Ervitti Wins Stage Ten, Rodriguez Wears Red in Vuelta a España

Imanol Ervitti, riding for Caisse d’Epargne, gave the team its second stage win in a row, attacking the breakaway on a very tricky descent at the end of Stage Ten of the 2010 Vuelta a España.

The first stage after the Vuelta’s first rest day, Stage Ten featured a few long, gentle climbs in the middle and the very steep (up to 23 percent) Alto del Rat Penat 50 kilometers from the end.

A breakaway established itself about 70 km in, consisting of eleven riders not highly placed in the General Classification, was allowed to go on its own, while the peloton used the stage as a wrap-up for tomorrow’s mountain finish into Andora.

Rat Penat broke up the peloton, and the break: Javier Moreno (Andalucia-Cajasur), and Christophe Le Mevel (FDJ), attacked on the climb, leaving the rest of the breakaway riders strung out on the slopes.

The descent from Rat Penat was even harder than the climb. The road was narrow, bumpy, and twisty, demanding a great deal of skill and courage. The descent also held a few very short, steep climbs, to torture the already burning legs of the riders.

When the breakaway reformed on the descent, Imanol Ervitti decided to make his move. The Caisse d’Epargne rider attacked with about 20 km to go, and no one responded.

The other riders in the break wasted their energies sparring amongst themselves, making short attacks and abandoning once other covered them. They never organized to chase Ervitti, and the Spanish rider rode on to his second career Vuelta win (he won a stage in 2008.)

Back in the peloton Katusha mainly set the pace, trying to gain a few seconds for its leader, Joaquin Rodriguez. Rodriguez had been trying for several days to take the red jersey, losing out when race officials gave him the same time as Igor Anton, despite Rodriguez finishing a few lengths ahead in Stage Eight.

Rodriguez intends to keep the leader’s red jersey for the rest of the Vuelta, on the strength of his climbing. “My weak point remains the time trial,” he told Cyclingnews.com. “So I have to attack, and I intend to do so in the three hard uphill finishes of the north of Spain.”

Cervelo has hopes for an overall victory for Spanish rider Xavier Tondo, currently fourth in the GC, while Euskatel Euskadi’s Igor Anton has shown good form, despite losing the red jersey today. One of the strongest contenders has to be Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Doimo. The Italian rider lies third overall, but he has been saving himself for the harder stages.

Stage Eleven is the first mountaintop finish of the Vuelta, an out-of-category climb that caps 100 kilometers of steady ascending. The ride gets steeper as it gets longer, so whichever rider can marshall an extra burst of endurance at the very end could well take the win.

This stage could thin the ranks of serious GC contenders, or it could see a cautious climb where the leaders make sure not to get dropped, rather than seeking an advantage.

Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez will need to attack here, if he wants a safe gap by the Stage 17 time trial, but all his competitors will be fresh from the rest day.