Chris Froome lost more time to race leader Joaquim Rodriguez in today’s stage from Lleida, all in the final 500 metres, as Alejandro Valverde and JR jumped clear of him and chased after Alberto Contador, who had got a gap of 100 metres over the three, with just a kilometre to go.
Valverde and JR caught Contador in the last few metres, crossing the line in that order, but Contador in third place only wanted to know where Froome was, waited and looked back to see the Sky rider arrive 15 seconds later – not good for the Brit but he’s still in second place, so no disaster either.
Valverde moved up to fourth by virtue of his ride today, pushing Rabobank’s Robert Gesink to fifth. Last year’s Vuelta winner Juan José Cobo (Movistar) and Sergio Henao (Sky) both dropped out of the top ten, while 14th place at 1’05” was good enough to lift Laurens Ten Dam up to ninth (making three Rabobank riders in the top ten), and Euskaltel’s Igor Anton moved up to eighth overall after finishing a fine seventh on the stage, losing only 33 seconds to Valverde.
For a while it looked as if the break of six riders was going to hold out: Mickael Buffaz (Cofidis), Amael Moinard (BMC), Javier Ramirez (Andalucia), Cameron Meyer (Orica-GreenEdge), Martijn Keizer (Vacansoleil), and Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural) worked well together, still maintaining a lead of over seven minutes on the bunch with only 25 miles to go.
Moinard pushed it on the second category climb of the Alto de la Comella, dropping Keizer and Aramendia, but over the top the Sky-led bunch had clawed back almost five minutes of the lead. The final climb of the day followed immediately; the Collada de la Gallina had never been used in the Vuelta before but the riders knew it was going to be a tough one, with gradients of 12% at points.
The race had averaged 46.6kph to this point, and it didn’t take long for the bunch to fragment behind the Sky pressure, with Ritchie Porte driving in the big ring until be exploded, Danny Pate taking a turn, then the ‘heads’ took to the front of the peloton.
Up front, with only three km to go Cameron Meyer took off on a bid to take a solo win for his GreenEDGE team.
Behind, Valverde attacked and Froome and Contador took 100 metres to get up to him, and then these two jumped clear, with just Meyer ahead. Froome did most of the work, and when the pair were almost on Meyer, Froome took his foot off the gas, to get Contador to come through.
Bert is pretty smart at these games though, and just braked in order to stay where he was, behind Froome, who took up the pace again and passed Meyer. This loss of momentum meant that Meyer could stay with Froome and Contador for a while, to be joined by Valverde, Rodriguez and Daniel Moreno, but in the final shake up Moreno and Meyer were distanced, and the top guys on GC fought out the stage amongst themselves.
Results - La Vuelta a España 2012 - Stage 8
Stage Result
2 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
3 Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
4 Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:00:15
5 Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team 0:00:23
6 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team 0:00:33
7 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
8 Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre – ISD 0:00:39
9 Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
10 Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre – ISD 0:00:42
11 Andrew Talansky (USA) Garmin – Sharp 0:00:44
12 Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:02
13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
14 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:01:05
15 Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:01:06
16 Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:01:24
17 Maxime Bouet (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:01:25
18 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan 0:01:30
19 Steve Morabito (Swi) BMC Racing Team 0:01:34
20 Cameron Meyer (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge 0:01:37
21 Marcos Garcia (Spa) Caja Rural 0:01:45
22 Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling 0:01:47
23 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
24 Rafal Majka (Pol) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
25 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural 0:01:57
26 Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
27 Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team 0:02:04
28 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:02:23
29 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
30 Gorka Verdugo Marcotegui (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
31 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:02:31
32 Javier Ramirez Abeja (Spa) Andalucia 0:02:41
33 Kevin Seeldraeyers (Bel) Astana Pro Team
34 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Garmin – Sharp 0:02:50
35 Rémi Pauriol (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:03:02
36 John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:03:06
37 Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha Team
38 Serge Pauwels (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
39 Tiago Machado (Por) Radioshack-Nissan
40 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:03:17
41 Rob Ruijgh (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:03:19
42 Juan Jose Oroz Ugalde (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:03:27
43 Hernani Broco (Por) Caja Rural 0:03:43
44 Mikel Astarloza Chaurreau (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:03:48
45 Mikel Landa Meana (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
46 Daniel Navarro Garcia (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
47 Luis Angel Mate Mardones (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:03:58
48 Jan Bakelants (Bel) Radioshack-Nissan 0:04:08
49 Jose Vicente Toribio Alcolea (Spa) Andalucia 0:05:05
50 Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:11
51 Richie Porte (Aus) Sky Procycling 0:05:12
52 Nairo Alexander Quintana Rojas (Col) Movistar Team 0:05:16
53 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Movistar Team 0:05:18
54 Laurent Didier (Lux) Radioshack-Nissan
55 Jesus Hernandez Blazquez (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
56 Arnold Jeannesson (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:06:07
57 Amaël Moinard (Fra) BMC Racing Team 0:06:24
58 Paolo Tiralongo (Ita) Astana Pro Team 0:06:26
59 Romain Sicard (Fra) Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:06:30
60 Andrey Zeits (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 0:06:48
61 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
62 Morris Possoni (Ita) Lampre – ISD
63 Cristiano Salerno (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
64 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
65 Rigoberto Uran Uran (Col) Sky Procycling 0:06:03
66 Javier Francisco Aramendia Lorente (Spa) Caja Rural 0:07:20
