Andy Schleck leading a Grand Tour

Enjoy it here, because I don't think you will ever see it again in real life.

I will enjoy it

That is certainly a true statement

Stage 5: Sober - Lago de Sanabria



The fifth will be the first stage where the sprinters will have an opportunity to take the stage win. The riders will start the trip south from the north of the country towards the south. The stage difficulties will only be two category 3 climbs but the sprinters should easily climb over the hills without many difficulties.



The day started with lots of attacks but the control by the main bunch was strong. Lampre and Sky did not allow a big break to gain much of an advantage and in the end only 2 riders formed the break of the day: Julien Simon (Ag2r) and Rinaldo Nocentini (Katusha). In the first of the two climbs (65 kilometers to go) they had a gap of 4 minutes. Before that, Jose Joaquin Rojas had won the first intermediate sprint of the day.



The second climb of the day was only 38 kilometers from the finish line in the Lago de Sanabria. Lampre had been pulling hard at the front of the peloton and reduced the gap to the break to 3 minutes at the top. This little climb was having a big impact in the bunch, as it was very steep. A few riders were dropping from the bunch. In the break Rinaldo Nocentini had taken the first place in the two KoM sprints.



HTC, Lampre and Sky put a very high pace in the peloton in the slightly downhill way to the finish line. They managed to close the gap to the break to only 25 seconds with 10 kilometers to go. However, that was taking a toll on many riders in the bunch. The size of the main group had been reduced to 100 riders by that time. A few sprinters, including Juan Jose Haedo, had lost contact and would not be able to fight for the stage.



The control of the bunch that the teams of the sprinters had vanished in the last kilometers and Bjorn Leukemans took advantage of it by trying to get the stage through an attack 3 kilometers from the finish line. He quickly got 30 seconds while there was no organization behind him. Chris Horner is trying to set the pace for Rojas but they better try to find someone stronger because he is not gaining time on Leukemans.



There was no reaction in the main bunch as Bjorn Leukemans entered the last kilometer of the stage. It seems that a lot of riders had used too much energy today and the Belgian is about to win the first stage that was supposed to finish with a mass sprint for the line.



Bjorn Leukemans wins in Lago de Sanabria! The Belgian is one of the few men in the peloton that is able to break a mass sprint and he managed to do it in the Vuelta. He was surely helped by the fact that the teams of the sprinters had wasted a lot of energy during the stage but even taking that into account Leukemans did a major effort.

The sprint for the second position in the stage was very tight, with Chris Sutton beating Ben Swift, Kenny van Hummel and Jose Joaquin Rojas over the finish line. The points' classification suffered a big shuffle today with Leukemans taking the points jersey ahead of Mikel Nieve and Jose Joaquin Rojas. The Spaniard from HTC seems very keen to try to win the points' jersey as he is fighting for every point in the intermediate sprints.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Björn Leukemans	Lotto Belisol	3h23'30
2		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	+ 47
3		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	s.t.
4		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
6		Simone Ponzi	Katusha Team	s.t.
7		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
8		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	s.t.
9		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
10		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.

General Classification

1		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	17h17'02
2		Denis Menchov	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 21
3		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
4		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	+ 31
5		George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
7		Marco Pinotti	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	+ 32
9		Luis León Sánchez	Movistar Team	+ 35
10		Alessandro Ballan	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

Points

1		Björn Leukemans	Lotto Belisol	58
2		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	50
3		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	50
4		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	41
5		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	38

Mountain

1		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	24
2		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil - DCM	20
3		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	20
4		Fränk Schleck	RadioShack - Leopard	20
5		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	16

Young

1		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	17h17'39
2		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto Belisol	+ 6
3		Jonathan Castroviejo	Movistar Team	+ 1'12
4		Mark Renshaw	Discovery Channel	+ 1'17
5		Alejandro Valverde	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 1'23

Teams

1		Lotto Belisol	50h38'22
2		BMC Racing Team	+ 35
3		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 42
4		Discovery Channel	+ 48
5		Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 54

Schleck holds on to the lead for another day

Stage 6: Guijuelo - Caceres



The route of the Vuelta continues the way south along the western part of the country and the sixth stage will be another one for the sprinters. It will be interesting to see if the teams of the sprinters have learnt the lesson from yesterday and manage to control the race better in the final kilometers of the stage. They should have an easier time than yesterday, as the last part of the stage is very flat.



