good climber.



Denis Menchov was in dire need of recovering time after losing yesterday in the final hill in San Lorenzo del Escorial. He attacked as soon as the road had a high gradient and opened himself a small gap ahead of the bunch. With 7 kilometers remaining he was still 2 minutes behind Nibali, so the Italian had a good gap to play with.



However, Nibali didn't count with a terrific attack by Bauke Mollema that left everyone else with no response. As they reached the 5 kilometers mark the Dutch was already seeing Nibali, as he had cut the lead to barely 20 seconds. The group of favorites was still losing 1' 45'' as Mollema had left them all behind with ease.



Mikel Nieve was alone in the chase of Bauke Mollema with 3 kilometers remaining but he was already losing 1' 30''. The Spaniard was the best of the rest as another group of 6 riders including Frank Schleck, David Lopez and Hubert Dupont was 2 minutes down on Mollema. The Vacansoleil rider is giving a huge blow to the aspirations of his rivals.



George Hincapie is leading the chasing group of 6 but they are losing time with every kilometer that goes by. They haven't even caught Vincenzo Nibali with 2 kilometers remaining as the Italian is doing a great climbing after being in the break for the whole day. Meanwhile, Mollema is giving no sign of weakness as he heads into the last kilometer.



Bauke Mollema wins in La Covatilla! A very dominant performance by the Dutch that will have undermined the confidence of his rivals quite a bit today. Mollema only needed 6 kilometers of climbing to put 2 minutes between himself and the second placed in the stage, Mikel Nieve. Nieve was clearly the best of the rest, even though his gap to the group of 7 riders that arrived behind him was only 36 seconds in the end.

The gaps in the general classification have opened quite a bit especially in the first places. Bauke Mollema will reach the time trial in Salamanca 2' 50'' ahead of Mikel Nieve and more than 4 minutes ahead of George Hincapie. Worse than that for his chasers, he is expected to win time of them in that stage.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	4h58'06
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 2'00
3		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 2'36
4		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	s.t.
5		Vincenzo Nibali	LAMPRE - ISD	s.t.
6		Fränk Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	s.t.
7		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	s.t.
8		Jelle Vanendert	LOTTO-BELISOL	s.t.
9		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	s.t.
10		Joaquin Rodriguez	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 3'39

General Classification

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	38h50'06
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 2'50
3		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 4'39
4		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	+ 4'53
5		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 5'12
6		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 5'22
7		Fränk Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	+ 5'43
8		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 5'52
9		Bart De Clerq	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 6'04
10		Jelle Vanendert	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 6'24

Points

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	89
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	57
3		Peter Sagan	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	56
4		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	52
5		José Joaquin Rojas	HTC - HIGH ROAD	48

Mountain

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	55
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	46
3		Fränk Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	30
4		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	27
5		Alberto Contador	MOVISTAR TEAM	27

Young

1		Thibaut Pinot	AG2R - LA MONDIALE	38h59'23
2		Robert Kiserlovski	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 1'08
3		Thomas De Gendt	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 1'45
4		Ryder Hesjedal	LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE	+ 2'14
5		Emanuele Sella	ASTANA	+ 2'18

Teams

1		BMC RACING TEAM	116h05'02
2		VACANSOLEIL-DMC	+ 3'14
3		LAMPRE - ISD	+ 4'18
4		RABOBANK	+ 7'06
5		DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 8'28

Another Great stage for Mollema, the guy looks unstoppable

Mollema is going to wint this easilly.

Mollema just wont stop till he gets enough! Decent ride from Nibali too, not far from a rare mountain breakaway win.

Stage 10: Salamanca - Salamanca (ITT)



The only time trial of the Vuelta is stage number 10. The 47 kilometers long takes place in the surroundings of Salamanca and it is completely flat. The differences among the specialists and the climbers should be quite big. However, Bauke Mollema should comfortably increase his lead at the top of the general classification.



Cameron Meyer (Quickstep) was the first among the favorites for the stage win to hit the road. The Australian easily beat the best time so far by Lieuwe Westra. He was 1' 43'' quicker than the Rabobank rider, what means that the time by Meyer was really good. It is difficult to see anyone riding faster than him today.



Levi Leipheimer (HTC) was not even close to matching Cameron Meyer's time and he got the third time so far behind Samuel Sanchez. Meyer's time was so good that Leipheimer could only set a time 1' 22'' slower. Levi's chances for the GC are far away after several poor mountain stages.



