Yesterday it was Vladimir Efimkin, today it was Cadel Evans.

Team CSC’s Carlos Sastre played executioner for the second straight day and clawed his way ahead of Evans into second place overall Friday at the Vuelta a España after a grueling, six-climb stage finishing atop the rainy and foggy Abantos summit.

Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won ahead of ahead of Dani Moreno (Relax-GAM) to score his second stage victory of this year’s Vuelta while Sastre crossed the line third just ahead of race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) at three seconds back.

Evans – who started the day second overall at 2:27 back – faltered on the second passage up the steep, 17-percent grades of the 12km Abantos climb and ceded 1:23 to Sastre and Menchov.

Sastre battled to take time on Menchov, but it was no dice

Photo: Graham Watson

Evans and Sastre traded places on GC, with Sastre now second at 3:02 back and Evans third at 3:49. Sánchez stayed in fourth at 3:58 back.

“Samuel and I talked on the final climb. We could see that Menchov was strong, but maybe we could do something against Evans,” Sastre said. “We rode together 100 percent to the top to try to improve our positions in the GC. It was a hard day, but Menchov proved too strong.”

Menchov remained untouchable as he was able to follow the moves in the last hard day of the Vuelta.

Once again, Sastre’s hard work paid off for Menchov, who saw his lead widen for the second straight day.

“Considering the conditions and the difficulty of the stage, things went pretty well. I was able to stay with my rivals and never suffered a bad moment,” said Menchov, shrugging off suggestion that he took advantage of his rivals’ work. “I was able to take advantage of my good form I have right now. I was able to be strong when I needed to be.”

One last shot
Sastre lived up to his promise to attack in the Vuelta’s last hard mountain stage.

CSC put Karsten Kroon into an early move of attacking riders in the rollercoaster stage across the mountains above the beautiful Escorial monastery. Rain and fog descended on the upper reaches of the Abantos climb to create epic conditions for the last major showdown in the Vuelta.

Attacking riders off the front tried in vain to fend off the favorites in a bid for a stage victory. David Lopéz (Caisse d’Epargne) was the last man standing out of the day’s early break and he was eventually neutralized midway up the second passage up Abantos.

It was the knock-em-dead fight between the favorites that took center-stage.

Sastre unleashed a ruthless acceleration midway up the first passage of the 12.6km climb to cause the first real damage in the main pack.

“We knew we had to make it hard from the beginning. I attacked on the first climb up Abantos to test Menchov. You never know, maybe he could have a bad day. It was my last bid to try to win the Vuelta,” Sastre said. “We quickly saw that Denis was too strong and he’s proved he’s the best in this Vuelta.”

Menchov counted on the help of some teammates in the early part of the stage, but was able to once again fend for himself to beat back attacks by Sastre.

It was an important hurdle for Menchov and now he’s looking ahead to Saturday’s time trial before securing overall victory for the second time in three years.

“We knew today would be a difficult day. The team was good in the earlier parts of the stage and Denis had no problems staying with the Sastre. With Denis now in three minutes in the lead, things are looking very good,” said Rabobank sport director Erik Breukink. “We knew Sastre would be dangerous again, but Denis has been equal to Sastre in the climbs. Now we’re comfortable going into the time trial with an even bigger lead to Evans. During the entire climb, he was saying he wasn’t going to try to win, but that it was a stage for another. Tomorrow he will try to win the stage to secure final victory.”

Sánchez lights up
It was Sánchez, not Sastre, who truly lit up the final assault on Abantos.

It wasn't a great day for Evans, who slid to third on GC

Photo: Graham Watson

Sánchez enjoyed support from Igor Anton and Aitor Hernández in the finale and the trio of orange jackets made a brave bid to push Sánchez onto the final podium. They attacked on the narrow descent in an effort to dislodge Evans and Sastre, but it all came together among the favorites for the final push up to the summit.

“We had hoped to open up a gap of a minute or so to Evans even before the final climb up Abantos. It wasn’t possible and then I attacked after the hard bottom of the climb and I could open up some gaps,” Sánchez said. “Later Sastre and I agreed to go to the maximum to the top to help each other in the GC.”

In fact, Sánchez early attack put Sastre into trouble, forcing the CSC rider to surge ahead with Menchov glued on his wheel to reel in Sánchez’ dangerous effort.

