Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) attacked his way into the lead of the Vuelta a España, taking a solo victory on the mythical Alto de l’Angliru. The 30-year-old Bisonte de la Pesa, who had attacked to second place on the previous stage, escaped the shrinking peloton with a little over six kilometres to go, where the gradient was up over 20% and gradually inched opened up a winning lead.
Behind Cobo race leader Bradley Wiggins (Team Sky) put super climbing domestique Chris Froome to work to try to drag him back, but the pace of the Geox-TMC rider was too much. With the chase group reduced to Wiggins, Froome, Wouter Poels (Vacansoleil-DCM) and Cobo’s Geox-TMC teammate Denis Menchov, the Sky pair could call upon no help. On the final steep section inside the final two kilometres Wiggins finally cracked as the others attacked.
"I'm thrilled, this is without a doubt the most fantastic day of my career," explained 'Juanjo' at the finish. "It wasn't a climb well suited to my skills but right from the very first kilometres I felt like my legs were spinning well and so I decided to try the attack. I didn't know if I would be able to stick it out for the entire climb, the inclines on Angliru are gruelling, but metre after metre I felt my lead increasing and I gained confidence and found new energy to make it all the way to the finish line.
"For a Spanish rider to win on this climb among all these crowds is the maximum," he enthused. "I don't know how the Vuelta is going to end, we still have another week of racing ahead and the road to Madrid is still long. Tomorrow will be a rest day, it will be important for recuperating some energy. In the mean time I want to enjoy this victory, which was very important for me and all the team, and the joy of wearing the red jersey. Tomorrow is the rest day, it will be important to recuperate the energy exhausted in these last stages."
Poels raced away to the finish, as he had done on the two previous stages, crossing the line 48 seconds behind Cobo, and just ahead of Menchov, with Froome just behind.
Wiggins chased alone over the final kilometre to finish 1’21” behind and conceded his red jersey. With the twenty-second time bonus that Cobo took on the line, and with the twelve- and eight-second bonuses taken by Poels and Menchov, the Geox-TMC captain takes over the race lead.
Having missed out on the top three, Froome still sits in second place, just that twenty-second bonus behind, while Wiggins slips to third, some 46 seconds back.
Reactions to follow
The 142.2km stage between Avilés and Angliru was to be the toughest test of the Vuelta so far. With the final climb featuring sections of up to 23.5% many riders were equipped with extra small gears, with defending champion Vincenzo Nibali having 34x29, Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) 34x28, Jakob Fuglsang (Leopard Trek) 36x28, Bauke Mollema (Rabobank) 36x28, and Cobo an incredible 34x32.
The French champion tries and tries but misses the breakaway
In the early kilometres of the stage Sylvain Chavanel (Quick Step) made repeated attempts to get away. Just as the French champion was pulled back for a fourth time after 34km though, the trio of Andrew Talansky (Garmin-Cervélo), Dimitri Champion (AG2R La Mondiale) and Simon Geschke (Skil-Shimano) escaped. Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Caja Granada) chased the trio for several kilometres, but was unable to get up to them and sat up.
The three riders’ lead reached a maximum of six minutes by the 55th kilometre, before it began to reduce gradually with the Euskaltel-Euskadi and Katusha teams leading the peloton.
Over the top of the Alto de Tenebredo, after 79.1km, the gap was still 5’30” but, as Vacansoleil-DCM moved ahead and increased the pace, it began to tumble rapidly.
With 40km to go, as the gap was down to almost exactly two minutes, there was a big crash close to the rear of the peloton. The incident involved a number of riders from the Lampre-ISD and Euskaltel-Euskadi teams; everybody remounted and continued, although Aitor Perez (Lampre-ISD) took some time to get up.
Into the final 30km the Euskaltel-Euskadi team joined Vacansoleil-DCM in the chase and, as they approached the foot of the Alto del Cordal climb, the three breakaways were in sight.
The break is almost over as the attacks begin
As the climb began with 26.6km to go, Talansky and Champion sat up, but Geschke resisted and widened the few second gap once more. Dutch champion Pim Ligthart was the final Vacansoleil-DCM rider left on the front at this point, with Liquigas-Cannondale lined up behind him.
Matthias Frank (BMC Racing) tried to escape the peloton, but Ligthart increased the pace to pull the Swiss rider back. The net effect of this was to increase the rate of riders who were tailing off the back of the peloton, with sixth place Frederik Kessiakoff (Astana) among the early casualties.
The next attack up front came from stage fourteen aggressor Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar), who was followed by Carlos Sastre (Geox-TMC). It was all over for Geschke at this point as the attackers caught and passed the young German.
It was all over for the previous day’s winner Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis) too as it was his turn to be dropped. The Estonian made a slashing gesture across his throat and smiled at the TV cameras as he allowed the peloton to drift away.
Up ahead Sastre caught Bruseghin with Daniel Martin (Garmin-Cervélo) and mountains leader David Moncoutié (Cofidis), forming a group of four up ahead.
Liguigas-Cannondale was still leading the peloton, and refusing to be panicked by the attacking foursome, but Fabian Cancellara (Leopard Trek) was in second wheel, with Wiggins right behind the Swiss champion. Euskaltel-Euskadi came forward to help the chase once again, just as Moncoutié struck out with Sastre and Martin in his wake.
