“It’s a terrific feeling,” Moncoutie told Fromsports.com. “It was important for me to get points for the [King of the] mountain classification, se we tried to get some extra time on the run-in to the last climb. I rode well today.”
When asked if getting King of the Mountain points was more important than winning the stage, the Cofidis rider replied, “I am happy to win a stage. That’s big thing in the Vuelta. Everything else comes after.
“I won a stage—it’s the Vuelta. What can I say?”
The race started off with a series of crashes, one involving Vuelta leader Philippe Gilbert. All the downed riders recovered.
Mouncoutie led the first attack with Oscar Pujol of Cervelo and Serafin Martinez of Xacobeo Galicia Xacobeo Galicia. This group was caught after the first climb, but Moncoutie attacked again at the 48 km mark, with Bbox rider Johan Tschopp.
This pair was joined by Serafin Martinez (Xacobeo Galicia), Jose Luis Arrieta (Ag2r-La Mondiale) and Assan Bazayev (Astana.)
Euskatel-Euskadi's Igor Anton finished seventh in the stage, gaining enough time to pass Omega Pharma-Lotto's Philippe Gilbert and take the leader's red jersey.
Cervelo’s Strategic Push
The five riders pulled out a lead of almost eight minutes, but on the second-to-last climb, Cervelo decided to push the pace, cutting the gap to under four minutes and stringing the peloton out along the route. Satisfied that they had thinned the field, the Cervelo riders eased up, letting the breakaway stay out ahead.
The break started fragmenting on the final climb. Basayev dropped. Then Tschopp tried to pick up the pace, putting Arrieta into trouble; Martinez was the next to struggle, while Moncoutie rode easily, letting the others battle.
5 km from the end, when the slope was steepest, Moncoutie attacked, and no one could answer him. The Cofidis rider cruised home to victory, winning the stage by almost a minute.
Back in the peloton, Liquigas took over the pace-making duties as the bunch hit the short, steep Alto Xorret del Catí, only 3.8 km long but ramping up to 23 percent. Liquigas rider Oliver Zaugg made a short attempt, then Caisse d’Epargne’s Rigoberto Uran made a strong attack, 6 km from the end.
When Uran ran out of steam, Cervelo’s Carlos Sastre attacked. He had to work hard to open a small gap and when he did, Katusha’s Joaquin Rodriguez attacked, with Liquigas’s Vincenzo Nibali right on him. Cervelo’s Xavier Tondo followed, with Euskatel’s Igor Anton trailing behind. A bit further back, Sastre struggled to bridge, with Ag2R’s Nicholas Roche chasing him.
The reason for Cervelo’s push became clear. By splitting the peloton, they had given Sastre and Tondo a shot at the red jersey
A group of four GC contenders—Tondo, Rodriguez, Nibali and Anton—established themselves at the head of the peloton, with Sastre close behind. Joaquin Riodriguez really wanted the lead; he attacked but couldn’t shake Nibali. Igor Anton took a shot, but he could shake the rest either.
Sastre fought his way up to the lead four; just as he arrived, Nibali attacked again. The five crested the climb and headed down towards the finish line. The final kilometer sloped slightly uphill, with the last 150 meters flat. It was here, on the final flat, that Joaquin Rodriguez made a last push to gain a few meters on the rest, hoping to take the red jersey.
Somehow, the Vuelta organizers decided that even though Rodriguez crossed the line ahead, he, Nibali, and Anton should all get the same time.
Based on combined gaps measured to the thousands of a second, Euskatel Euskadi’s Igor Anton was awarded the red jersey, though his posted time was identical to Rodriguez.
Vincenzo Nibali finished second in the stage and third in GC. Nibali didn’t contest the final sprint; he let the Katusha rider have the lead. Liquigas is looking for an overall win, and Nibali didn’t want his teams to have to defend the jersey early in the race.
Cervelo’s strategy paid off, as Xavier Tonda advanced three places to fourth in GC.
Stage Nine is another high hilly stage, with seven climbs—three Threes and four Twos—in the final 120 km. None of the climbs are particularly steep. This could be another stage for a breakaway to succeed, so long as it contains non-contenders. None of the climbs are severe enough for a real selection; all of them together are enough to really beat the already tired legs of the riders.
|
Vuelta a Espana Stage Eight |
|||
|
|
Rider |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
David Moncoutie |
Cofidis |
5:14:32 |
|
2 |
Serafin Martinez |
Xacobeo Galicia |
+0:00:54 |
|
3 |
Johann Tschopp |
BBOX Bouygues Telecom |
+0:00:54 |
|
4 |
Jose-Luis Arrieta |
Ag2R-La Mondiale |
+0:00:54 |
|
5 |
Joaquin Rodriguez |
Katusha |
+0:01:29 |
|
6 |
Vincenzo Nibali |
Liquigas |
+0:01:29 |
|
7 |
Igor Anton |
Euskaltel-Euskadi |
+0:01:29 |
|
8 |
Assan Bazayev |
Astana |
+0:01:32 |
|
9 |
Xavier Tondo |
Cervélo Test Team |
+0:01:32 |
|
10 |
Carlos Sastre |
Cervélo Test Team |
+0:01:35 |
|
2010 Vuelta a Espana General Classifiaction |
|||
|
|
Rider |
Team |
Time |
|
1 |
Igor Anton |
Euskaltel-Euskadi |
32:28:49 |
|
2 |
Joaquin Rodriguez |
Team Katusha |
32:28:49 |
|
3 |
Vincenzo Nibali |
Liquigas-Doimo |
0:00:02 |
|
4 |
Xavier Tondo |
Cervélo Test Team |
0:00:42 |
|
5 |
Marzio Bruseghi |
Caisse d’Epargne |
0:01:10 |
|
6 |
Ruben Plaza-Molina |
Caisse d’Epargne |
0:01:15 |
|
7 |
Ezequiel Mosquera |
Xacobeo Galicia |
0:01:18 |
|
8 |
Nicolas Roche |
Ag2R-La Mondiale |
0:01:19 |
|
9 |
Peter Velits |
Team HTC-Columbia |
0:01:26 |
|
10 |
Tejay Van Garderen |
HTC-Columbia |
0:01:26 |