Only two riders formed again the break of the day: Julien Simon (Ag2r) and Simon Gerrans (Radioshack). The Australian has been one of the stars of the season, so it is strange to see him in the break in a Grand Tour. Lampre and Sky again had the control over the pack early in the day an did not allow for a bigger group to form at the front. The leading duo had 3' 30'' on the pack halfway through the day.



The break was reeled back in as expected with 14 kilometers to go, as Simon and Gerrans could not do anything against an organized peloton. HTC also contributed greatly to the chasing effort especially with Geraint Thomas but Sky and Lampre are also taking their share on the chase. The teams of the sprinters look much fresher than yesterday, so we might see the first mass sprint of the Vuelta.



Lampre and HTC soon formed their sprint trains and with 3 kilometers remaining Marco Marcato will work in the Italian team for Yauheni Hutarovich. The Belarusian has Chris Sutton right behind, a dangerous man that won the sprint of the group yesterday. On the HTC side it was Borut Bozic ahead of Jose Joaquin Rojas while Tyler Farrar was behind. Fran Ventoso and Daniele Bennati are other sprinters that might be in the mix as they are well positioned.



Borut Bozic is doing a great lead-out job for Jose Joaquin Rojas and the HTC duo is leading the group shortly before the last kilometer. The Spaniard has been very active in the intermediate sprints so far in the Vuelta and is looking to take the points' jersey at the end of it. Meanwhile, Sky was rather slow with their sprint train and Haimar Zubeldia is trying to put Ben Swift in a good position.



Tyler Farrar has started the final sprint very strong and 500 meters to the finish line has already overtaken Rojas for the lead. It looks like the two of them are going to fight for the stage win as the other sprinters seem to be quite far behind. Bozic is still third in the order but Yauheni Hutarovich and Chris Sutton are moving fast to try to catch the leaders.



Jose Joaquin Rojas wins in Caceres! The Spaniard came back at Tyler Farrar and narrowly beat the American right at the finish line. This is the fourth win for Rojas this season, as many as Marcel Kittel. Rojas will also lead the points' classification from today. The top 5 of the stage was completed by Yauheni Hutarovich, Chris Sutton and Ben Swift.

Other than Rojas leading the points' classification ahead of Ben Swift and Chris Sutton there were not many changes in the classifications. Tomorrow there will be a third consecutive flat stage where the sprinters are expected to fight for the stage.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	4h01'01
2		Tyler Farrar	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
3		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
4		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
5		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	s.t.
6		Francisco José Ventoso	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
7		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
8		Daniele Bennati	RadioShack - Leopard	s.t.
9		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
10		Sacha Modolo	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

General Classification

1		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	21h18'03
2		Denis Menchov	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 21
3		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
5		George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	+ 31
6		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
4		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
7		Marco Pinotti	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
8		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	+ 32
9		Luis León Sánchez	Movistar Team	+ 35
10		Alessandro Ballan	BMC Racing Team	s.t.

Points

1		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	103
2		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	67
3		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	62
4		Björn Leukemans	Lotto Belisol	58
5		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	54

Mountain

1		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	24
2		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil - DCM	20
3		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	20
4		Fränk Schleck	RadioShack - Leopard	20
5		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	16

Young

1		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	21h18'40
2		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto Belisol	+ 6
3		Jonathan Castroviejo	Movistar Team	+ 1'12
4		Mark Renshaw	Discovery Channel	+ 1'17
5		Alejandro Valverde	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 1'23

Teams

1		Lotto Belisol	62h41'25
2		BMC Racing Team	+ 35
3		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 42
4		Discovery Channel	+ 48
5		Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 54

Rojas winning a sprint

Farrar so close. It looks like he will never reach the form of a couple of year ago. This is too much like real life.