His teammate Chris Froome is in the same situation as Leipheimer. The British is also far away in the GC and even though he took the third place from Leipheimer his chances of a good GC are effectively over as he is around 12 minutes behind Mollema.



The favorites for the GC start with Frank Schleck. The Luxembourgish was 7th before the stage but his time trial abilities are rather poor and he could only set a time 2' 26'' slower than Cameron Meyer, the 40th provisional time. Bart de Clerq and David Lopez took advantage of that to overtake Schleck in the GC.



Denis Menchov (Quickstep) was one of the favorites for the stage and he took the 4th time so far, 1' 04'' behind. He was right in the tail of Roman Kreuziger, who had the third time so far. Menchov was expecting to progress in the time trial today, but he would need quite a bit of time as he is rather far from the bad time trialists.



Tejay van Garderen (BMC) didn't have as good a time trial as he has been delivering lately and could only be the provisional 5th time in the finish line 1' 06'' behind Bauke Mollema. Nevertheless, he managed to keep behind Denis Menchov in the GC and will be targeting to get past the next riders to arrive.



Hubert Dupont (Rabobank) had to settle with the 18th provisional time 1' 57'' behind Cameron Meyer. The French has never been the best of the time trialists and he only used to shine in time trials late in the Grand Tours. He will therefore lose places with Van Garderen and Menchov in the general classification.



George Hincapie (BMC) was clearly the worst so far among the best placed in the GC. The American could only set the 51st provisional time 2' 34'' behind. This will drop him to the 6th place in the GC. Worse than the time loss today for him is the fact that BMC will be more clearly riding for Tejay van Garderen from now on as he has already shown that he can secure a podium place for the team in a Grand Tour.



Mikel Nieve (Discovery) was also a loser today but the gap that he had ahead of the third place was enough not to make him lose any positions in the GC. The Spaniard set the 35th provisional time 2' 14'' behind Cameron Meyer.



Bauke Mollema was the last riders to start and, even though he his a top time trialist, he could not be close to Meyer's marvellous time. The Dutch settled for the third place in the stage 55 seconds behind the Australian, who gets his third stage win of the season.

The GC is even more clear after the time trial in Salamanca, as Bauke Mollema has increased his gap on Mikel Nieve to more than 4 minutes already. Probably the most interesting battles for the remainder of the Vuelta will be the fight for the other two positions of the final podium.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Cameron Meyer	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	1h09'11
2		Samuel Sanchez	KATUSHA TEAM	+ 46
3		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	+ 55
4		Roman Kreuziger	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	+ 1'03
5		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 1'04
6		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 1'06
7		Xavier Tondo	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 1'17
8		Tiago Machado	SAXO BANK - TINKOFF	+ 1'19
9		Chris Froome	HTC - HIGH ROAD	+ 1'21
10		Levi Leipheimer	HTC - HIGH ROAD	+ 1'22

General Classification

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	40h00'12
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 4'09
3		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 5'23
4		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 5'31
5		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	+ 5'55
6		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 6'18
7		David Lopez	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 7'01
8		Bart De Clerq	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 7'14
9		Frank Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	+ 7'15
10		Peter Stetina	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 7'31

Points

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	105
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	57
3		Peter Sagan	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	56
4		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	54
5		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	52

Mountain

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	55
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	46
3		Frank Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	30
4		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	27
5		Alberto Contador	MOVISTAR TEAM	27

Young

1		Thibaut Pinot	AG2R - LA MONDIALE	40h10'12
2		Robert Kiserlovski	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 2'00
3		Thomas De Gendt	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 2'13
4		Ryder Hesjedal	LIQUIGAS - CANNONDALE	+ 2'48
5		Emanuele Sella	ASTANA	+ 3'41

Teams

1		BMC RACING TEAM	119h37'18
2		VACANSOLEIL-DMC	+ 3'32
3		LAMPRE - ISD	+ 5'22
4		OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 6'46
5		RABOBANK	+ 8'25

Mollema extends his lead

Bauke without any competition

Too easy for Mollema.

Stage 11: Verin - La Manzaneda



Another mountain-top finish awaits the riders in Galicia after the first rest day in the Vuelta. The climb to Cabeza de Manzaneda is preceded by a hilly but not so tough stage. With the amount of mountain-top finishes already faced by the riders it is difficult to see someone other than Mollema being the favorite.



Seven riders formed the break of the day including Thomas Voeckler (Movistar), Julien Simon (Ag2r), Pablo Lastras (Sky) and Matthias Frank (Garmin). Just before the big descent to O Barco de Valdeorras, in the middle of the stage, they had a gap of 7' 40'' over the bunch which should give them a chance.



