Vuelta a Espana, stage 21 summary

[Bob Martin]

Stage 21 : Sep 15, Leganes - Madrid, 99.1 km

1 Michael Matthews (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 2.44.00
2 Tyler Farrar (USA) Garmin-Sharp
3 Nikias Arndt (Ger) Team Argos-Shimano
4 Gianni Meersman (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step
5 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze (Arg) Lampre-Merida
6 Grega Bole (Slo) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team
7 Adrien Petit (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits
8 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg (RSA) Team Argos-Shimano
9 Francesco Lasca (Ita) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA
10 Robert Wagner (Ger) Belkin Pro Cycling Team


Changes in GC, stage 21 compared to stage 20 :

Biggest gainers by position :
+2 Dario Cataldo
+1 Vladimir Isaichev
+1 Paolo Tiralongo
+1 Mikel Nieve Iturralde
+1 Michael Morkov
+1 Markel Irizar Aranburu
+1 Klaas Lodewyck
+1 Johan Vansummeren
+1 Imanol Erviti Ollo
+1 Iker Camano Ortuzar

Biggest losers by position :
-3 Paolo Longo Borghini
-2 Arnaud Courteille
-2 Javier Moreno Bazan
-1 Alex Howes
-1 Andrey Zeits
-1 Bartosz Huzarski
-1 Bauke Mollema
-1 Cedric Pineau
-1 Eros Capecchi
-1 Fabricio Ferrari Barcelo
-1 Luca Dodi

Biggest gainers by time :
+0:13 Michael Matthews
+0:09 Tyler Farrar
+0:07 Nikias Arndt
+0:03 Zakkari Dempster
+0:03 Tosh Van Der Sande
+0:03 Robert Wagner
+0:03 Rigoberto Uran Uran
+0:03 Reinardt Janse Van Rensburg
+0:03 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze
+0:03 Lucas Sebastian Haedo

Biggest losers by time :
-2:13 Alessandro Vanotti
-1:37 Eros Capecchi
-1:37 Vasil Kiryienka
-1:28 Arnaud Courteille
-1:28 Cedric Pineau
-1:28 Matteo Bono
-1:28 Paolo Longo Borghini
-1:24 Julien Berard
-1:23 Simon Clarke
-1:19 Alex Howes
-1:19 Leigh Howard

Favourites by position :
-1 Bauke Mollema

Favourites by time :
+0:03 Rigoberto Uran Uran
-1:14 Bauke Mollema

Top 10 and favourites GC standings (previous stage in parens) :
1 Christopher Horner 84:36:04 (unchanged)
2 Vincenzo Nibali 0:37 (unchanged)
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte 1:36 (unchanged)
4 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver 3:22 (unchanged)
5 Nicolas Roche 7:11 (unchanged)
6 Domenico Pozzovivo 8:00 (unchanged)
7 Thibaut Pinot 8:41 (unchanged)
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez 9:51 (unchanged)
9 Leopold Konig 10:11 (unchanged)
10 Daniel Moreno Fernandez 13:11 (unchanged)
.....
15 Michele Scarponi 22:04 (unchanged)
.....
27 Rigoberto Uran Uran 57:49 (was 27th at 57:52)
.....
52 Bauke Mollema 1:59:34 (was 51st at 1:58:20)
.....
126 Carlos Alberto Betancur Gomez 4:14:27 (unchanged)

Top 10 on Points table with previous in parens:
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte 152 (unchanged)
2 Christopher Horner 126 (unchanged)
3 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver 125 (unchanged)
4 Nicolas Roche 122 (unchanged)
5 Daniel Moreno Fernandez 119 (unchanged)
6 Vincenzo Nibali 111 (unchanged)
7 Maximiliano Ariel Richeze 84 (was 9th with 72 points)
8 Edvald Boasson Hagen 83 (was 7th with 80 points)
9 Michael Matthews 78 (was 15th with 53 points)
10 Bauke Mollema 75 (was 8th with 75 points)

Top 10 on Mountains table with previous in parens:
1 Nicolas Edet 46 (unchanged)
2 Christopher Horner 32 (unchanged)
3 Daniele Ratto 30 (unchanged)
4 Andre Fernando S. Martins Cardoso 26 (unchanged)
5 Vincenzo Nibali 23 (unchanged)
6 Amets Txurruka 22 (unchanged)
7 Kenny Elissonde 21 (unchanged)
8 Nicolas Roche 19 (unchanged)
9 Vasil Kiryienka 18 (unchanged)
10 Michele Scarponi 17 (unchanged)