Except for Rojas, where's the 4th?

You are both too hard on Rojas. I think he won in real life something like 2 years ago

2 years ago

Stage 7: Almendralejo - Mairena de Aljarafe



The seventh stage of the Vuelta will be another flat stage, the third consecutively. Jose Joaquin Rojas won the bunch sprint yesterday but there will be quite a few sprinters that also want to add to their win tally of the season, including Marcel Kittel, Ben Swift and Yauheni Hutarovich. The profile of the stage is quite easy, especially in the last kilometers of the stage, so a surprise in the form of a late attack seems unlikely.



The break of the day was a bit bigger today, as 5 riders formed the group at the front: Maarten Tjallingii (Ag2r), Greg van Avermaet (Vacansoleil), Sebastian Langeveld (Movistar), Heinrich Haussler (Discovery) and Rein Taaramae (Katusha). The group had a gap of 7' 30'' with 110 kilometers remianing over a bunch where Lampre was taking a lot of the responsibility to chase. It is difficult to understand how committed the Lampre riders are to Hutarovich when the Belarusian has not delivered this season so far.



The break had good flat riders but their power was not enough to avoid the speed of the main bunch. With 9 kilometers remaining their gap had dropped to only 30 seconds and the mass sprint seemed unavoidable. The main part of the work to chase down the riders in the break fell to Gregory Rast and Geraint Thomas, if Sky and HTC did not have them the chances of the break would have been much bigger.



Sky was much quicker to set up their sprint train today as Haimar Zubeldia was ready to lead Ben Swift out. Sky should seriously consider bringing someone better to help Swift because Zubeldia is not ready for that job. Tyler Farrar was already sucking the wheel of Swift with 3 kilometers to go. On the other side of the road it was Lampre, with Marco Marcato leading Yauheni Hutarovich. Tom Boonen was trying to get involved in the sprint behind the Belarusian. Chris Sutton and Marcel Kittel also seemed well positioned but HTC was late in forming their sprint train.



HTC were late in forming their sprint train but the job by Stefan van Dijk and Borut Bozic was perfect in the next kilometers to deliver Jose Joaquin Rojas in the best position to the last kilometer. Michael Matthews and Ben Swift are right behind the Spaniard and will also have a good shot at the stage. Meanwhile, the coordination in Lampre was embarrassing as Marco Marcato left Yauheni Hutarovich behind.



Jose Joaquin Rojas is leading the final sprint with 500 meters to go but Ben Swift is trying to progress on his left. The Spaniard sucked his teammate's wheel for a long time, as Bozic is still third on the order of the stage. Michael Matthews and Yauheni Hutarovich are a bit behind but it looks like the stage win will be for one of the two men ahead.



Jose Joaquin Rojas wins in Mairena de Aljarafe! The second straight win by the Spaniard. HTC has not had a great season but Rojas' wins are starting to turn that feeling around. The Spaniard clearly beat Ben Swift in the final push and took his fifth stage win of the year, including two wins in the Tour de France and two wins in this Vuelta.

Ben Swift was much better than yesterday in the final sprint but he seems to be lacking a bit of speed in the final sprint. Meanwhile, Hutarovich seemed maybe as strong as Rojas but he had a problem of positioning for the final kilometer. Tyler Farrar and Michael Matthews completed the top 5 of the stage. The days for the sprinters are over for a while, as tomorrow the first mountain-top finish of the Vuelta will be climbed.