The bunch was pulled by Rabobank, Discovery and Vacansoleil as they got closer to the last climb to La Manzaneda. In the small climb 25 kilometers from the finish the gap for the break is still 4' 30'', so they might even have a chance to fight for the stage win. However, the riders making the chase are all good climbers.



Matthias Frank, the best climber in the break, decided that he had to set his own pace in order to be able to win the stage today. Therefore, with 14 kilometers remaining he was already 40 seconds ahead of the rest of the break. Meanwhile, Robert Gesink is cutting the difference fast in front of the bunch as he brought it down to 2' 30''.



Juanjo Cobo was the first attack from the bunch. The Spaniard had lost enough time in the GC so the main favorites didn't react to that move. With 9 kilometers remaining he got to the break group, which was losing 1 minute to Matthias Frank already. The bunch had a small rest and was 2 minutes behind Frank.



The toughest attacks started with 6 kilometers remaining. Mikel Nieve, Tejay van Garderen and Hubert Dupont were the first to move and were followed by others. Meanwhile, Bauke Mollema was playing with the gap he has in the GC and letting them gain a few meters. By that time Cobo had caught Matthias Frank, but the top riders in the GC were already closing in behind.



Bauke Mollema eventually attacked and, as has been usual in this Vuelta, he left almost everyone else behind. Only Mikel Nieve could follow the very hard attack by the Dutch. With only 3 kilometers remaining Cobo was trying to join the leading duo 20 seconds behind; David Lopez and Matthias Frank were losing 40 seconds; Dupont, Van Garderen, Menchov and Weening were 1 minute behind and the group of the rest of the favorites was already losing 1' 35''.



Bauke Mollema and Mikel Nieve arrived side by side to the last kilometer and no one else was even close to threatening the stage win for them. As the sprint started Bauke Mollema showed that he was quickest but will he be able to keep that kind of pace to the finish line?



Bauke Mollema wins in La Manzaneda! The Dutch gets his fourth stage win so far in the Spanish Grand Tour making it clear that he is the best rider in the field. Mikel Nieve never had a chance to overtake Mollema in the final sprint and had to settle for the second place in a stage for the third time in the Vuelta.

The gaps behind were not so big today as Juanjo Cobo lost 43 seconds, while Menchov and David Lopez were 1' 07'' behind. However, the minutes start to add in the GC and Mollema already has 6' 48'' on Menchov, who is third overall. An easier stage will await the riders tomorrow before the decisive weekend in Asturias when the race will be settled (if it is not already).

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	5h21'33
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	s.t.
3		Juan Jose Cobo	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 43
4		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 1'07
5		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	s.t.
6		Pieter Weening	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 1'25
7		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
8		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	s.t.
9		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 2'13
10		Dries Devenyns	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	s.t.

General Classification

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	45h21'35
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 4'13
3		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 6'48
4		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 6'58
5		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	+ 7'30
6		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 8'18
7		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 8'41
8		Pieter Weening	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 9'12
9		Bart De Clerq	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 9'37
10		Fränk Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	+ 9'38

Points

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	130
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	77
3		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	68
4		Peter Sagan	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	56
5		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	52

Mountain

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	80
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	66
3		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	38
4		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	36
5		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	31

Young

1		Thibaut Pinot	AG2R - LA MONDIALE	45h33'58
2		Thomas De Gendt	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 2'13
3		Emanuele Sella	ASTANA	+ 3'41
4		Davide Rebellin	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 4'49
5		Miguel Angel Rubiano	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 5'13

Teams

1		BMC RACING TEAM	135h47'48
2		VACANSOLEIL-DMC	+ 2'07
3		OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 5'40
4		RABOBANK	+ 8'56
5		DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 11'05

Unless Mollema has a crack Gesink style, he has it in the bag.

Mollema is just unbeatable

Just who is going to stop this guy

Stage 12: Ponteareas - Pontevedra



The only flat stage of the second week in the Vuelta will take place between the town of Ponteareas and the capital of the province, Pontevedra. The sprinters will have their only chance for a long time today and many could consider retirement ahead of the difficult three days in the weekend. Therefore, the mass sprint should be the way to go.



The break of the day reached the second KoM sprint in the Alto Ponte Areas 8 minutes ahead of the bunch. The group of 5 still had 83 kilometers ahead of them and included Lars Bak (Liquigas), Luca Paolini (Quickstep) and Theo Bos (Rabobank). The bunch is taking things easy but they shouldn't be that way for long if they want to catch them.



