Vuelta a Espana 2010 Photos; Stage 16: Gijón → Cotobello, 179 km
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Rabobank's Laurens Ten Dam crashed early on and, surprisingly, was the only withdrawal from the Queen Stage		share this photo
For everyone else, the Queen Stage was a beautiful ride through la cordillera cantábrica (The Cantabrian Mountains) featuring a cat 3, two cat 2s and a categoría especial summit finish		share this photo
Euskaltel-Euskadi at the front of the main break after three of the Orange Basque men bridged up to the lead group		share this photo
Euskaltel-Euskadi's Mikel Nieve attacked off the front of the break at the base of Alto de Cotobello, the categoría especial finishing climb (10,1 km at 8,15%)		share this photo
He never looked in difficulty when the tv cameras were focused on him		share this photo
As the sign says, 400m to go for the 26 year old rider from Leitza, a town in the Navarre region of northern Spain. He can almost see his first pro win.		share this photo
400m to go: Break survivor, Quick Step's Kevin De Weert with Saxo Bank's Frank Schleck getting larger in his rear view mirror		share this photo
Just 300m later and with 100m to go, Frank Schleck is literally on Kevin De Weert's wheel ready to pass him for the 2nd place 12 bonus seconds he dearly needs.		share this photo
Euskaltel-Euskadi's Mikel Nieve (Spain) wins the Queen Stage for his first pro win		share this photo
Just two days after the bitter disappointment of seeing their race leader, Igor Anton, crash out of the Vuelta, Euskaltel-Euskadi and Basque fans have something to celebrate		share this photo
Saxo Bank's Frank Schleck crossing 2nd (+ 1' 06") followed by Quick Step's Kevin De Weert (+ 1' 08"). Schleck moved up to 4th overall today, but is still 2' 16" off the lead.		share this photo
100m to go: Joaquin Rodriguez jumped from the GC contenders as well, 5 km after Schleck did, dropped Vincenzo Nibali and took his Red Jersey back. Rodriguez finished 4th (+ 1' 22").		share this photo
Luis-Leon Sanchez (Spa) Caisse d’Epargne was also in the main break. He finished 5th (+ 1' 32")		share this photo
Ag2R-La Mondiale's Nicolas Roche (Ireland) was 8th (+ 1' 44") good for 5th overall (+ 3' 01")		share this photo
Vincenzo Nibali was dropped with several km to go and finished 10th today (+ 1' 59") and losses the race lead (+ 0' 33").		share this photo
Vincenzo Nibali explaining what happened on RAI TV ()		share this photo
A swarthy, scuffed up Marzio Bruseghin placed 20th today. Prior to the Igor Anton crash two days ago, which he was involved in, he was sitting smartly in 4th place overall.		share this photo
Your stage 16 winner, Euskaltel-Euskadi's Mikel Nieve (Spain), rejoicing on the podium. His 1st pro win.		share this photo
Doesn't that Asturian hat remind you of Ed Grimley () ? That's quite a nice hat, I must say.		share this photo
Spanish pop singer, David Bisbal, was on hand to put Katusha's Joaquin Rodriguez back in the Red Jersey		share this photo
Vuelta a Espana 2010 Photos; Stage 16: Gijón → Cotobello, 179 km
« Stage 15 photos	return to: Vuelta a Espana 2010 Dashboard  |  Vuelta a Espana 2010 photo gallery	Stage 17 photos »