The bad news for some riders today were that there was a gap on the final sprint and a few riders, including Bauke Mollema, David Lopez and Frank Schleck, lost more than 1 minute at the finish line. It is a big difficulty for the chances of these riders to take the overall win in Madrid two weeks from now.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	4h33'35
2		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	s.t.
3		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	s.t.
4		Tyler Farrar	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
5		Michael Matthews	Garmin - Sharp	s.t.
6		Tom Boonen	Team Saxo - Tinkoff	s.t.
7		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
8		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	s.t.
9		Elia Viviani	Cannondale Pro Cycling	s.t.
10		Marcel Kittel	Discovery Channel	s.t.

General Classification

1		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	25h51'38
2		Denis Menchov	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 21
3		George Hincapie	BMC Racing Team	+ 31
4		Tejay Van Garderen	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
5		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
6		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	+ 32
7		Luis León Sánchez	Movistar Team	+ 35
8		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	+ 37
9		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 38
10		Hubert Dupont	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.

Points

1		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	153
2		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	105
3		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	84
4		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	78
5		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	66

Mountain

1		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	24
2		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil - DCM	20
3		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	20
4		Fränk Schleck	RadioShack - Leopard	20
5		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	16

Young

1		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	25h52'15
2		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto Belisol	+ 6
3		Jonathan Castroviejo	Movistar Team	+ 1'12
4		Luca Paolini	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 2'37
5		Javier Moreno	Movistar Team	+ 2'38

Teams

1		Lotto Belisol	76h22'10
2		BMC Racing Team	+ 35
3		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 42
4		Discovery Channel	+ 48
5		Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 54

Rojas is Great

Hey, hey, take care of what you're talking.

Rojas won? No way, this can't be true!

Just being truthful

Stage 8: Jerez de la Frontera - Alto de Peñas Blancas



The eighth stage of the Vuelta a España will be the first in the mountains. The route only has one big climb, the final in the Alto de Peñas Blancas, but is quite difficult for the rest of the stage with a lot of small climbs and the Alto del Mirador 50 kilometers from the finish line. The general classification should be much clearer after today's stage, as no big differences have appeared so far in it.



Quickstep was controlling the pace at the start of the stage, as it looks like no break will have an easy time in this Vuelta. In the end, a group of 4 managed to get permission from the Belgian team to go away: Haimar Zubeldia (Sky), Alexander Kolobnev (Saxo - Tinkoff), Levi Leipheimer (HTC) and Daniel Martin (Ag2r). They had a gap of 5' 50'' on the bunch halfway through the stage but it seems unlikely that the peloton will allow them to make it to the finish.



Belkin started to increase the pace with Hubert Dupont at the start of the Alto del Mirador but the attacks came from other teams. A group of 4 joined at the top of the climb: Samuel Sanchez, Matthias Frank, Roman Kreuziger and Xavi Tondo. It was quite a dangerous group that included the third in the Tour de France. They had cut the lead of the break to only 1' 15'' at the top. The main bunch was unpanicked and Quickstep took over from Belkin to set the pace. They were 3' 50'' behind at that point.



There had been other attacks late in the climb and all the men ahead joined in a big group of 11 riders at the front of the race with 29 kilometers remaining. Among the last to make it to the break were Laurens Ten Dam and Alberto Contador. Meanwhile, Tejay van Garderen is clearly working for Peter Stetina in this Vuelta. The bad news came for Quickstep, as the pace control they did in the first part of the stage is taking its toll and they lost a number of riders, including Janez Brajkovic.



The break soon broke into pieces when they hit the first slopes of the climb to Peñas Blancas. The strongest men in the break were Laurens Ten Dam and Roman Kreuziger, who were ahead with 10 kilometers remaining. Daniel Martin tried to hold on to them but was already losing 20 seconds, while other riders from the break were 50 seconds behind, including Mathias Frank and Samuel Sanchez. Meanwhile, the main bunch still had almost 80 riders in it but the pace by Tejay van Garderen at the front was dropping riders constantly from the back.



