The second week started with a sad note after the news of the death of Team Sky masseur Txema Gonzalez who contracted a bacterial infection that turned in to septicaemia. The team pulled out of the tour weakened already by three riders dropping out through illness.
Stage eight from Villena to Xorret del Catí saw the eighth different rider to win a stage in the 2010 Vuelta. David Moncoutie got in to the decisive breakaway of the day and was able to pull away on the final climb finishing almost one minute ahead of the forever bridesmaid Serafín Martinez. The Cofidis rider dedicated his victory to Gonzalez and Laurent Fignon, who died a couple of days earlier.
General Confusion
The stage also saw some confusion in the general classification when Joaquin Rodriguez was told he had taken the red jersey off the shoulders of Philip Gilbert. Moments later it was awarded to Igor Anton who was on the same time as Rodriguez in the GC. Petacchi was unable to finish the stage and pulled or the tour after the injuries he sustained in a crash the day before.
The 187 km between Calpe and Alcoi was one of the most undulating routes on the tour with seven categorised climbs and an uphill finish to remove whatever was left in the legs. This time it was David Lopez who beat the other members of his 15-man breakaway group to the line; including Liquigas man Roman Kreuziger.
Anton and Rodriguez were still inseparable at the top of the standings and remained on the same time.
Schleck and O’Grady out
After the first rest day news broke that Bjarne Riis had thrown out Andy Schleck and Stuart O’Grady for enjoying a drink on their day off.
On the road Caisse d’Epargne were doing the business with another victory in the guise of Imanol Erviti. Katusha’s Rodriguez finally got the red jersey he wanted balancing two seconds ahead of Anton in the GC.
Stage 11 stayed in the Basque region and moved on it to the principality of Andorra with a very steep mountain finish. Anton became the first rider to win two stages in this year’s tour and regained the leader’s jersey. The Euskaltel rider pulled three seconds on Ezequiel Mosquera of Xacobeo-Galicia on the final climb who finished in second.
Instead of sharing the lead Anton pulled out a 45 second lead ahead of Vincenzo Nibali after Rodriguez fell down the rankings.
Cav Makes it Two
The next day’s flat stage didn’t trouble the leaders and it was time again for the sprinters to show their speed. All of the teams were watching each other coming in to the last bend allowing Matt Goss to lead out Mark Cavendish. The pair had such that Goss finished third despite riding to the line with his arms in the air.
When it rains it pours Cavendish looked to be out of contention with 1k to go, but Goss earned his money again dragging the Manxman trough the bunch to take his second victory in a row. He extended his lead in the points competition making it much more likely he would take it in to the Spanish capital.
Classification shake up
Stage 14 proved to be a much bigger day for the GC than expected after tour leader Anton crashed out with just 6.5k to go. His teammate Egoi Martinez went down in front of him after touching a wheel and both along with some other riders went down hard. Martinez suffered from a dislocated collarbone and Anton with a broken arm. Marzio Bruseghin from Caisse d'Epargne was also caught up in the crash, but managed to make it to the finish dropping we out of the top ten. A select few riders made it up the mountain ahead of everybody else and it looked like Nibali might take the victory and increase his lead in the GC after making a break.
However, Rodriguez managed to make everybody look like they were at a standstill when he powered past and won the stage; bringing him within 4 seconds of the lead.
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