VaE: Rodriguez wins again and takes the red jersey

Joaquim Rodriguez demolished the field on the San Lorenzo de el Escorial, putting himself in to the leader’s jersey on Stage 8.

Rodriguez was the only one who looked even remotely comfortable, on a climb which went up to 23%. Michele Scarponi knew there was nothing he could do to stop the Spaniard and concentrated on keeping himself ahead of the other big contenders. He now sits 32 seconds ahead of his teammate Daniel Moreno, in the GC.

Igor Anton showed that he is on his way back to form, by crossing the line with the lead group. Also in the front group were Jurgen Van Den Broeck and cousins Nicolas Roche and Dan Martin. Sylvain Chavanel, who started the day in the red jersey, lost just over a minute to Rodriguez and slides down the standings, but stays in the top ten. Bradley Wiggins lost a further 25 seconds to Rodriguez, while Vincenzo Nibali struggled and lost 32 seconds.

Despite several attacks within the final 10km, Katusha always looked to be in control of the stage and looked after both Rodriguez and Moreno. Cofidis were the main culprit, for the attacks, with Rein Taaramae, David Moncoutie and Luis Angel Mate all trying to go it alone. None of them could make it and everything was brought back together by the final 2km.

There were four withdrawals during the stage with Tyler Farrar, Oscar Freire, Nicolas Edet and Michal Golas all throwing in the towel. Farrar crashed heavily before the sprint on Stage 7, but managed to start the stage, it wasn’t long before he decided he couldn’t continue. Golas was also involved in that crash, when the pair touched wheels, but he chose not to sign on before the stage.

Chavanel started the day with the intention on going out of his leader position with a bang and made an attempt at a breakaway. After 13 kilometres gone he was part of a 20 rider group that went ahead of the peloton. They stayed out for 10km, before being collected by the peloton. Almost immediately Heinrich Haussler and Matteo Montaguti put over a minute in to the group. The duo was joined by Julien Fouchard, from Cofidis, and Adrian Palomares, who has been part of three breakaways now.

The four riders took almost four minutes on the peloton, but Katusha always had eyes on the victory and reeled them in. Several riders made an attempt to bridge the gap, but the pace was now too high for anyone to pull out a significant lead. Once the pack hit the short, but extremely steep, final climb, many of the riders were then shot off the back.

Stage 9 should be slightly easier on the legs, for the most part, but the final climb on the Sierra de Bejar. La Covatilla will be a killer. It is a very long 18km and will be a good proving ground for anyone hoping to wear the red jersey in Madrid.