Peter Stetina took advantage of the tough pace set by his teammate and with 7 kilometers remianing had broken the main group's peace. The American had dragged a group of 14 riders with him, including David Lopez, Rob Ruijgh and Bauke Mollema. They were 55 seconds behind the leaders. Among the riders that could not make it to this group were Frank Schleck and Denis Menchov, who were 1' 35'' behind and the leader, Andy Schleck, who was already losing 2' 10''.



David Lopez relayed with Peter Stetina at the favorites group and with 4 kilometers remaining they had reduced the gap of the leading duo to only 25 seconds. It was going to be difficult for Ten Dam or Kreuziger to take the stage win given the pace at which their chasers were progressing. Meanwhile, Andy Schleck was slowly cutting back his losses as he was doing the climb together with Jelle Vanendert. The two of them were losing 1' 50'' to the leaders.



Peter Stetina gave another go with 3 kilometers remaining and again few riders could follow him. Among those who could not do it was Bauke Mollema, who stayed in a group with Juanjo Cobo, Jurgen van den Broeck and Mikel Nieve. Only 5 riders stayed in the front group: Peter Stetina, David Lopez, Rob Ruijgh, Matthias Frank and Laurens Ten Dam. Behind them, Andy Schleck was apparently feeling better with the kilometers and had surprisingly cut back his losses to 1' 10''.



Peter Stetina launched the final sprint inside the last kilometer and only David Lopez and Rob Ruijgh could respond. This climb has been one of elimination and the American has made an impression in what could be the first time that he fights for the GC of a Grand Tour. With 500 meters remianing Matthias Frank and Laurens Ten Dam seemed to be losing track with the leading trio.



David Lopez wins in the Alto de Peñas Blancas! The Spaniard beats Peter Stetina in the last meters of the climb and takes his first stage win in this Vuelta a España. The American was probably the strongest today but was also very generous when attacking. Surely Lopez profited from those attacks to be fresher in the final sprint. Rob Ruijgh was right behind them and, even though he did not lose time he did not have the strength to challenge for the win.

Matthias Frank lost 23 seconds while Ten Dan and Sella lost 32 seconds. In the end Andy Schleck did not lose as much time as it seemed possible at the start of the climb. He crossed the finish line in the 9th place losing 1' 22' in a group with Bauke Mollema and Mikel Nieve. His brother was more disappointing, as he lost 1' 45''.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	4h34'11
2		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	s.t.
3		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
4		Matthias Frank	Garmin - Sharp	+ 23
5		Laurens Ten Dam	Cannondale Pro Cycling	+ 32
6		Emanuele Sella	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
7		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	+ 1'08
8		Roman Kreuziger	RadioShack - Leopard	s.t.
9		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 1'22
10		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	s.t.

General Classification

1		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	30h26'14
2		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 9
3		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 57
4		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	+ 1'20
5		Emanuele Sella	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'27
6		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	+ 1'29
7		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 1'36
8		Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'40
9		Cadel Evans	Movistar Team	+ 2'03
10		Matthias Frank	Garmin - Sharp	+ 2'04

Points

1		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	153
2		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	105
3		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	84
4		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	78
5		Kenny Van Hummel	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	66

Mountain

1		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	36
2		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	24
3		Bauke Mollema	Vacansoleil - DCM	20
4		Fränk Schleck	RadioShack - Leopard	20
5		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	17

Young

1		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	30h27'34
2		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto Belisol	+ 5'43
3		Jonathan Castroviejo	Movistar Team	+ 9'27
4		Haimar Zubeldia	Sky Procycling	+ 9'59
5		Javier Moreno	Movistar Team	+ 10'53

Teams

1		Lotto Belisol	90h14'35
2		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 2'06
3		Discovery Channel	+ 2'32
4		Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 5'54
5		BMC Racing Team	+ 5'57

Lopez gives the Spanish fans something to cheer about

Stage 9: Antequera - Valdepeñas de Jaen



The Vuelta a España has developed a liking for the impossible slopes and this will be the third time that the Spanish race finishes in Valdepeñas de Jaen in the story. Bauke Mollema was the winner last year, while Jelle Vanendert was the first winner in the Andalusian village. The route this year tackles the Alto de Frailes shortly before the final climb so the group that makes it to the final climb will be a bit smaller.



