Juan José Cobo (Geox-TMC) spent the first two weeks of the Vuelta a España in the shadows. On the crucial mountaintop finishes to Sierra Nevada and La Covatilla he was content to follow the pace set by other teams, only showing himself on the latter to outsprint the Team Sky duo of Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome to take third place and eight bonus seconds.
He managed to minimise his losses to his rivals in the Salamanca time trial but then on the two tough mountain stages of the weekend, to La Farrapona and the Alto de l’Angliru, he attacked; in two stages he has jumped from eight place overall to leading the race for the first time in his career.
“Since the start in Benidorm I felt like my legs were spinning well,” he said. “I knew that this weekend was a crucial point and that I would have to reserve some energy to use it in these stages.
On Saturday’s La Farrapona stage Cobo’s teammate David De La Fuente was up the road in a two-man break with eventual stage winner Rein Taaramäe (Cofidis). Cobo attacked with four kilometres to go, bridging to De La Fuente, who waited for him, then riding on to take second place.
“At La Farrapona I felt good but I wasn't at my best,” he explained. “On that occasion De La Fuente was exceptional, he put himself at my disposal, giving up a chance to battle for a stage victory that he really deserved. On Angliru on the other hand I felt great for the entire stage, this is why on the climb I attacked right away without waiting to see how my rivals were doing.
“Then once I found myself ahead of everyone I tried to keep up a fast pace but without exhausting my energy so I could make it all the way to the finish line, and I did it."
His Angliru attack was enough to escape Wiggins and Froome, and slowly, but surely opening up a big enough lead to give him the red jersey at the finish. Cobo now leads Froome by a slim twenty-second margin, with Wiggins, who cracked near the end of the climb, now 46 seconds behind.
Although his lead is no more than Froome might earn with a stage finish, Cobo has all of his experience to call upon, including an indifferent season at Caisse d’Epargne in 2010, as well as two Grand Tour winning teammates.
“For now I'm calm,” he said. “The bad experiences I had in the past have served as a lesson coming to this Vuelta in a new way, without excessive pressure, with the awareness that I could vie for a good result. My teammates Carlos Sastre and Denis Menchov always advise me the stay calm to overcome the hard times."
“As far as my physical shape is concerned,” he continued. “I have to say that I feel good, the sensation is similar to the one I've had in other occasions when I've managed to win, like I did in the Vuelta al Pais Vasco. The difference is that on this occasion I managed to attack, lose everyone and grab a splendid victory that bumped me to the head of the classification in an important race like the Vuelta.”
With Froome and Wiggins so close behind him, and with Rabobank’s Bauke Mollema just 1’36” back, Cobo is far from guaranteed the overall victory on Sunday in Madrid. Wednesday’s seventeenth stage is to finish at Peña Cabarga, where Igor Antón (Euskaltel-Euskadi) crashed out of the race while wearing the red jersey last year.
“I prefer to take things one day at a time,” he explained. “I'm aware that we still have a tough week of racing ahead of us. I don't know what to fear the most: the route, the competition or myself.
“Teams like Sky and Liquigas-Cannondale are going to try to attack but with the help of all of Geox-TMC and my knowledge of the territory, we'll try to defend ourselves and fight back. Wednesday's finish at Peña Cabarga will be difficult and in the other stages too, it won't be easy to control the race, but I can also count on the experience of my teammates.
“Then there's the possibility that I could have a hard time some time along the way...I don't want to think about it...in that case I'd rather it be that the others beat me and not that I lose the race."
Whether he manages to win the Vuelta overall though, a highlight for Cobo will be leading the race as it passes through his home area.
"I'd like to make it to the roads of Cantabria, my region, wearing the red jersey,” he said. “Already on Angliru I heard so many fans, it was fantastic; I feel like there are all the people from my region pedalling with me."