Who’d have thought it? Chris Horner said he was going to get the leader’s red jersey back and he did just that when he zipped off the front with 5km to go and maintained an advantage of over 40 seconds to claim his second solo stage win, reclaim the red jersey and take the lead in the mountains and combined classifications. Pensioners of the world rejoice – well, maybe middle-aged men in lycra.
It’s all getting very serious now. This stage starts out benign enough but then it comes to the cat 1 Alto de Monachil, which leads to the summit finish of a new climb, the Alto de Hazallanas – 16km of beyond-category paaaaaiiiiiinnnnnn. Continue reading
This year’s Vuelta is even more difficult than last year’s – and that was full of chills and spills and cunning and guile. So how much more exciting will it be over the next three weeks, especially as two of the main contenders from last year’s race are back for more – Alejandro Valverde and Joaquim Rodriguez. Add to the mix Vincenzo Nibali, some young guns like Carlos Betancur and Sergio Henao and you’ve got one spicy race. So what might be the pivotal stages this year? Let’s have a look. Continue reading