BMC controlled the pace in the opening kilometers of the stage and the break that they allowed to break away was on the small side. The 4 riders that went away were David Millar (Vacansoleil), Moreno Moser (Cannondale), Julien Simon (Ag2r) and Stefano Garzelli (Lampre). They made it to the first intermediate sprint of the day, in Lucera, 2' 45'' ahead of the main bunch. In the sprint for the points Jose Joaquin Rojas extended his lead by beating Ben Swift and Marcel Kittel.



The middle part of the stage was rather uneventful and the pace didn't start to pick up until the peloton approached the second intermediate sprint of the day, in Frailes, only 22 kilometers to the finish line. BMC has been setting the pace so far but has not been able to reduce the gap to the break much and the difference sits at 4 minutes. The break might have a chance today. Simone Ponzi was the quickest in the sprint for the points, ahead of Tony Gallopin and Sacha Modolo.



The break riders maintained a good pace in the climb to the Alto de Frailes and kept a difference of 3' 30'' at the top. The main bunch will have to ride very hard of they want to catch them. Stefano Garzelli took the KoM points ahead of Julien Simon, while Moreno Moser seems to be in trouble as he could barely follow the pace of the other riders in the break.



Bauke Mollema and Mikel Nieve opened a gap on the main bunch in the last slopes of the Alto de Frailes and maintained around 30 seconds on the group with 10 kilometers to go. Meanwhile, Stefano Garzelli and Julien Simon managed to leave Moreno Moser and David Millar behind and look set to fight for the stage among them.



Julien Simon and Stefano Garzelli had 4 kilometers remaining as they entered the outskirts of Valdepeñas de Jaen. They had 1 minute on Millar and Moser. Bauke Mollema and Mikel Nieve were 2 minutes behind, only 20 seconds ahead of the main bunch. Juanjo Cobo and Frank Schleck have made an attempt to attack but they were quickly reeled back in by the BMC team as the Americans did not want any surprises.



Julien Simon seems stronger than Stefano Garzelli in the final climb but a few riders from the bunch seem to be really strong in the climb and are closing in on the leading duo. It seems like the massive slopes are draining the energy of the men from the break. With 1 kilometer remaining the chasers are led by Rob Ruijgh, Jelle Vanendert, Moreno Moser and Cadel Evans.



Peter Stetina wins in Valdepeñas de Jaen! That was an amazing end of the climb as David Lopez seemed to be ready to win but was overtaken by the leader in the last few meters of the stage. The second place in the stage was for David Lopez ahead of Andy Schleck, Rob Ruijgh and Jelle Vanendert. It was a shame for the riders from the break but they were so empty of energy that they finished close to the 40th place in the stage.

Today's result gives Stetina a few more seconds over Rob Ruijgh ahead of tomorrow's mountain-top finish in the Alto de Hazallanas. We will witness a few more battles among the climbers, who will probably suffer in the subsequent time trial in Tarazona.

Today's Winner



Stage Results

1		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	4h14'17
2		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.
3		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
4		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	s.t.
5		Jelle Vanendert	Lotto Belisol	s.t.
6		Denis Menchov	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	s.t.
7		Matthias Frank	Garmin - Sharp	s.t.
8		Emanuele Sella	Astana Pro Team	s.t.
9		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	s.t.
10		Daniel Moreno	Euskaltel - Euskadi	s.t.

