The Spanish rider needed to make up 50 seconds on race leader Vincenzo Nibali, but despite Mosquera’s best efforts, his Italian adversary managed to claw his way back in the final few hundred meters, finishing only two bike lengths behind.
The entire three-week Vuelta came down to the final climb of the penultimate stage; Vincenzo Niblai of Liquigas came into the stage needing to defend his fifty-second lead, while Mosquera, riding his last race for the soon-to-dissolve Xacebeo-Galicia team, could win the race by erasing that deficit.
The climb, the Bola del Mundo, was new to the Vuelta. The climb is very long (22 km) and increasingly steep. The bottom is gentle, the middle tough, and the top torturous, with the final two kilometers at 20 percent.
Knowing when to attack would be the key; start early, and a rider could burn out in the final few hundred meters. Start late, and a rider couldn’t take enough time out of his rivals.
Top Ten Up for Grabs
With first place bringing a 20-second time bonus, versus 12 seconds for second, Mosquera needed to cross the line 42 seconds ahead of his rival. Nibali could secure his first Grand Tour win by sticking with his opponent.
Behind the two leaders, HTC-Columbia’s Peter Velits, turning in a performance far beyond what anyone had known was possible for him, seemed safely ensconced in third, almost two minutes ahead of his nearest rival.
Six riders were fighting for fourth place, all within thirty seconds of each other; the top three—Joaquin Rodriguez of Katusha, Fränk Schleck of Saxo Bank, and Xavier Tondo of Cervélo—were within eight seconds, while Ag2R’s Nicholas Roche also riding his best race ever, lagged by a further eight seconds.
Battles were certain to break out all over the mountain, and they did. The first attack came right off the line but there were too many well-placed riders in it, and Liquigas rode it down. A few minutes later a group of over a dozen took off.
This group stayed together until the second-to-last climb, when a series of attacks left it fragmented. Halfway up the climb, Johann Tschoop (BBox) and Ruben Plaza (Caisse d’Epargne) escaped from the break, leading the way over the peak.
The two attackers were caught by the break on the descent, and a handful headed up the last climb, 1:30 ahead of the peloton.
Back in the peloton, Katusha and Xacebeo set the pace. Liquigas let the other lead, saving their legs for the serious work at the end. Nibali wanted a break out front, to take up all the time bonuses. He did not have to attack; the burden was on the others.
Five kilometers into the final climb, the lead group was down to six: Biel Kadri (AG2R), Inigo Cuesto (Cervelo TestTeam), Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne), Jose Toribio (Andalucia CajaSur), and Giampaolo Cheula (Footon-Servetto).
Through the next ten kilometers, the leaders attacked and counterattacked, wearing themselves out until they were finally all swept up by the peloton. Then it was down to the leaders.
Let the Attacks Begin!
Ezequiel Mosquera waited until Saxo Bank’s Fränk Schleck made his attack. Schleck was part of a group of six riders fighting for fourth place, and Schleck wanted to get all the way to third. It was guaranteed he would attack, and Mosquera knew Schleck would make a great pacemaker. But Schleck kept waiting. Would anyone attack, or would everyone be satisfied with their positions?
Five kilometers out, two riders—Oscar Pujol of Cevelo and Amets Txurruka of Euskatel, decided not to wait. They launched looking for a stage win.
Finally, 4.4 km for the top, Schleck made his move, marked immediately by Mosquera, and then by the rest of the top ten. At the 4-km mark Schleck went again, and this time Mosquera went right past him.
This was Mosquera’s big move. He put everything into it, opening a gap of ten meters very quickly. Seeing that Mosquera was serious, Nibali responded, taking up the chase.
Behind him, the rest were dropping. Garmin’s Tom Danielson and Cervelo’s Carlos Sasrtre fell off the back, while a small group of Fränk Schleck, Nicholas Roche, Peter Velits and Joaquin Rodriguez powered on, unable to match the leaders, but still going strong.
Slowly, steadily, Nibali caught up to Mosquera, finally reaching his rival with three km to go. Mosquera wasn’t done; he made a fresh effort, and reopened the gap. This time the gap opened up to fifteen seconds; it seemed Nibali might have spent himself catching up. Could Mosquera really do it?
