Vuelta a Espana: Joaquim Rodriguez takes lead as Frank Schleck wins
By Matt Westby
Last Updated: 07/09/15 7:29pm
Joaquim Rodriguez replaced Fabio Aru as the overall leader of the Vuelta a Espana on a savage 16th stage won by breakaway rider Frank Schleck.
Rodriguez (Katusha) attacked out of the group of race favourites with just under 1km left of the climb to the summit finish at Ermita de Alba and crossed the line two seconds ahead of Aru (Astana) in ninth place on the day.
Having started the stage just one second behind Aru in the general classification, Rodriguez now leads the Italian by the same margin going into the race's second rest day on Tuesday.
Rafal Majka (Tinkoff-Saxo) finished 12 seconds behind Rodriguez to retain third place overall, 1min 35sec back, but the biggest surprise of the stage was yet another superb display from Tom Dumoulin (Giant-Alpecin), who defied gradients in excess of 20 per cent to finish only 27 seconds back and stay fourth, 1min 51sec down.
His performance means he remains firmly in contention for overall victory given that Wednesday's 17th stage is a 38.7km individual time trial. While both Rodriguez and Aru are weak against the clock, Dumoulin is one of the best in the world and is likely to make significant time gains.
The Dutchman will also be buoyed by the fact that there are no more summit finishes in this year's Vuelta and he appears to have overcome the sternest climbing tests he will face.
Rodriguez said: "Everything is still possible in this Vuelta. My one-second margin does not excite me. It is in my hands, but first we need to deal with the time trial in Burgos. I need to do a super time trial and I will give my maximum. With Dumoulin at less than two minutes, it will be hard but not impossible."
Aru added: "It was difficult. I tried my best on the last climb. Soon we will have a very important time trial and one second is neither here nor there. I have got to recover and try to get something back in the legs tomorrow."
Schleck (Trek Factory Racing) formed part of the day's 10-man escape group but proved to be the strongest climber on the brutal final ascent, beating Rodolfo Torres (Colombia) into second place by 1min 10sec.
It was the third grand tour stage win of the 35-year-old's career but first since the 2009 Tour de France.
He said: "It's been so long for me without a win. The whole day was long and hard, but I was on a good day. I just know that I owed myself to do well. I worked so hard for this; I deserved it. It was tough to win this stage, but all the work, all the injuries – today was all worth it."
Stage 16 result
1 Frank Schleck (Lux) Trek Factory Racing, 5:49:56
2 Rodolfo Torres (Col) Colombia, +1:10
3 Moreno Moser (Ita) Cannondale-Garmin, +1:48
4 George Bennett (NZ) LottoNL-Jumbo, +2:42
5 Pierre Rolland (Fra) Europcar, +2:49
6 Omar Fraile (Esp) Caja Rural-Seguros RGA, +3:05
7 Carlos Verona (Esp) Etixx – Quick-Step, +4:26
8 Larry Warbasse (USA) Larry Warbasse, +6:02
9 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, +8:51
10 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +8:53
General classification
1 Joaquim Rodriguez (Esp) Katusha, 67:52:44
2 Fabio Aru (Ita) Astana, +1sec
3 Rafal Majka (Pol) Tinkoff-Saxo, +1:35
4 Tom Dumoulin (Ned) Giant-Alpecin, +1:51
5 Mikel Nieve (Esp) Team Sky, +2:32
6 Esteban Chaves (Col) Orica-GreenEdge, +2:38
7 Daniel Moreno (Esp) Katusha, +2:49
8 Nairo Quintana (Col) Movistar, +3:11
9 Alejandro Valverde (Esp) Movistar, +3:58
10 Louis Meintjes (RSA) MTN-Qhubeka, +5:22