“When I saw Samuel go, he was putting my podium spot in danger, so I had to make a hard effort to catch him. It wasn’t easy because to be honest I wasn’t feeling that great on the second climb up Abantos,” Sastre said. “Once we all came together, we agreed to work together. It was circumstances of the race that dictated our strategy.”

With Sánchez and Sastre setting a tough pace, Menchov and Dani Moreno (Relax-GAM) sat on the wheels as Evans was having a hard time going up the middle sections of the climb.

With 7km to go, Evans was struggling at 50 seconds back and not getting much help from anyone in his group. The growing gap pushed Sastre into the virtual second place with Sánchez nudging closer to passing him into third.

Menchov, meanwhile, rode their coattails to widen his lead once again.

“The situation of the race helped me today,” Menchov said. “I was going on the wheel on the Sanchez and Sastre without having to do any work. Those two were doing everything to try to improve their GC. I gave my word I wouldn’t dispute for the stage victory and I lived up to my word.”

Sastre didn’t have any punch to try to win the stage and Sánchez fended off a challenge from Moreno on the very narrow final kilometer with race barriers squeezing the road down to just 10 feet across.

Moreno made a half-hearted protest that Sánchez boxed him in on a final corner with 150 meters to go, but “Samu” claimed his second stage of this year’s Vuelta.

“The win wasn’t planned. It was a complicated situation today and the real goal was try to try to get on the podium,” said Sánchez, who fell just 9 seconds short of knocking Evans into fourth. “I am not disappointed, but when you have it so close to the podium, it’s too bad, especially after all the work we did today.”

TT to decide all
All is not lost for Evans.

The Tour de France runner-up could easily still bounce back into second place and Sastre could slip from second to fourth if he has a bad time trial. Saturday’s short and flat 20km course will decide the final positions behind Menchov.

“Last year I was second behind Vinokourov in the final time trial and if I am as strong as that and Evans has a bad day, maybe I can even more up, but Evans is normally better than me,” Sánchez said. “It’s a time trial without any difficulties and he’s a TT specialist more than, I think he has it better than me.”

Sastre – who stands only 47 seconds ahead of Evans and 56 seconds ahead of Sánchez – knows better than to say his podium position is secure. In the 2006 Tour, he dropped from second to fourth in the final time trial.

“Time trials are all the same – you go as hard as you possibly can,” Sastre said. “It’s not a challenging course so I hope to have some strength left in the legs to keep a podium place. Whether it’s second or third doesn’t really matter.”

For Menchov, outright victory is all but secured.

Barring disaster, Menchov will win the Vuelta for the second time in three years.

Unlike his 2005 victory, when he was awarded the win after winner Roberto Heras tested positive for EPO, Menchov will win this Vuelta on the road.

The quiet Russian takes special satisfaction from the looming victory.

“I have this Vuelta 95-percent now. I cannot relax until the final stage,” he insisted. “I don’t know what the feelings will be like on Sunday. I imagine it will be very different to be able to enjoy the last day, to be on the podium as the winner and celebrate the victory with my team – all the things I couldn’t do in 2005.”

62nd Vuelta a España, Stage 19, Ávila to Abantos, 133kmWinner - Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) – takes second stage winLeader - Denis Menchov (Rabobank) – widened lead in last hard dayClimber’s - Menchov – secured victory in categoryPoints - Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) – Menchov is only 3 points backCombined - MenchovTeam - Caisse d’EpargnePeloton - 146 remain – Stijn Devolder (knee pain) and Andrea Tonti (world’s-bound) DNSResults
1. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 3:37:01
2. Daniel Moreno (Sp), Relax GAM, Same Time
3. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 0:03
4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 0:03
5. Igor Antón (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 0:14
6. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol), Lampre, 0:29
7. Stéphane Goubert (F), Ag2r Prevoyance, 0:41
8. Manuel Beltrán (Sp), Liquigas, 0:49
9. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 0:51
10. David López (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 0:59
11. Maxime Monfort (B), Cofidis, 1:20
12. Oliver Zaugg (Swi), Gerolsteiner, 1:20
13. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 1:23
14. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 1:23
15. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 1:25
FULL RESULTSOverall
1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 77:59:17
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 3:02
3. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 3:49
4. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 3:58
5. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 5:23
6. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 5:47
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 7:55
8. Igor Antón (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 7:58
9. Manuel Beltrán (Sp), Liquigas, 8:27
10. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 10:08
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