Vuelta a Espana 2011 Photos; Stage 19: Noja → Bilbao, 159 km
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Another beautiful day in Spain. The Stage 19 roll out from the beaches of Noja in northern Spain where we left off yesterday.		share this photo
Entering the Basque Country at km 100 for the first time in 33 years during the Vuelta a España		share this photo
The peloton wasn't welcomed by all, but race leader Juan Jose Cobo (Geox-TMC) was too focused to notice		share this photo
By and large, the avid cycling fans of the Basque region out numbered the protesters		share this photo
The first of two passes over the category 2 Alto el Vivero. Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) and Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) leading the four man which also included Alexsandr Dyanchenko (Astana) and Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel-Euskadi)		share this photo
This looks like the Tour de France		share this photo
Geox-TMC's David de la Fuente took second in the first intermediate sprint for race leader and teammate, Juan Jose Cobo earlier in the stage and was his right hand man throughout day		share this photo
The rest of the peloton squeezing through the category 2 Alto El Vivero		share this photo
On the second time over the category 2 Alto El Vivero, Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) dropped Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar)		share this photo
Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) crested the final climb 31s behind Anton with 14 km to go		share this photo
Juan Jose Cobo stayed glued to the wheel of Chris Froome (his seat barely visible bottom right), who attempted to drop Cobo on the final climb		share this photo
Mikel Nieve (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and the rest of the GC contenders		share this photo
Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha), who won the first intermediate sprint, later had some sort of mechanical on the final climb		share this photo
This is probably the first and only time you'll see Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) getting pushed up a hill		share this photo
Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) continued to extend his lead on the descent into Bilbao		share this photo
Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) wins by 41s over Marzio Bruseghin (Movistar) in front of a massive crowd in Bilbao, Spain's 10th largest city		share this photo
Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi) finally finds his form just in time for a solo home win in the area where he grew up		share this photo
Being a Basque rider for a Basque team winning in the Basque Country was pretty exciting for Igor Anton (Euskaltel-Euskadi)		share this photo
Igor Anton wasn't even born the last time the Vuelta passed through the Basque Country		share this photo
"The biggest win of my career"		share this photo
Juan Jose Cobo's (Geox-TMC) eyes and face are starting to match his red leader's jersey after 19 days of racing in the hot sun		share this photo
Vuelta a Espana 2011 Photos; Stage 19: Noja → Bilbao, 159 km
« Stage 18 photos	return to: Vuelta a Espana 2011 Dashboard: Results, Photos, Video  |  Vuelta a Espana 2011 photo gallery	Stage 20 photos »