Vuelta a Espana 2010 Photos; Stage 9: Calpe → Alcoy, 187km
« Stage 08 photos	return to: Vuelta a Espana 2010 Dashboard  |  Vuelta a Espana 2010 photo gallery	Stage 10 photos »
Wow, another gorgeous day at the Vuelta. Spanish fans gathered around their own boy and the new race leader, Igor Anton, at the start in Calpe.		share this photo
Paulo Bettini, in his new role of Italian national cycling director, was on hand to evaluate the Italian riders as he prepares to make his final selections for the upcoming Road Cyclng World Championships.		share this photo
The peloton rolling out of Calpe with Euskaltel - Euskadi in their new role at the front of the race		share this photo
The peloton whizzing north along the Costa Blanca		share this photo
... before heading inland at km 34		share this photo
Most of this stage was an up and down romp through the Alicante province featuring seven categorized climbs but nothing too difficult		share this photo
The main break of 15 led here by Perrig Quemeneur (Bbox) and David Lopez (Caisse d'Epargne) was whittled down over the course of seven categorized climbs. Also in the break were Egoi Martinez (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Oscar Pujol (Cervelo TestTeam), Blel Kadri (AG2R-La Mondiale), Javier Ramirez (Andalucia-CajaSur), Enrico Gasparotto (Astana), David Moncoutié (Cofidis), Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas-Doimo), Jean-Christophe Peraud (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Jelle Vanendert (Omega Pharma-Lotto), Carlos Barredo (Quick Step), Dario Cataldo (Quick Step), Giampaolo Caruso (Katusha) and Gonzalo Rabunal (Xacobeo Galicia)		share this photo
The Red Jersey, Igor Anton, started to sweat a bit when one of the riders in the break, Omega Pharma-Lotto's Jean-Christophe Peraud, became the virtual race leader on the road		share this photo
With the break whittled down to about five riders by the last climb, the category 3 Alto del Revolcat (5.9 km at 4.4%), the attacks started. Here's yesterday's stage winner, David Moncoutie bridging up to Caisse d'Epargne's David Lopez.		share this photo
Looking for his second mountain stage win in as many days; Moncoutie went on the attack and was joined by Liquigas' Roman Kreuziger...		share this photo
... they were joined by Katusha's Giampaolo Caruso as the three neared the top with about 7 km still to go. (David Lopez is trailing here in the upper-right corner)		share this photo
David Lopez trailing by a few seconds		share this photo
Caisse d'Epargne's David Lopez attacked on the descent of Alto del Revolcat with about 5 km to go...		share this photo
... and, as you can see, he successfully held his lead on the 1.4 km at 7.1% uphill finish into Alcoy		share this photo
It's always neat to get a different angle from the same interesting moment in time. (This shot also shows his margin of victory over the 2nd-4th riders)		share this photo
The 3rd year pro wins his first Grand Tour stage: "The emotion this win generates is indescribable, I never imagined it could be so intense." (cyclingnews)		share this photo
Roman Kreuziger passed Giampaolo Caruso for second (+ 0' 16")		share this photo
The peloton on Alto del Revolcat, with the race leader behind a teammate, gave the break a lot of slack, but it turned out to be a safe margin		share this photo
A peloton panoramic near the summit of Alto del Revolcat		share this photo
Katusha's Joaquin Rodriguez, for the second day in a row, won the sprint among the GC contenders (15th + 7' 02"), but he once again wasn't able to shake Igor Anton. “I’m disappointed, I really wanted to lead the Vuelta as the race will be in my home region of Catalonia on Tuesday”, Rodriguez lamented post stage.		share this photo
Your stage 9 winner, Caisse d'Epargne's David Lopez. The second win for Spain who are the only country to win two stages at this year's Vuelta (so far).		share this photo
Race leader, Igor Anton, can't believe he's taking the Red Jersey into the first rest day		share this photo
Vuelta a Espana 2010 Photos; Stage 9: Calpe → Alcoy, 187km
« Stage 08 photos	return to: Vuelta a Espana 2010 Dashboard  |  Vuelta a Espana 2010 photo gallery	Stage 10 photos »