Roberto Laiseka doesn’t win often, but when he does, it’s usually pretty good.

Take Tuesday’s climbing stage to Cerler, as an example. The Euskaltel-Euskadi veteran attacked a group of five cautious favorites with 3km to go in the grueling 12km finishing climb high in the rainy Pyrénées to sneak away with another impressive mountain top victory.

“I attacked because I knew the others would be worried about each other. It was an opportunistic win,” said Laiseka, after finishing 15 seconds ahead of Carlos Sastre (CSC). “I had some luck because I knew the last kilometer was kind of downhill, so when I got a gap I knew I could hold it.”

Laiseka benefited from the wariness among the overall contenders, who were more interested in keeping an eye on each other rather than the attacking Basque rider who’s well out of contention.

Denis Menchov (Rabobank) was just as much a winner as Laiseka after surviving another hard day in the mountains with the race leader’s jersey still on his back by 47 seconds.

The wily Russian marked the wheel of arch-rival Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) and endured the second of two back-to-back summit finishes without losing any time to the three-time Vuelta champion.

Menchov rolled safely across the line with Sastre, Heras, Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears) and Carlos Garcia Quesada (Comunidad Valenciana), the riders that make up the top 5 at the halfway mark of the 2005 Vuelta.

Cerler produced no major shake-ups in the overall standings, but it delivered plenty of action.

Long break
The 11th stage the 60th Vuelta actually ended up being a little longer than the planned 186km because the course was re-routed around the Cat. 2 Coll de Bretui, closed due to of a landslide after heavy overnight rain.

The course rolled out of Andorra and tackled the long, grueling Cat. 1 Port del Cantó at 41km before hitting a potentially dangerous string of three - reduced to two - Category 2 climbs in the middle part of the stage.

The course then climbed the 11.6km “especial” summit finish to 1920 meters at the Cerler ski area. The average grade was six percent, with ramps as steep as 12 percent, with the steepest sections coming on the lower two-thirds of the climb.

The demanding start set the stage for the day’s break, which included: Oscar Pereiro (Phonak), Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), David Bernabeu (Comunidad Valenciana), Victor Hugo Pena (Phonak), Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Comunidad Valenciana), Bingen Fernandez Bustina (Cofidis), Bernahdr Kohl (T-Mobile), Joaquin Rodriguez (Saunier Duval), Staf Scheirlinckx (Cofidis) and Jose Vicente Garcia Acosta (Illes Balears).

The group had enough shared interests – with Cofidis, Comunidad Valenciana and Phonak each with two riders – that the gap soon grew to three minutes.

“We knew there was going to be a break today, so we wanted to get someone in there,” said Illes Balears sport director Eusebio Unzue. “Let’s see what happens with the breakaway, depending on what happens in the back, they might have a chance to stay away.”

Scores of riders abandoned en route, including Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole), Santiago Botero (Phonak) and former race leader Brad McGee (FDJeux).

The peloton saw it all in the Vuelta’s second Pyrénéan stage, with rain, sun and wind pelting the riders at various points along the day’s action. Skies would open up in a true deluge only to slip back into the sun moments later.

The breakaway held sway over the following two category two climbs, with Rodriguez scooping up enough points to move into the lead for the King of the Mountain competition ahead of Eladio Jimenez (Comunidad Valenciana), who missed the break.

Try as they might, the break was reeled in just at the base of the final climb to Cerler.

Final hump to the top
Joseba Beloki did most of the heavy lifting to close down the breakaway. Once it was caught, the three-time Tour de France podium man-turned-gregario slipped off the back of the main bunch.

Liberty Seguros was once again intent on putting the hurt on Menchov to set up Heras for the jersey. Angel Vicioso and Marcos Serrano each took vicious pulls on the bottom two switchbacks at the steepest part of the climb before the superb Michele Scarponi took some pulls to trim the lead group to about 12 riders with 8km to go.

Tom Danielson and Manuel Beltrán (Discovery Channel) were among the elite dozen, but a vicious attack by Sastre with 7km reduced the bunch by half.

Danielson enjoyed another strong ride, coming through eighth at 55 seconds back in a second chase group to maintain his sixth-place overall, now at 5:03 back.

Heras chased Sastre and the day’s selection was made, but everyone was waiting for an attack from Heras that never came. The three-time Vuelta champion accelerated twice in the lower sections of the climb, but Menchov was glued to wheel to snuff any adventures.

Menchov held off Heras for two difficult mountains stages with little or no help from his young, outgunned Rabobank team. Liberty, meanwhile, has controlled the race, but Menchov has been strong enough to answer Heras’s jabs.

The frustrated Heras said he will bide his time to attack the Russian, with the climbing stage to Lagos de Covadonga next weekend looking to be the decisive stage of the Vuelta.

“The team did a great job today. We started very fast on the last climb, but Menchov didn’t show any weakness then,” Heras said. “We tried, but the rest of the course it was complicated to try to shake him. Today was a repeat of the same story of yesterday, because the finales of these climbs are excessively steep. They’re very flat and even though I tried to change the rhythm, it was very complicated to try to drop him.”

Sastre’s aggression on the middle section of the climb momentarily spit Mancebo and Garcia Quesada out the back, but Mancebo kept his steady, diesel motor in high gear and grimaced his way back to the leaders.

“The truth is I couldn’t go any more because the bottom part of the climb cost me a lot to stay in contact with the leaders,” said Garcia Quesada, who remained fifth overall. “Mancebo was my bridge back and we arrived together, but without any results. A victory always costs a lot.”

Sastre was reeled in 4km to go and it wasn’t long before Laiseka made his final acceleration to triumph.

The Vuelta enjoys its first of two rest days on Wednesday. Thursday’s flat stage carries the peloton to Burgos and the foot of the Picos de Europa for a string of decisive climbing stages next weekend.

Stage Results
1. Roberto Laiseka (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 5:09:38
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, at 0:15
3. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros, at 0:15
4. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears, at 0:15
5. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, at 0:15
6. Carlos Garcia Quesada (Sp, Comunidad Valenciana, at 0:15
7. M. A. Martin Perdiguero (Sp), Phonak, at 0:55
8. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel , at 0:55
9. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel , at 0:55
10. Santos Gonzalez (Sp), Phonak, at 0:55
FullResults

Overall
1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 45:07:35
2. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros
3. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears, 1:53
4. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 1:57
5. Carlos Garcia Quesada (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana, 3:31
6. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, 5:03
7. Manuel Beltran (Sp), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, 5:09
8. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Quickstep, 5:45
9. Ruben Plaza (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana, 5:58
10. Michele Scarponi (I), Liberty Seguros, 6:37
FullResults

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