Even though Sky, HTC and Saxo Bank put quite an effort on chasing the break the bunch reached the last 20 kilometers still losing 3' 15'' on the break. If the panorama does not change by quite a bit we could be witnessing yet another breakaway win in the Vuelta. The only hope for the sprinters is that other teams have joined the chase.



Several attacks in the breakaway group by Pavel Brutt and Lars Bak weren't successful but the 5 riders ahead are losing lots of time against the bunch. Their gap is now down to 1' 30'' and other teams like Euskaltel and Lotto have joined the chase. What looked like a break win a few kilometers ago is increasingly looking doubtful.



The worst outcome for the breakaway came to life as they were swallowed by the bunch with only 2 kilometers remaining. The 5 riders in the front had so few energy left that they lost 1' 30'' in 5 kilometers. Even though there were attempts to keep it alive they couldn't manage it.



Quickstep has Cameron Meyer in the lead ahead of Lloyd Mondory as the riders enter the last kilometer. However, Ben Swift seems to be progressing on the side of the French. The fourth position is currently for Theo Bos, who is still holding that place coming from the break. Some of the best sprinters are coming fast from behind.



Ben Swift wins in Pontevedra! The British is developing into one of the best sprinters in the pack this season, where he has already got 5 stage wins. He had enough energy to hold off Sacha Modolo and Tyler Farrar behind as those where progressing fast. The top 5 of the stage was completed by Peter Sagan and Marcel Kittel.

The transition stage in Galicia ends as expected in a mass sprint. However, it was a close run with the break. Ben Swift is proving that his rivals should pay a lot of attention to him in the future.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	4h31'05
2		Sacha Modolo	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	s.t.
3		Tyler Farrar	SAXO BANK - TINKOFF	s.t.
4		Peter Sagan	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	s.t.
5		Marcel Kittel	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	s.t.
6		Dries Devenyns	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	s.t.
7		Cameron Meyer	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	s.t.
8		Lloyd Mondory	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	s.t.
9		André Greipel	LOTTO-BELISOL	s.t.
10		Yauheni Hutarovich	LAMPRE - ISD	s.t.

General Classification

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	49h52'40
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 4'13
3		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 6'48
4		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 6'58
5		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	+ 7'30
6		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 8'18
7		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 8'41
8		Pieter Weening	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 9'12
9		Bart De Clerq	LAMPRE - ISD	+ 9'37
10		Fränk Schleck	TEAM RADIOSHACK-NISSAN	+ 9'38

Points

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	130
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	77
3		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	77
4		Peter Sagan	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	71
5		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	68

Mountain

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	80
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	66
3		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	38
4		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	36
5		Sergey Firsanov	TEAM GARMIN - SHARP	33

Young

1		Thibaut Pinot	AG2R - LA MONDIALE	50h05'03
2		Thomas De Gendt	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 2'13
3		Emanuele Sella	ASTANA	+ 3'41
4		Davide Rebellin	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 4'49
5		Miguel Angel Rubiano	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 5'13

Teams

1		BMC RACING TEAM	149h21'03
2		VACANSOLEIL-DMC	+ 2'07
3		OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 5'40
4		RABOBANK	+ 8'56
5		DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 11'05

Omega Pharma pack there in the top 10. Pretty funny.

Stage 13: Sarria - Ponferrada



The thirteenth stage in the Vuelta takes the riders across the mountains between Galicia and Leon before arriving in Ponferrada. The main two climbs in the middle of the stage, Folgueiras d'Aigas and Ancares should be hard enough to break the pack into pieces, so the outcome of the stage is rather difficult to predict.



Today's break was quite strange, as it was full of sprinters. The group of 5 riders in front included Tyler Farrar (Saxo Bank), Sacha Modolo (Euskaltel) and Ben Swift (Sky). They had 5' 10'' on the bunch at the top of the climb to Folgueiras d'Aigas, 91 kilometers to the finish. At the start of the stage David Lopez tried to make it into the break and those kilometers were hard as several teams didn't allow such a move.



The movements in the bunch started in Ancares, more than 65 kilometers from the finish line. Robert Kiserlovski was the first to attack, along with Peraud and Rolland, but the Croatian left them behind and went through the top with Rojas and Modolo, who came from the early break. Tom Danielson also had a go and was losing 1' 50'' on Kiserlovski at the top. There were also moves among the favorites in the last kilometers of the climb and a group of 15 had 1' 30'' on the bunch close to the top. Among those who had lost that move were Denis Menchov, Hubert Dupont and David Lopez.



