David Arroyo won the second stage in a row for Caisse d’Epargne while Alberto Contador fended off last-gasp attempts to blow apart the race in Friday’s two-climb, 145.5km stage across the rugged sierra north of Madrid to safely retain the overall lead Vuelta a España.

Arroyo, 28, is one of the worker bees who occasionally gets to taste the honey themselves.

The veteran gregario was fulfilling his obligations to follow the breakaways over two first category climbs to set up team captain Alejandro Valverde when fate turned his way.

Arroyo found himself in the winning break and then followed the attacking Vasili Kiryienka (Tinkoff) all the way to the finish line, only to surge away with 200m to go to notch Caisse d’Epargne’s third stage win in the 63rd Vuelta.

“The idea was to control the breaks for Alejandro, and then I was in the break. The team told me to sit on the wheel all the way to wait for the peloton, but we stayed clear and it’s with great satisfaction I take this win,” Arroyo said. “Kiryienka was the innocent victim of our team strategy today.”

Kiryienka did much of the heavy lifting to break up a big group that got away over the first of two first category climbs across the mountains north of Madrid.

The blonde-haired Belorussian then dropped everyone after coming over the Cat. 1 Alto de Navafria — except Arroyo. Try as he might, Arroyo sat on his wheel without taking a pull and hung around like a bad hangover.

By the time the pair hit the final 2km rise into the finish at Segovia nursing a fast-disappearing lead of 45 seconds, Kiryienka had nothing left in the tank to counter when Arroyo accelerated off his wheel within shot of the line.

Nick Nuyens (Cofidis) attacked out of the pack with less than 1km to go to finish third at 11 seconds back while Valverde came through fourth with the favorites.

For Arroyo, a strong climber who won at the Subida de Urkiola in August, the stage makes up for his sacrifice to sit up in the stage to Suances and lose his top-10 spot in GC to help the struggling Valverde, who lost more than three minutes to fall out of contention.

“I know what my job is at the team and we all share the work on the team. I have no problem sacrificing for the team, but a little payback like this is nice,” Arroyo said diplomatically. “That day was horrible (to Suances). It was cold, raining and miserable. Look at today, the weather’s great and our luck turns around.”

Contador in control

Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Stefan Schumacher (Gerolsteiner) and Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) were the non-starters on a sunny Friday morning in Las Rozas.

Action was hot from the gun as Caisse d’Epargne was intent on controlling the stage to set up Valverde for another win and perhaps even trying blowing apart the race.

Not everyone was going to follow the script and attacks came hot and fast in what was the last chance for victory for many riders. With a time trial Saturday and a likely sprint Sunday, the head-bangers wanted their last dance.

The pack fractured up the southern side of Navacerrada (Saturday’s time trial climbs from the northern approach) and a big group of 14 riders wrenched free, including Joaquin Rodriguez and four of his Caisse d’Epargne cohorts.

With Rodriguez up the road, who started the day 7th at 6:11 back, that caught the attention of Astana, who sent fresh legs to the front to trim the differences at the top of the Navacerrada at 45km

“There was a lot of tension in the stage and when Joaquin was in the front, we had to work to control things,” admitted Contador, who later finished safely in the main pack. “Later, Sastre attacked us to give us a test, but luckily the legs could respond and we made it.”

Contador changed his bike after he noticed something he didn’t like in one of the wheels, but that was just a precaution. So far it appears as if nothing has rattled Contador.

A lead group of 14 riders, among them Kiryienka, Arroyo and Rodriguez, dangled about one minute clear as the main pack reformed on the long descent toward the base of the Navafría climb.

The pace was high up the climb, when Carlos Sastre (CSC-Saxo Bank) attacked to put some pressure on Astana. The acceleration split up the main pack again while the leaders were coming apart at the seams on the steep ramps.

Julien Loubet (Ag2r-La Mondiale) followed a searing charge by Kiryienka off the Navafría climb at 88km. Arroyo hung on for dear life and eventually got a ride all the way to the finish line.

The peloton was chasing at 50 seconds back with 20km to go when Loubet lost the wheel. Kiryienka kept digging, Arroyo kept wheel-sucking and Euskaltel-Euskadi finally helped in the chase with 10km to when it looked like the leading pair were going to stay clear.

Saturday’s stage

The 63rd Vuelta continues Saturday with the 17.1km climbing time trial up the Cat. 1 Puerto de Navacerrada.

The opening 10km are up false flats as the road parallels the range out of San Ildefonso, summer palace of the Bourbon kings of Spain.

The road then turns upward and winds through impressive pine forests that should protect the riders from sun and wind before hitting the more-exposed ridgeline to the summit.

Officials say it should take about 36 minutes to climb the entire route, but Contador is one who will likely go a little faster than that.

“We’re finally at the decisive day,” Contador said. “I know the road well as I raced and trained on it often. I will have a lot of family and friends, so that will give me extra motivation. I have a lead of 1:17 and that should be enough, but maybe I can even add to it a little bit.”

Busloads of friends, family and fans are taking buses from El Pinto, Contador’s hometown on the outskirts of Madrid to watch what they expect to be the all-but-official coronation of Contador as the Vuelta winner.

Sitting quietly in second place at 1:17 back is teammate Leipheimer, who could uncork a surprise ride to not only win his second time trial of this Vuelta but perhaps even give Contador a scare for the overall.

Could Leipheimer overcome Contador to win? That’s unlikely, but stranger things have happened in the Vuelta.

Leipheimer also knows the climb fairly well, having won the Clásica de los Puertos on the same road a week before the Vuelta started.

“I think the biggest gaps of all the Vuelta will come on that stage,” Leipheimer said about the time trial. “It’s not all uphill. The first 10km are up gradual, rolling roads to get to the base of the real climb. I know that climb pretty well. I’ve been up it quite a few times.”

In the Vuelta's first time trial, a 42.5km fifth stage on a mostly flat, big-gear specialists course at Cuidad Real, Leipheimer won but Contador rode well to finish fourth at just 49 back.

That means Leipheimer took a little less than one second per kilometer on Contador. To overcome Contador on Saturday, Leipheimer has to take back 77 seconds, or about 4.5 seconds per kilometer.

Astana team boss Johan Bruyneel believes Contador’s grip on the leader’s jersey is safe.

“It’s uphill, it’s a little different. If it was a flat time trial, it might be a different scenario,” Bruyneel said about his two pupils. “We only have one goal and that’s to win the Vuelta. Right now we’re in a good situation.”

The second battle will be for the final spot on the podium.

Carlos Sastre sits third overall at 3:41, probably too far back to give either Contador or Leipheimer a run for the top two spots. But Sastre will have to be looking in rear-view mirror to watch Ezequiel Mosquera (Xacobeo-Galicia), who is looming at less than one back in fourth overall at 4:35.

Mosquera, however, lost 52 seconds to Sastre in the stage 5 time trial and lost time up the Angliru to Sastre, only to wrench some seconds back the next day in a late surge up the Fuentes de Invierno.

If Sastre struggles, the unsung Mosquera, who finished fifth overall last year in his grand tour debut at 31, could land on the podium.

Robert Gesink (Rabobank), the 22-year-old climbing sensation who’s enjoying a great grand tour debut with fifth overall at 5:49, has typically struggled in time trials. But this one goes uphill and the skinny Gesink might have one big ride left in his legs.

Others to watch, at least for the stage win, include Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne), who will be riding on pride after losing all chances of the podium when he forfeited more than three minutes on the cold and rainy stage to Suances in the second week.