The third and last Pyrénéan stage, where a decisive coup was awaited, followed the general pattern seen since entering the high mountains three days ago; a long escape followed by jockeying for position in the closing kilometers. Today's stage differed in its intensity, though. A faster pace was kept throughout the race, and the last 29km climb to the summit of Port d'Envalira, particularly in the final 10km, was marked by a ferocious battle and ceaseless changes in the leadership.

The early breakaway group of 5 (Nivas, G. Gonzalez, Ferrio, Jeker & Acosta) held its own over the Port de la Bonaigua and Port del Canto passes, and through the descent into the valley of Adrall. None of the 5 could be expected to hold off the most motivated climbers in the peloton, though, which included Heras, Cardenas, Perez & Rasmussen.

At 20km from the finish the composition of the leaders' group had changed entirely, with Van Goolen & Peipoli at the head, followed by Santor Gonzalez, Guttierez, Scarponi & Montgomery.

Cardenas launched an attack, with Unai Osa in his wheels, trying to catch the 2 leaders Van Goolen & Peipoli, now just 21" up. Laiseka & Guttierez followed suit.

At this point Valverde launched his own attack, quickly catching Laiseka & Guttierez. With less than 10km to go the situation was changing constantly. With Van Goolen & Peipoli caught at the 7km point, and with Cardenas, Heras, Nozal, Perez, Aitor Gonzalez & Rasmussen in the thick of the action, it was anybody's race.

Near the 3km mark, A. Gonzalez crashed into a barrier; he picked up his bike and quickly remounted, reminiscent of Armstrong at Luz Ardiden this July. Spurred on by an evident rush of adrealin, Gonzalez surged forward to catch the leaders.

Missing from this g roup were Galdeano & Beltran, both well back in the peloton. On the other hand, the group of about 12 now included Mancebo & Frigo. All were battling a strong headwind as well as each other.

Heras fell to the back of the group, as Cardenas & Peipoli took the lead, soon joined by U. Osa & Valverde. Rasmussen, A. Gonzalez & Mancebo all attacked from the rear, but Valverde surged ahead strongly to overcome Dario Frigo by a couple of meters.

In overall terms there was very little change, with Valverde moving up one place to 7th, while in the mountains points Cardenas took back the 1st position, after being very much in evidence all day.

Nozal, making a strong showing today (again!) by placing 7th, holds onto his Gold Jersey with a comfortable margin, increasing his lead over 5th place Heras by 7 seconds.

At this point in time one can't tell if Heras is being tactical, by saving himself for the later Sierra Nevada mountain stages in the 3rd week of the Vuelta, or if he's actually not in his best physical form.

The race is young yet, and with the second individual time trial coming up in a few days time, this Vuelta is still wide open.

Classement de l'étape

1 VALVERDE
2 FRIGO
3 OSA
4 PIEPOLI
5 MANCEBO
6 CARDENAS
7 NOZAL
8 SCARPONI
9 A GONZALEZ
10 RASMUSSEN
11 PEREZ
12 HERAS
13 SANTOS GONZALEZ
14 GLEZ DE GALDEANO

Heras est arrivé nettement décroché à 7 secondes de Nozal.
on a sans doute l'explication quant à sa non attaque !
Heras n'a t-il pas perdu le Tour d'espagne dans cette étape, ou pense t-til a la Sierra Nevada et de la Pandera ainsi qu'au contre la montre en côte de la dernière étape ?, on ne voit pas comment il pourrait faire autrement désormais.
Glez de Galdeano est lui aussi décroché du groupe de tête
Beltran arrive encore derrière

Classement Général

1 NOZAL
2 Glez 1' 45"
3 Beltran 1' 58"
4 Frigo 3' 02"
5 Heras 3' 27"
6 Mancebo
7 Valverde
8 Aitor Gonzalez
9 Rasmussen
10 Unai Osa


Classement des Grimpeurs

1 CARDENAS
2 Osa
3 Horrach
4 Perez
5 Jufre

Classement par Points

1 NOZAL 59
2 Rodriguez 57
3 Valverde 57
4 Perez 55
5 Unai Etxebarria

Classement du Combiné

1 NOZAL 14
2 Valverde 17
3 Perez 19
4 Cardenas 20
5 Rasmussen 26