Sometimes it’s cruel that only one rider can win a stage as spectacular and attack-laden as Thursday’s 18th stage in the 60th Vuelta a España.

Nicki Sörensen (CSC), Javier Pascual Rodríguez (Comunidad Valenciana) and Chente García Acosta (Illes Balears) went mano a mano in the 197.5km, five-climb march over the final hard mountains of this year’s Vuelta and the Dane came out the winner.

The three were the survivors of a 16-man breakaway on a day that saw no major shifts in the overall standings. Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) retained his 4:30 lead with just three stages to go in the 2005 Vuelta.

García Acosta chased hard to latch back onto Sörensen and Pascual Rodríguez for the final sprint along the ramparts of Avila’s monumental walls, but it was all in vain. Sörensen outwitted the two Spanish veterans to land the biggest win of his career.

"I am very pleased to take such an important victory in such an important race," Sörensen said "I didn’t know the finish, so it was a surprise, but I managed to succeed. Victories in major tours are always important. For someone like me, who is a worker for others, it’s a day will I will always remember."

Pascual Rodríguez, a popular rider who won a similar stage into Avila last year, admitted he just didn’t have enough to get around the resilient Dane. He looked to be playing the perfect tactic in the final 300 meters, tacking himself to Sörensen’s wheel, but he simply didn’t have the legs to finish off the sprint.

"I lacked a little in my legs after three weeks of racing," he said. "It was a little like last year, with a lot of heat, a lot of climbs. I really wanted to win in front of my fans this year. I marked two stages this year I wanted to win, but I came third at Pajares and second here. Well, it’s too bad."

Fast start, in more ways than one

It was hot and sticky at the morning sign-in in Avila, where the stage started and finished. The city is set high on the Spanish meseta, nudged up against the Guadarrama Mountains, surrounded by the best-preserved medieval walls in Spain, a spectacular setting for Thursday’s hostilities.

One name missing from the morning ritual was Santos González, the Spanish rider on Phonak who moved up to eighth overall in the general classification after riding to third in Wednesday’s mountain stage.

Word quickly spread that González had failed team-conducted health tests, suggesting his red blood cell count was near or above the 50 percent level set by UCI guidelines.

Phonak - which came under fire last year when former world champion Oscar Carmenzind tested positive for EPO and Tyler Hamilton and Santi Pérez both failed tests for banned blood doping – decided to pull González from the race. Last month, the team suspended Italian Fabrizio Guidi for failing EPO tests, and the team was anxious to remain on the up-and-up.

Later, Phonak rider Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero would pull out of the day’s breakaway and abandon the race, saying it was due to pain from an ingrown toenail.

In all, nine riders failed to start or finish the stage, including 2002 Vuelta champion Aitor González (Euskaltel), Italian/American Guidi Trenti (Quick Step) and Olympic champion Paolo Bettini (Quick Step).

As is the custom these days, the rest of the peloton went about its business.

It didn’t take long for the day’s breakaway to stick. By 12km, 16 riders pulled clear. In the break were: Sörensen, Pascual Rodriguez, Garcia Acosta, Daniele Nardello (I), T-Mobile; Martin Perdiguero (Sp), Phonak; David Blanco (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana; Mario Aerts (B), Davitamon-Lotto; Oscar Pereiro (Sp), Phonak; Pablo Lastras (Sp), Illes Balears; Joaquin Rodriguez (Sp), Saunier Duval; Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Sp), ECV; Eladio Jimenez (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana; Egoi Martinez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi; Gorka Gonzalez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi; Moises DueÑas (Sp), Relax Fuenlabrada; Anthony Charteau (F), Bouygues Telecom.

The group gained a maximum of 10 minutes on the main bunch, firmly controlled by Liberty Seguros.

Once again to the heights

These were the final hard climbs of the 2005 Vuelta and someone in the breakaway was intent on using them as a trampoline to victory. The main break was down to 11 riders as it cleared the Cat. 2 Puerto de Serranillos at 135km.

García Acosta was the first to take the initiative, charging out of the group with 48km to go. There was some confusion and no one immediately responded despite the presence of three riders from Comunidad Valenciana.

