Nibali withstands Mosquera's attacks

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Italy's Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas-Doimo) set up overall victory at the Vuelta a España thanks to a determined but intelligent defence of his red jersey on the final mountain stage of the race.

Nibali finished just one second behind his biggest rival Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo Galicia) at the mountain top finish on the Bola del Mundo climb and so now has a 41-second lead going into Sunday's final 85Km criterium stage in the centre of Madrid.

If Nibali goes on to win the Vuelta, he will be the first Italian to do so since Marco Giovanetti in 1990, when the race was still held in late April. He will be only the fifth Italian to triumph in Spain in the 75-year history of the Vuelta.

Mosquera won the stage but Nibali caught him just before the line after a nail-biting pursuit up the steep concrete track to the summit of the climb. At one point Mosquera had close to a 20-second gap and Nibali seemed to be struggling on the 15 per cent climb. However the young Italian kept his composure and the red race leader's jersey.

"I think I did an exceptional ride," Nibali told Italian television immediately after the finish, almost in tears as he recovered from his huge effort.

"I knew I was feeling good and I knew I had a strong team there to help me. I knew that Mosquera would have to be super good to beat me but he wasn't. What else can I say? I'm really happy."

Nibali was pitted against a determined Mosquera who tried again and again to distance him in the final kilometres.

"The Spanish riders have been really strong here and they've made my life complicated. Today, I knew the final three kilometres were the most difficult ones, I had seen it my director's computer this morning. When Mosquera accelerated the first time, I set my pace as steady as I could, I also kept some strength for the finale and that's why I never lost control of the situation and I even managed to come across to him and save my red jersey."

As Mosquera and Nibali battled ahead, the race for third place unfolded behind with Peter Velits (HTC-Columbia) fighting hard to hang on to third place overall. He came in a handful of seconds behind his nearest rivals, confirming he is the big surprise of this year's overall classification.

The Slovakian rider finished eighth at the top of the climb, only 52 seconds behind Mosquera. He lost some time to Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) and Frank Schleck (Saxo Bank) but is now 3:02 behind Nibali. Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) is fourth overall at 4:20 and Schleck is fifth at 4:43.

"When Rodriguez attacked, it was the steepest part of the climb, so it was the hardest for me. I've suffered a lot but it was worth it. I'm so happy to finish third of the Vuelta. I couldn't have expected anything better at the start in Sevilla," Velits said.

While Schleck was not able to make up for his poor time trial and climb back onto the Tour of Spain podium, his director Bradley McGee was encouraged by the experience of directing the team to a top finish.

"Fränk Schleck's fifth place at the end is pretty good. I've enjoyed the Vuelta a lot," said McGee. "The course was great and the actors have been great too. I'm looking forward to come back next year. It should be with a Spanish leader (Alberto Contador) in our team if everything goes according the plan."

Irishman Nicolas Roche (Ag2r-LaMondiale) went deep to finish sixth on the stage and so held onto seventh place overall, 4:43 behind Nibali, a result which encouraged him for future GC battles.

"I've improved a lot but I can see that I still have a lot to improve. We had a bad team time trial, I had a bad individual time trial and I found climbing to Andorra difficult. The most encouraging of my final result is that I haven't benefitted from any breakaway. I've been fighting all the time with the best riders in the hills. It makes it super encouraging for the future."

The USA's Tom Danielson (Garmin-Transitions) had a difficult day and finished 17th on the stage, losing 1:46 to Mosquera. But he only lost one place overall to Carlos Sastre (Cervelo TestTeam), and so is set to finish ninth overall at 6:09.

Mountain top face-off

The face-off between Nibali and Mosquera dominated the racing on the final mountain finish of this year's Vuelta but other riders were also targeting the stage victory, and Caisse d'Epargne and Katusha were also fighting for the team classification. It all meant the stage was fast and furious from the start and so the climb to the finish was even more painful.

The early attack went clear after just 14km, with 14 riders in it: Jan Bakelandts (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Tony Gallopin (Cofidis), Vincent Jerome (BBOX), Jean-Christophe Peraud (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Iñigo Cuesta (Cervelo), Gustavo Cesar (Xacobeo), Philippe Gilbert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Johann Tschopp (BBOX), Leif Hoste (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Danilo Hondo (Lampre), Vladimir Gusev (Katusha), David Arroyo (Caisse), Jose Toribio (Andalucia-Cajasur), Cheula Giampaolo (Footon-Servetto), Kanstantin Siutsou (HTC-Columbia), Blel Kadri (Ag2r-La Mondiale), Jose Oroz (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Ruben Plaza (Caisse d'Epargne) where all there and all worked hard.

The presence of Arroyo and Plaza set off alarm bells in the peloton and Katusha worked on the front to make sure the break did not gain enough time to stay clear. The attack never gained more than four minutes because of the chase and then Liquigas-Doimo and Garmin also helped set the tempo.

Spanish veteran Cuesta was the first to attack from the break before the Puerto di Navacerrada climb but he was quickly caught and it was Plaza and Tschopp who led the race over the climb, with 50km to the finish.

The break came back together on the descent but then splintered again as the Xacobeo team dragged the peloton along to set up Mosquera for his attack. Gusev and Plaza tried to go clear on the early slopes of the Bola del Mundo, while Remy Di Gregorio (FDJ) tried a move from the peloton.

However none of them were going anywhere with the big finale rapidly approaching. The remains of the break were all swept up by the Xacobeo-led peloton and Di Gregorio came back to the peloton with six kilometres still to race.

Oscar Pujol (Cervelo TestTeam) and Amets Txurruka (Euskaltel-Euskadi) made an attack with five kilometres to go and then Schleck made a solo move just after that. However they only served to up the pace and thin out the front group, leaving Nibali isolated and without teammates. Mosquera noticed and accelerated away. Suddenly the real, decisive race, was on.

Nibali got on Mosquera's wheel but then the Spaniard gradually opened a gap, carving out an advantage one second at a time as the Spanish fans waved him on and upwards. When the race turned onto the steeper, harder and narrower concrete road, the duel turned into a prize fight with the two exchanging blows as the road twisted up to the summit. Nibali pulled back Mosquera but then the Spanish climber opened the gap again as Nibali wobbled and struggled on the steepest gradients.

The gap reached 17 seconds and Mosquera also had the eight-second difference in time bonuses to his advantage but that was as good as it got. Nibali seemed to find some extra power to push on the pedals and as the mist surrounded the race in the final kilometre, he began to close the gap. He suddenly seemed to crack again but composed himself and gradually reducing the gap yet again.

With just a few hundred metres from the summit of the 2247-metre high climb, Mosquera seemed to know he was not going to win the Vuelta. His head dipped and he lost speed as Nibali closed the gap. He hung on to win at the line but Nibali was right behind him and the pain in his legs disappeared as he knew he had done enough to secure his first victory in a major tour.

The celebrations will have to be put on ice for 24 hours, until after Sunday's 85km final stage around Madrid, but it looks almost certain that it will be Nibali and Liquigas, rather Mosquera and Xacobeo, who will pop the champagne to celebrate victory at the 75th and one of the best ever edition of the Vuelta.

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