Retirements to date : Stage
Salvatore Puccio (Ita) Sky Procycling 20
Thierry Hupond (Fra) Team Argos-Shimano 20
Johnny Hoogerland (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 19
Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Astana Pro Team 19
Fabian Cancellara (Swi) RadioShack Leopard 18
Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) FDJ 18
Baden Cooke (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 15
Daniel Schorn (Aut) Team NetApp-Endura 15
Graeme Brown (Aus) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 15
Kristof Vandewalle (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 15
Luke Rowe (GBr) Sky Procycling 15
Philippe Gilbert (Bel) BMC Racing Team 15
Simone Stortoni (Ita) Lampre-Merida 15
Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 15
Tony Martin (Ger) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 15
Zdenek Stybar (Cze) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 15
Cyril Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, Solutions Credits 14
Greg Henderson (NZl) Lotto Belisol 14
Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) RadioShack Leopard 14
Ivan Basso (Ita) Cannondale Pro Cycling 14
Jelle Vanendert (Bel) Lotto Belisol 14
Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Lotto Belisol 14
Lieuwe Westra (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 14
Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 14
Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin-Sharp 14
Nick Nuyens (Bel) Garmin-Sharp 14
Ramon Sinkeldam (Ned) Team Argos-Shimano 14
Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Team Saxo-Tinkoff 14
Sam Bewley (NZl) Orica-GreenEdge 14
Simon Gerrans (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 14
Steve Chainel (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale 14
Wout Poels (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 14
David De La Cruz Melgarejo (Spa) Team NetApp-Endura 13
Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 13
Laurent Mangel (Fra) FDJ 13
Pablo Lastras Garcia (Spa) Movistar Team 13
Sebastian Lander (Den) BMC Racing Team 13
Stef Clement (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 13
Vicente Reynes Mimo (Spa) Lotto Belisol 13
Geoffrey Soupe (Fra) FDJ 12
Marco Pinotti (Ita) BMC Racing Team 12
Ivan Velasco Murillo (Spa) Caja Rural 11
Kevin De Weert (Bel) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 11
Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale 11
Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Katusha 10
Andrew Fenn (GBr) Omega Pharma-Quick Step 10
Barry Markus (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 10
Bart De Clercq (Bel) Lotto Belisol 10
Guillaume Boivin (Can) Cannondale Pro Cycling 10
Thomas De Gendt (Bel) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team 10
Daniel Martin (Irl) Garmin-Sharp 8
Wesley Sulzberger (Aus) Orica-GreenEdge 5
Koldo Fernandez (Spa) Garmin-Sharp 2
Theo Bos (Ned) Belkin Pro Cycling Team 1
Total retirements : 54


(This report and archives etc can be seen at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/rvmartin2)

[Sir Gregory Hall, Esq·]

Post by Bob Martin
Stage 21 : Sep 15, Leganes - Madrid, 99.1 km

<...>

Post by Bob Martin
1 Christopher Horner 84:36:04 (unchanged)
2 Vincenzo Nibali 0:37 (unchanged)
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte 1:36 (unchanged)
4 Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver 3:22 (unchanged)
5 Nicolas Roche 7:11 (unchanged)
6 Domenico Pozzovivo 8:00 (unchanged)
7 Thibaut Pinot 8:41 (unchanged)
8 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez 9:51 (unchanged)
9 Leopold Konig 10:11 (unchanged)
10 Daniel Moreno Fernandez 13:11 (unchanged)

<...>

Congratulation to Christopher Horner for making this
Vuelta the most exciting grand tour of the year.

Congratulations to the Vuelta course committee for
minimizing the boring sprinter stages and maximizing
the climbing stages where the pretenders are shown
for what they are - pretenders. Grand tours are all
about GC contenders and not prima donna sprinters
who are but a tawdry sideshow used to fill up some
empty space.

And, thank you Bob Martin for posting these great
summaries. I use them as a guide to see if it's worth
reading more about a stage on the Velonews web
site. A bunch of *same times* from the GC contenders
tells me it's just another boring sprinter stage that's
best ignored.