Meanwhile Peter Velits attacked the chase group, but couldn’t sustain it. Roche passed Schleck, then Schleck and Rodriguez drew level, the chasers climbing four abreast up the hill.
The road got steeper and narrower; eventually, Velits fell off, while Xavier Tondo, who had been dropped early in the climb, made a huge effort to join the chase group.
Mano-a-Mano
Up front, both riders were at their limits. Mosquera stood up and drove forward, while Nibali sat in the saddle and pumped with his whole body. At the one-kilometer banner, Niblai stood up, seeming to want to make a push, but he sat down after two pedal strokes. He looked as if he had no more in him.
Somehow Niblai found a little more energy, and with 800 meters left, he made another surge. Ahead of him, Mosquera was still out of the saddle but his pace was slowing. Nibali, seated, kept pushing, nibbling away at the gap.
With 500 meters left, Nibali could see his prey, while Mosquera, looking over his shoulder, could see his pursuer. Nibali pushed harder; Mosquera couldn’t.
With 200 meters to go, the gap was ten seconds. With 100, half that. Nibali had timed it perfectly; he had saved enough for the end.
Nibali caught his opponent ten meters from the line, but Mosquera, though exhausted physically, was not willing to surrender. The Xacabeo rider made one final kick, beating Nibali across the line by two bike lengths.
Possibly Nibali could have responded, and taken the stage; perhaps not. In any case, Ezequiel Mosquera got the stage win for which he had worked so very hard, and Vincenzo Nibali preserved his lead, and sealed his first Grand Tour overall win.
Twenty second back, Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez made a final effort to take third, 12 seconds ahead of Fränk Schleck. Xavier Tondo took fifth with a fantastic effort, three seconds back. Nicholas Roche finished sixth, another three seconds down. As tight as the race for the lead had been, the race for the rest had been euqally impressive.
Though all the time gaps all changed, only one rider in the top ten advanced: Carlos Sastre passed Tom Danielson to take eighth.
Danielson had been off the pace from the start of the final limb. His Garmin-Transitions teammate Christian Vande Velde had pulled him to the front, but Danielson didn’t have the legs. Still it was an admirable effort from the young American.
The final stage is just a formality for the GC riders, though the sprinters will contest it hotly. At only 85 kilometers, it is a very short stage, ending with 12 laps around downtown Madrid.
No one will work much until the peloton enters the city, when the sprinters’ teams will take off. The GC riders will stay close enough to the front to be safe, and let the others do battle. The leaders have made their efforts, fought their battles, proved their points. For them, it is a day for rest, and reward.
| Vuelta a España Stage Twenty | |||
|
| Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Xacobeo Galicia | 4:45:28 |
| 2 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Doimo | 0:00:01 |
| 3 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha | 0:00:23 |
| 4 | Frank Schleck | Saxo Bank | 0:00:35 |
| 5 | Xavier Tondo | Cervélo Test Team | 0:00:39 |
| 6 | Nicolas Roche | Ag2R-La Mondiale | 0:00:42 |
| 7 | Mikel Nieve | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:00:50 |
| 8 | Peter Velits | HTC-Columbia | 0:00:52 |
| 9 | Christophe Le Mevel | FDJ | 0:00:55 |
| 10 | Remy Di Gregorio | FDJ | 0:01:00 |
| 2010 Vuelta a Espana General Classification | |||
|
| Rider | Team | Time |
| 1 | Vincenzo Nibali | Liquigas-Doimo | 85:16:05 |
| 2 | Ezequiel Mosquera | Xacobeo Galicia | 0:00:41 |
| 3 | Peter Velits | HTC-Columbia | 0:03:02 |
| 4 | Joaquin Rodriguez | Katusha | 0:04:43 |
| 5 | Fränk Schleck | Saxo Bank | 0:03:57 |
| 6 | Xavier Tondo | Cervélo Test Team | 0:04:52 |
| 7 | Nicolas Roche | Ag2R-La Mondiale | 0:05:03 |
| 8 | Carlos Sastre | Cervélo Test Team | 0:06:06 |
| 9 | Tom Danielson | Garmin-Transitions | 0:06:09 |
| 10 | Luis-Leon Sanchez | Caisse d’Epargne | 0:07:33 |
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