Bauke Mollema decided to go for the lead of the stage in the last categorized climb of the day, Lumeras. No one could follow and he got past the KoM banner 1 minute behind Kiserlovski. A group of 6 riders including Tejay van Garderen, Mikel Nieve and Steven Kruijswijk was losing 2 minutes at that point, while Menchov was having a miserable day and remained in the peloton 4' 40'' behind.



Tejay van Garderen was the only rider to respond to Mollema's move and they both catch the lead of the stage at the intermediate sprint in Ocero. It looks like the American is starting to feel better in this second part of the Vuelta. They are already 1' 45'' ahead of a group of 6 including Mikel Nieve, Peter Stetina and Steven Kruijswijk, while another group where Frank Schleck, Hubert Dupont and Pieter Weening are is losing 3 minutes.



Denis Menchov is having a nightmare and stays in the bunch when the riders enter the last 15 kilometers of the stage. He could lose as much as 5 minutes in the finish line, what could threaten his chances of a podium finish a lot. Worse than that, his teammates Pieter Weening and Pierre Rolland are both ahead in the stage after choosing their moves much better than the Russian.



George Hincapie attacked from one of the chasing groups in the last 5 kilometers and is now chasing the leaders. However, as he is still losing 1' 30'' it doesn't look likely that he will be any threat to them. Mikel Nieve is now losing 2' 15''. Meanwhile, Denis Menchov seemed to find strength and joined the group where David Lopez was riding. They are still 3' 45'' back.



The front group reaches the final sprint after a very hard day. Rojas and Modolo seem to be way too tired to be any threat and it is Bauke Mollema who leads the way in the last kilometer. Tejay van Garderen Robert Kiserlovski and Jose Joaquin Rojas are close behind.



Bauke Mollema wins in Ponferrada! Maybe it would be better to start concentrating on the second place of the stages because the dominance by Mollema is just too extreme. The Dutch outsprinted Robert Kiserlovski and Sacha Modolo in the last kilometer as the sprint was more a matter of who had the best legs rather than who was the fastest.

Tejay van Garderen also arrived in the first group and he was the winner of the day, almost catching Mikel Nieve for the second place in the GC. The two of them are now the favorites to be in the final podium with Bauke Mollema. Meanwhile, the fight for the 4th place overall is very hot as George Hincapie is 4 seconds ahead of Denis Menchov and Hubert Dupont is less than 1 minute behind.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	5h01'57
2		Robert Kiserlovski	LOTTO-BELISOL	s.t.
3		Sacha Modolo	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	s.t.
4		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	s.t.
5		José Joaquin Rojas	HTC - HIGH ROAD	s.t.
6		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 1'43
7		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 2'23
8		Yauheni Hutarovich	LAMPRE - ISD	s.t.
9		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 2'43
10		Peter Stetina	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 3'03

General Classification

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	54h54'27
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 6'46
3		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 7'07
4		George Hincapie	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 10'34
5		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 10'38
6		Hubert Dupont	RABOBANK	+ 11'20
7		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	+ 12'08
8		Pieter Weening	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 13'02
9		Peter Stetina	BMC RACING TEAM	+ 13'07
10		Steven Kruijswijk	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 13'43

Points

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	155
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	86
3		Ben Swift	SKY PROCYCLING	85
4		Sacha Modolo	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	71
5		Peter Sagan	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	71

Mountain

1		Bauke Mollema	VACANSOLEIL-DMC	82
2		Mikel Nieve	DISCOVERY CHANNEL	66
3		David López	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	46
4		Denis Menchov	OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	38
5		Sacha Modolo	EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI	34

Young

1		Thibaut Pinot	AG2R - LA MONDIALE	55h11'11
2		Thomas De Gendt	SKY PROCYCLING	+ 2'46
3		Robert Kiserlovski	LOTTO-BELISOL	+ 3'32
4		Emanuele Sella	ASTANA	+ 4'14
5		Davide Rebellin	MOVISTAR TEAM	+ 5'22

Teams

1		BMC RACING TEAM	164h31'40
2		VACANSOLEIL-DMC	+ 6'49
3		OMEGA PHARMA-QUICKSTEP	+ 12'58
4		RABOBANK	+ 17'18
5		DISCOVERY CHANNEL	+ 18'10

Too easy.

Indeed. I would very much like to see other riders win the upcoming mountain stages but my hopes are quite low.

Mollema is making it look too easy