General Classification

1		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	34h40'21
2		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 19
3		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 1'03
4		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	+ 1'30
5		Emanuele Sella	Astana Pro Team	+ 1'37
6		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	+ 1'39
7		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	+ 1'40
8		Jurgen Van den Broeck	Lotto Belisol	+ 1'50
9		Cadel Evans	Movistar Team	+ 2'13
10		Matthias Frank	Garmin - Sharp	+ 2'14

Points

1		José Joaquín Rojas	HTC - Highroad	162
2		Ben Swift	Sky Procycling	110
3		Yauheni Hutarovich	Lampre - Merida	84
4		Christopher Sutton	Vacansoleil - DCM	78
5		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	72

Mountain

1		David López	Euskaltel - Euskadi	48
2		Peter Stetina	BMC Racing Team	30
3		Andy Schleck	Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	27
4		Mikel Nieve	Discovery Channel	24
5		Rob Ruijgh	Belkin Pro Cycling Team	20

Young

1		Andrew Talansky	HTC - Highroad	34h41'51
2		Robert Kiserlovski	Lotto Belisol	+ 5'43
3		Jonathan Castroviejo	Movistar Team	+ 10'10
4		Haimar Zubeldia	Sky Procycling	+ 11'25
5		Julien Simon	AG2R La Mondiale	+ 11'56

Teams

1		Lotto Belisol	102h57'26
2		Belkin Pro Cycling Team	+ 2'06
3		Discovery Channel	+ 2'32
4		Omega Pharma - Quick·Step	+ 5'54
5		BMC Racing Team	+ 5'57

Tom Boonen is the only rider of the trio of dominators of the cobbles that had not appeared yet in this section of featured riders. The other two are obviously his two fellow Belgians Johan Vansummeren and Bjorn Leukemans. The Saxo - Tinkoff rider has been the last one to join the ranks of top cobblers, as only in the last two years he has been performing as a top star. Before that he had a few good results, like a couple of stage wins in the Tour de France and a 5th place in the 2009 Paris - Roubaix.

His big breakthrough came in last season classics spring. He managed to take the 4th place in the E3 Prijs - Vlaanderen before taking his first major win of his career in the Gent - Wevelgem. That race set a milestone in Boonen's career, even if he had only managed to beat Bjorn Leukemans by a tiny margin in the final sprint. He completed his terrific classics season by taking the second place in Roubaix a couple of weeks afterwards.

Boonen came back to the spring classics with the target of winning at least one of the two cobbled races of the year. He clearly delivered as he took the win for a second straight in the Gent - Wevelgem and a week later was second in the Ronde van Vlaanderen. The decision by Saxo - Tinkoff to back Boonen to be the leader of the team at the start of the season seems to have paid-off as he also had a good race in the Eneco Tour with another stage win included.

Next year looks very good for Boonen, as he has completed his targets for the year. He is currently racing in Spain and has a few more races to do before the end of the season but it seems unlikely that he will add more wins to his tally this season. He should probably be focusing on trying to win his first monument next season and the Paris - Roubaix is a race that should favor him better than the Tour de Flanders, especially when compared with Leukemans.

Best results:

Tour de France	2 stages (2009, 12)
Road World Championship	10th (2013)
Paris - Roubaix	2nd (2013), 5th (2009)
Ronde van Vlaanderen	2nd (2014)
Eneco Tour	10th (2014), 1 stage (2014)
Amstel Gold Race	7th (2009)
Gent - Wevelgem	1st (2013, 14)
E3 Prijs - Vlaanderen	4th (2013)

UCI World Tour Rankings:

- 2009 HTC - Highroad: 41st (65.55 pts)
- 2010 HTC - Highroad: 78th (15.11 pts)
- 2011 Vacansoleil - DMC: 119th (3.34 pts)
- 2012 Lotto - Belisol: 68th (22.25 pts)
- 2013 Saxo Bank - Tinkoff: 29th (141.47 pts)

Great win for Stetina.