Gilbert triumphs in Toledo

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Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto) gave a resounding demonstration of his world championship credentials with a splendid Vuelta stage victory in Toledo. The Belgian delivered a scintillating sprint on the deceptively tough drag to the line that saw overall leader Vincezo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) snatch a potentially crucial 12 seconds from his closest rival Ezequeil Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia).

Nibali's red jersey was conspicuously placed near the front of the bunch as the race entered the cobbled outskirts of Toledo and the Italian was rewarded for his intelligent riding when the race broke up in the final push to the line. He may only have been able manage sixth on the stage, a second behind Gilbert, but with Mosquera caught behind, he padded his overall lead to 50 seconds ahead of tomorrow's decisive stage to Bola del Mundo.

"In finishes like this, Nibali is quicker than me and he knows it," Mosquera said afterwards. "I'm disappointed to lose these 12 seconds, but in the end it doesn't change much. I still have to attack and give it everything tomorrow."

Red jersey Nibali can only have been pleased with his afternoon's work. "I knew it wasn't going to be easy," the Italian said, before turning his mind to tomorrow. "I'm very relaxed. I will face a great adversary tomorrow and I don't know the climb, but I'm not worried."

The day belonged to Gilbert, however, who produced a performance of sparkling class to take the win. His searing acceleration in the finale was arguably the single most impressive piece of riding of the entire race to date. 500 metres from the line, he simply ripped clear of an already speeding peloton as the road kicked up towards the line. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Transitions) was on his wheel as he went and was the only man able to put up any resistance to Gilbert's fierce acceleration.

Initially, it seemed as though Gilbert had mistimed his sprint completely and with the road flattening slightly around the final bend, Farrar appeared ideally poised to take the win. However, Gilbert never once faltered over the closing metres and in spite of Farrar's menacing position, the result was never in any doubt. Try as he might, there was simply no way that the American was going to come around the flying Gilbert, who even opened out a one-second gap at the line.

"It was a very nice finish, very technical, and I had great help from my team to get in position before the climb," Gilbert said at the finish. "After that, there were some attacks from different riders but I stayed calm and focused everything on the sprint."

As well as taking his second stage of the Vuelta, Gilbert dealt a significant psychological blow to one of his main world championships rivals and he admitted afterwards to feeling "on track for the Worlds." With the finish in Geelong said to be along similar lines, Filippo Pozzato (Katusha) will not have been pleased to have been a distant third on the stage. Although the Italian leader came from a long way back to pass Sebastien Hinault (AG2R) in the final 100 metres, he was badly caught out by Gilbert's decision to strike early and like much of the peloton, he will be hoping that the Belgian's form doesn't hold for another fortnight.

A quiet start

The thunderous climax to the stage was a far cry from the rather more sedate early exchanges. On the day's first climb of the Sierra de Gredos, Serafin Martinez (Xacobeo Galicia) bested King of the Mountains leader David Moncoutié (Cofidis) to the summit, to ensure that the race for that classification will still be alive on the road to Bola del Mundo tomorrow. As the peloton crested the summit, the eager Dominik Roels (Team Milram) took advantage of a lull in proceedings to jump clear with Josep Jufre (Astana) and the pair quickly opened up a 30-second lead.

Xavier Florencio (Cervelo TestTeam) and Manuel Ortega (Andalucia-Cajasur) gave chase behind and once they closed the gap 25km into the stage, the day's break had been well and truly established. Taking advantage of a tired bunch with one eye already on tomorrow's decisive mountain stage, the break quickly built up a sizable lead. Their advantage grew to 10 minutes by the 80km mark while Nibali's Liquigas team patrolled a slumbering peloton, where the only drama came in the form of Fabian Cancellara's (Saxo Bank) decision to abandon the race.

As the race entered the final 100km, however, that lead suddenly began to shrink, as Omega Pharma-Lotto chased in support of Gilbert. Once HTC-Columbia and later Saxo Bank joined the pursuit, the gap tumbled even more quickly and come the final 25km, the four in front knew they were riding on borrowed time.

The sting in the tail

The break was swallowed up 13km from home and in the final stages, Lampre-Farnese Vini upped the pace for Grega Bole. On a sharp climb 5km out, Quick Step sent first Carlos Barredo and then Dario Cataldo up the road. When their moves fizzled out, Luis Leon Sanchez (Caisse d'Epargne) was next to try his luck as Nicolas Roche (AG2R) attempted to bridge across, while Gilbert and Nibali were lurking with intent in the wheels.

Sanchez was caught as the race approached the Toledo and as the bunch rattled across a section of cobbles 1.5km from the line, gaps were already starting to appear. Underneath the red kite, FDJ's Gianni Meerman tried to force clear but David Millar (Garmin-Transitions) chased hard, stringing out the bunch behind. The Scot was riding in support of Tyler Farrar to distance Mark Cavendish (HTC-Columbia) in the finale. While he succeeded admirably in doing so, his efforts ultimately served only as a perfect lead-out for the unstoppable Gilbert.

The Belgian eased out of the saddle a little over 500 metres from the line and then launched his devastating acceleration, stomping on the pedals as he burst into the lead. Only Farrar managed to react but with Gilbert showing no signs of relenting, he knew he was racing for second place.

The difficult drag to the line had potentially game-changing ramifications for the overall standings. Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) confirmed his fine form with a strong 5th place finish, while Nicolas Roche took advantage of the splits to swap places with Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions).

Similarly, Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) moved ahead of Fränk Schleck (Saxo Bank) into fourth after Schleck punctured in the finale. Schleck crossed the line in 114th place, but was awarded the same time as the group that came in 15 seconds down, ultimately losing just eight seconds to Rodriguez.

"I must have had a guardian angel taking care of me," a relieved Schleck said. "I had a rear wheel puncture on the final descent and I almost came off, I had both feet on the ground. I wasn't worried about time after that. Even though the judges rectified my time, I'm just happy to be in once piece."

The full significance of such apparently minor changes will only become clear tomorrow on the final climb to Bola del Mundo and both Vincenzo Nibali and Ezequiel Mosquera know the same is true of their battle for overall victory. The 12 seconds gained by Nibali today certainly have the feel of momentum swinging in the Italian's favour but he should surely be aware that the viciously-steep final 3km of tomorrow's stage alone could be enough for Mosquera to make up the ground.

This tense Vuelta has seen the script torn up and rewritten time and again, as the race has tilted in the favour of one rider and then another. The one constant in the drama from the first week, however, has been the stunning form of Philippe Gilbert, and the Belgian will be aiming for an encore performance in Geelong in two weeks' time.

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