VILANOVA I LA GELTRU, Spain – Spanish rider Joaquin Rodriguez seized the overall lead of the Tour of Spain after Tuesday’s 10th stage, won by his compatriot Imanol Erviti.

The Katusha rider replaced another Spaniard, Igor Anton, in top spot in the overall standings after he picked up two bonus seconds in an intermediary sprint in the 175.7-kilometre ride from Tarragona to Vilanova i la Geltru in northeast Spain.

He had done the same thing in Saturday’s 8th stage but that intermediary sprint was annulled due to a massive fall, and Rodriguez watched Anton take the red jersey.

“The team worked very well and we finally made it,” Rodriguez said Tuesday.

“All my teammates deserved it. It was very important for them to take the
(leader’s) jersey and we will try to keep it until Madrid,” he said.

But he warned that on Wednesday’s mountainous stage “it will not be easy to control” the race.

Rodriguez has a two-second lead over Anton, while Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali is in third, four seconds behind the leader.

“The Katusha team deserved (the leader’s jersey) because they have done a lot of work,” said Anton. “You have to see the good side, we are not going to work so much from now on to defend the red jersey.”

Erviti pulled away from a group of breakaway riders about 20 kilometres from the finish and reached the line on his own.

He finished 37 seconds ahead of a group of seven riders led by Belgian Romain Zingle, with the main pack 1 minute, 38 seconds behind the winner.

The Spaniard admitted he had taken some risks in the final descent.

“I had a few seconds which allowed me to reach the line alone,” he said.
“It was one of the best moments of my professional career.”

Tuesday’s stage was also marked by the expulsion of Luxembourg’s Tour de France runner-up Andy Schleck and his Australian Saxo Bank team-mate Stuart O’Grady, who were dropped for breaking the team’s rules by going out for a drink.

Wednesday’s 11th stage takes the riders 208.4 kilometres from Vilanova i la Geltru to the ski resort of Pal in the tiny principality Andorra in the Pyrenees mountains.