García Acosta hit the base of the Cat. 2 Puerto de Navalmoral with a little more than a minute on the chasers while the main bunch was still at five minutes back.

Then, with 30km to go, Pascual Rodríguez bridged across to García Acosta, whom he promptly dropped. Sörensen was next to leap across, joining Pascual Rodríguez after coming over the final climb of the day with about 20km to go.

The pair soon left García Acosta for dead, but he didn’t just roll over. Fighting headwinds and riding alone, he kept the pair at 30 seconds with 10km to go. It was still 10 seconds with just 4km to go, but he put in a final dig to catch them just as the rolled past the ramparts of Avila’s walls.

The Illes Balears man made the first move on the cobblestone climb. Sörensen chased him down, Rodriguez countered, and an exhausted García Acosta limped across the line in third place.

"Avila is a place where everyone likes to win, it’s a stage for those who attack from far away, but I arrived dead in the legs," said the Spanish veteran. "I tried to do it from far away and I could only get a minute or so. If I could have gotten a little more time, I think I could have made it alone."

Heras on cruise control; TD moves up

Once the main bunch hit the Vuelta’s final hard climb, Francisco Mancebo (Illes Balears) went on the attack to try to pull closer to the final podium. The tactic worked Wednesday, when he gained some valuable time to pull within a minute of third-place Carlos Sastre (CSC).

"You can pull the wool over our eyes once, but not twice," said Team CSC’s Christian Vande Velde, who led the peloton over the final climb. "Mancebo was attacking all over the place, but where did he think he was going? It was still 20km to the finish."

Mancebo put in five attacks on the day, including a final desperate charge toward the line to gain three seconds on Sastre and the other favorites.

Heras, meanwhile, enjoyed his 32nd day of his career in the Vuelta’s race leader, tying him for second with three other riders on the all-time list with Alex Zulle holding the record with 48 days.

For Heras, the stage presented the last serious threat to his hold on the Vuelta lead. Now, only relatively easy stages stand between him and a record fourth Vuelta crown.

"The team was very united in the last mountain stage of the Vuelta and didn’t have any problems controlling the race," Heras said. "There’s still three stages, but Madrid is closer, even though we cannot relax. The remaining stages are easy to control and I arrive to the time trial with a nice cushion of time in my favor."

Tom Danielson (Discovery Channel), meanwhile, recovered from his "bad day" in Wednesday’s stage and was able to follow the fireworks throughout Thursday’s relatively controlled pace.

He came through in 21st at 4:09 back, 11 seconds slower than the top favorites, but moved up to ninth overall after the departure of González.

Assuming the peloton stays together in Friday’s and Sunday’s stages, Danielson has a real chance to move up to eighth overall in Saturday’s flat, 38.9km time trial in Alcalá de Henares.

Stage results
1. Nicki Sorensen (Dk), CSC, 5:05:34
2. Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana, at 0:22
3. José Vicent Garcia Acosta (Sp), Illes Balears
4. Daniele Nardello (I), T-Mobile, 1:06
5. Oscar Pereiro (Sp), Phonak, 1:06
6. Mario Aerts (B), Davitamon-Lotto, 1:10
7. Pablo Lastras (Sp), Illes Balears, 1:10
8. Gorka Gonzalez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 1:25
9. Moises DueÑas (Sp), Relax Fuenlabrada, 2:32
10. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears, 3:55

Complete results

Overall
1. Roberto Heras (Sp), Liberty Seguros, 74:30:48
2. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 4:30
3. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 4:50
4. Francisco Mancebo (Sp), Illes Balears, 5:48
5. Carlos Garcia Quesada (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana, 6:22
6. Oscar Sevilla (Sp), T-Mobile, 11:13
7. Ruben Plaza (Sp), Comunidad Valenciana, 11:36
8. Juan Miguel Mercado (Sp), Quick Step, 15:28
9. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team, 15:50
10. Mauricio Ardila (Col), Davitamon-Lotto, 15:53

Complete results

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To see how the stage developed, simply CLICK HERE to open our Live Update window. Then check back to Velonews.com for a full report from European correspondent Andrew Hood and more photos from Graham Watson.