67 Martijn Keizer (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
68 Christophe Riblon (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 0:07:43
69 Sergio Carrasco Garcia (Spa) Andalucia 0:08:06
70 Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin – Sharp 0:08:44
71 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) BMC Racing Team 0:09:10
72 Simon Clarke (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
73 Dario Cataldo (Ita) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
74 Johannes Fröhlinger (Ger) Argos-Shimano
75 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team
76 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) BMC Racing Team
77 Brent Bookwalter (USA) BMC Racing Team
78 Fredrik Carl Wilhelm Kessiakoff (Swe) Astana Pro Team
79 Cayetano José Sarmiento Tunarrosa (Col) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:09:39
80 Rudy Molard (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 0:10:42
81 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Garmin – Sharp 0:12:06
82 Antonio Piedra Perez (Spa) Caja Rural
83 Ben Gastauer (Lux) AG2R La Mondiale 0:13:11
84 Xavier Florencio Cabre (Spa) Katusha Team 0:13:38
85 Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Spa) Movistar Team
86 Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team
87 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team
88 Denis Menchov (Rus) Katusha Team
89 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
90 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Katusha Team
91 Bruno Pires (Por) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank 0:13:57
92 Stef Clement (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team 0:14:49
93 Bertjan Lindeman (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
94 Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol Team
95 Lars Boom (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
96 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
97 Benjamin Noval Gonzalez (Spa) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
98 Matti Breschel (Den) Rabobank Cycling Team
99 Markel Irizar Aranburu (Spa) Radioshack-Nissan
100 Imanol Erviti Ollo (Spa) Movistar Team
101 Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
102 Javier Chacon (Spa) Andalucia
103 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank Cycling Team
104 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
105 Mauro Da Dalto (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
106 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank
107 Koen De Kort (Ned) Argos-Shimano
108 Benoît Vaugrenard (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
109 Grégory Rast (Swi) Radioshack-Nissan
110 Ruben Perez Moreno (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi
111 Adrian Palomares Villaplana (Spa) Andalucia
112 Denys Kostyuk (Ukr) Lampre – ISD
113 Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
114 Maciej Paterski (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale
115 Rafael Valls Ferri (Spa) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
116 Travis Meyer (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
117 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale
118 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) Lampre – ISD
119 Simon Geschke (Ger) Argos-Shimano
120 Daniel Teklehaymanot (Eri) Orica – GreenEdge
121 Florent Barle (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
122 Tiziano Dall’antonia (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
123 Egor Silin (Rus) Astana Pro Team
124 Yannick Eijssen (Bel) BMC Racing Team
125 Pieter Weening (Ned) Orica – GreenEdge
126 Xabier Zandio Echaide (Spa) Sky Procycling 0:15:41
127 Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin – Sharp
128 David De La Fuente Rasilla (Spa) Caja Rural
129 Klaas Lodewyck (Bel) BMC Racing Team
130 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Sky Procycling
131 Frederik Willems (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
132 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
133 Dominique Rollin (Can) FDJ-Big Mat
134 Gabriel Rasch (Nor) FDJ-Big Mat
135 Adam Hansen (Aus) Lotto Belisol Team
136 Martijn Maaskant (Ned) Garmin – Sharp
137 Davide Vigano (Ita) Lampre – ISD
138 Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep
139 Yukihiro Doi (Jpn) Argos-Shimano
140 Gert Steegmans (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:16:24
141 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:16:26
142 Pim Ligthart (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:16:31
143 Raymond Kreder (Ned) Garmin – Sharp 0:16:32
144 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Katusha Team 0:16:57
145 Nicki Sörensen (Den) Saxo Bank – Tinkoff Bank 0:17:59
146 Linus Gerdemann (Ger) Radioshack-Nissan 0:18:53
147 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
148 Jesus Rosendo Prado (Spa) Andalucia
149 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Garmin – Sharp
150 Elia Viviani (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
151 Niki Terpstra (Ned) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:19:20
152 Ian Stannard (GBr) Sky Procycling 0:19:22
153 Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Spa) Andalucia 0:19:34
154 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
155 Davide Cimolai (Ita) Lampre – ISD 0:19:40
156 Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team 0:19:42
157 Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Por) Caja Rural
158 Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
159 Hayden Roulston (NZl) Radioshack-Nissan
160 Allan Davis (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
161 Mitchell Docker (Aus) Orica – GreenEdge
162 Danail Andonov Petrov (Bul) Caja Rural
163 Wouter Mol (Ned) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
164 Lloyd Mondory (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
165 Egoitz Garcia Echeguibel (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
166 Frantisek Rabon (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quickstep 0:19:48
167 Jonathan Castroviejo Nicolas (Spa) Movistar Team
168 Leonardo Fabio Duque (Col) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne
169 Danny Pate (USA) Sky Procycling
170 Julian Dean (NZl) Orica – GreenEdge
171 Stephen Cummings (GBr) BMC Racing Team
172 Ben Swift (GBr) Sky Procycling
173 Gatis Smukulis (Lat) Katusha Team
174 Blel Kadri (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale
175 Mikhail Ignatyev (Rus) Katusha Team
176 Thomas Peterson (USA) Garmin – Sharp
177 Jens Debusschere (Bel) Lotto Belisol Team
178 Alexsandr Dyachenko (Kaz) Astana Pro Team
179 Alexandre Geniez (Fra) Argos-Shimano
180 Thierry Hupond (Fra) Argos-Shimano
181 John Degenkolb (Ger) Argos-Shimano
182 William Bonnet (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat
183 Arnaud Courteille (Fra) FDJ-Big Mat 0:20:20
184 Maciej Bodnar (Pol) Liquigas-Cannondale 0:21:06
185 Pablo Lechuga Rodriguez (Spa) Andalucia 0:21:08
186 Juan Jose Lobato Del Valle (Spa) Andalucia
187 Joost V