Over the top of the climb, which was taken by Moncoutié to extend his lead in the polka dot jersey standings, the group of four led by 23 seconds. Liquigas-Cannondale was back in front now though, with double stage winner Peter Sagan leading the peloton into the descent.
On damp roads, under the shelter of trees, Bruseghin managed to leave the other three behind, while behind him the descending skills of Liquigas-Cannondale was having the familiar effect on the peloton. The main group was in several pieces, with Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Cannondale) in control of the first one, as the race approached the bottom of the descent and the immediate start of the Angliru.
The Angliru begins and the peloton is smashed to pieces
Bruseghin was the only rider left in the lead, but he was caught almost as soon as the climb began and Sagan began to set a strong tempo.
With 11.4km to go, and the slopes still relatively benign, Sastre went again and, with Sagan still setting a tempo he was allowed to go clear. As he passed under the ten kilometre banner he was 15 seconds clear.
As the peloton approached the banner Carlos Barredo (Rabobank) tried to get away but, as Euskaltel-Euskadi took over on the front, he wasn’t able to get far; although at the nine kilometre banner he was 11 seconds behind Sastre, with the peloton a further eight seconds behind him.
This was the point that Moncoutié was dropped, although, having secured his jersey for another day, it looked more like he had sat up deliberately.
With Euskaltel-Euskadi and Liquigas-Cannondale both leading the peloton on the shallow section of the climb with just over seven kilometres to go Barredo was picked up, but Sastre was holding out a few seconds ahead.
Just after the seven kilometre banner though, as the slopes ramped up to 19%, Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) attacked and soon made his way across to Sastre. Daniel Martin made a move behind them, with Sergio Pardilla (Movistar) on his wheel, in an effort to get across but, as Antón dropped Sastre, the Irishman was unable to make it.
As Sastre was picked up by the peloton, Cobo moved to the front of the shrinking group, and Wiggins moved forward to mark him. The red jersey was dancing out of the saddle as riders were all over the road, with the gradient hitting 21 and 22%.
As the steep slopes kicked in Cobo escaped, with the group now just nine seconds behind Antón as the approached the six kilometre banner.
As Cobo goes Wiggins is fighting for his jersey like never before
Froome promptly forward to help Wiggins to chase Cobo, but the Geox-TMC rider was already up with Antón. Froome’s pace was enough to drop most of Wiggins’ rivals though, including defending champion Nibali once again, and the chasin peloton now had a similar appearance to the day before.
The only riders able to stay with Froome’s pace were Wiggins, Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha), Poels, and Cobo’s teammate Menchov. As this group began to gain on the leaders, Cobo accelerated once again, dropping Antón, and setting off alone.
Froome quickly pulled back the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider, as Martin was fighting to get up to the group. The gap was no more than 200 metres to Cobo, but that equated to 12 seconds on the super-steep gradient; as he passed under the five kilometre banner that had grown slightly to 13 seconds and the toughest part was still to come.
With four kilometres to go Cobo had opened the gap up to 30 seconds, and was riding himself into red. Starting the day just 55 seconds behind Wiggins, the twenty-second time bonus on the line meant that he only needed another five to take the red jersey from the British champion.
Just behind the Wiggins group Bauke Mollema caught up with Martin, who was now with Antón; as the road steepened once more, Rodriguez found himself dropped by Froome’s pace and the chase group was reduced to four.
As Froome tired, Wiggins himself took over on the front, but his teammate was abel to stay with him. He took over once more as they approached the three kilometre banner, where Cobo was 38 seconds ahead; assuming Wiggins finished outside the top three, the Geox-TMC rider now led the race by three seconds.
The climb is at its steepest as Wiggins starts to struggle
As Cobo wrestled his bike up the steepest section, which ramped up to 23.5% in places, the local Spanish fans were going crazy. Behind him in the chase group Poels moved forward, followed by Menchov; the Russian two-time Vuelta winner wasn’t going to help the chase, but would gladly take the time bonuses away from Wiggins on the line.
The two briefly dropped the Sky pair as Wiggins began to struggle but Froome sprinted around him to once again offer his back wheel to his leader. Despite the British duo struggling, Cobo was not getting much further away…
Under the two kilometre banner, as the gradient eased up to a more manageable 13%, Cobo’s lead had hardly grown at all, and was now 44 seconds. As the mist thickened though, and with a TV motorbike coming down on the steep road, Wiggins was beginning to struggle as the accumulated climb began to take its toll.
The gradient kicked back up to 20% as Cobo wrestled his bike through the throngs of cheering fans and, as he reached the flamme rouge marking the final kilometre, his lead had stretched to 1’10” over Wiggins. The race leader had been unable to follow an acceleration from Poels, and Froome had been told to go.
As Cobo crested the top of the climb and took on the gentle descent to the finish line he sprinted right to the line to maximise his advantage. Poels attacked to take second place, with Menchov taking third and Froome fifth. They crossed the line 48 seconds behind Cobo, exactly the margin by which he had trailed Froome in the morning; with the twenty-second bonus on the line though, and with Froome missing out, the Geox-TMC rider moved into red.
Wiggins had been picked up by Antón, and the two of them powered in to the finish, but the 1’21” delay to Cobo meant that Wiggins was out of the jersey.