Stage Results:
1. Imanol Erviti (ESP/GCE) 4h13min 31sec
2. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) at 0:37.
3. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 0:37.
4. Mauro Finetto (ITA/LIQ) 0:37.
5. Javier Moreno (ESP/ACA) 0:37.
6. Anders Lund (DEN/SAX) 0:37.
7. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/FDJ) 0:37.
8. Giampaolo Cheula (ITA/FOT) 0:37.
9. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 0:42.
10. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 1:36.
11. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 1:38.
12. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 1:38.
13. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 1:38.
14. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 1:38.
15. Filippo Pozzato (ITA/KAT) 1:38.
16. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 1:38.
17. Josep Jufre (ESP/AST) 1:38.
18. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 1:38.
19. David García (ESP/KGZ) 1:38.
20. Ludovic Turpin (FRA/ALM) 1:38.
21. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 1:38.
22. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 1:38.
23. Marcos García (ESP/KGZ) 1:38.
24. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 1:38.
25. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 1:38.
26. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 1:38.
27. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) 1:38.
28. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/FDJ) 1:38.
29. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 1:38.
30. Gustav Larsson (SWE/SAX) 1:38.
31. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) 1:38.
32. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 1:38.
33. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 1:38.
34. Juan Jose Oroz (ESP/EUS) 1:38.
35. Oliver Zaugg (SUI/LIQ) 1:38.
36. Alexandre Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 1:38.
37. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) 1:38.
38. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 1:38.
39. Amets Txurruka (ESP/EUS) 1:38.
40. Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ/AST) 1:38.
41. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 1:38.
42. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 1:38.
43. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 1:38.
44. Luis Pasamontes (ESP/GCE) 1:38.
45. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 1:38.
46. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 1:38.
47. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) 1:38.
48. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 1:38.
49. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 1:38.
50. Mikel Nieve (ESP/EUS) 1:38.
51. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 1:38.
52. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 1:38.
53. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 1:38.
54. Inigo Cuesta (ESP/CTT) 1:38.
55. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 1:38.
56. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 1:38.
57. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OLO) 1:38.
58. Frederik Willems (BEL/LIQ) 1:38.
59. Assan Bazayev (KAZ/AST) 1:38.
60. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) 1:38.
61. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 1:52.
62. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 2:16.
63. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 2:25.
64. Jurgen Van Goolen (BEL/OLO) 4:57.
65. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 4:57.
66. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/QST) 4:57.
67. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 4:57.
68. Gustavo Rodríguez (ESP/KGZ) 4:57.
69. David Lopez (ESP/GCE) 4:57.
70. Remi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 4:57.
71. Paul Voss (GER/MRM) 4:57.
72. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/RAB) 4:57.
73. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 4:57.
74. Delio Fernández (ESP/KGZ) 4:57.
75. Oscar Freire (ESP/RAB) 4:57.
76. Martin Pedersen (DEN/FOT) 4:57.
77. Gustavo Cesar (ESP/KGZ) 4:57.
78. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/LIQ) 4:57.
79. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 10:37.
80. José Alberto Benítez (ESP/FOT) 10:37.
81. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 10:37.
82. Juan Javier Javier Estr (ESP/ACA) 10:37.
83. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 10:37.
84. Marco Marzano (ITA/LAM) 10:37.
85. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA/LAM) 10:37.
86. Davide Malacarne (ITA/QST) 10:37.
87. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 10:37.
88. Philip Deignan (NIR/CTT) 10:37.
89. Mauricio Ardila (COL/RAB) 10:37.
90. Sébastian Langeveld (NED/RAB) 10:37.
91. Nicolas Vogondy (FRA/BTL) 10:37.
92. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/FDJ) 10:37.
93. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 10:37.
94. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 10:37.
95. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 10:37.
96. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/RAB) 10:37.
97. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 12:45.
98. Allan Davis (AUS/AST) 12:45.
99. Javier Ramirez (ESP/ACA) 12:45.
100. Johnnie Walker (AUS/FOT) 12:45.
101. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 12:45.
102. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/BTL) 12:45.
103. Sergio Carrasco (ESP/ACA) 12:45.
104. Antonio Piedra (ESP/ACA) 12:45.
105. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (ESP/ACA) 12:45.
106. Nikolas Maes (BEL/QST) 12:45.
107. Thomas Peterson (USA/GRM) 13:15.
108. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/SAX) 16:38.
109. Markus Eichler (GER/MRM) 16:38.
110. Robert Forster (GER/MRM) 16:38.
111. Nick Nuyens (BEL/RAB) 16:38.
112. Bjoern Schroeder (GER/MRM) 16:38.
113. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 16:38.
114. Serafín Martínez (ESP/KGZ) 16:38.
115. Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP/GCE) 16:38.
116. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 16:38.
117. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KGZ) 16:38.
118. José Vicente Toribio (ESP/ACA) 16:38.
119. Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 16:38.
120. Juan José Haedo (ARG/SAX) 16:38.
121. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 16:38.
122. Niki Terpstra (NED/MRM) 16:38.
123. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 16:38.
124. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/BTL) 16:38.
125. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 16:38.
126. Dominik Klemme (GER/SAX) 16:38.
127. Alexandre Pichot (FRA/BTL) 16:38.
128. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 16:38..
129. Lars Bak (DEN/THR) 16:38.
130. Mathieu Sprick (FRA/BTL) 16:38.
131. Kasper Klostergaard (DEN/SAX) 16:38.
132. Martin Velits (SVK/THR) 16:38.
133. Dominik Roels (GER/MRM) 16:38.
134. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 16:38.
135. Johann Tschopp (SUI/BTL) 16:38.
136. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/LIQ) 16:38.
137. Angelo Furlan (ITA/LAM) 16:38.
138. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 16:38.
139. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 16:38.
140. Enrique Mata (ESP/FOT) 16:38.
141. Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP/ALM) 16:38.
142. Sergey Renev (KAZ/AST) 16:38.
143. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 16:38.
144. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 16:38.
145. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 16:38.
146. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/FDJ) 16:38.
147. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 16:38.
148. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 16:38.
149. Hayden Roulston (NZL/THR) 16:38.
150. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 16:38.
151. Mark Cavendish (IDM/THR) 16:38.
152. Theo Bos (NED/CTT) 16:38.
153. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 16:38.
154. Andreas Stauff (GER/QST) 16:38.
155. David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (ESP/FOT) 16:38.
156. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 16:38.
157. David Zabriskie (USA/GRM) 16:38.
158. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 16:38.
159. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 16:38.
160. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/COF) 16:38.
161. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 16:38.
162. Sébastien Minard (FRA/COF) 16:38.
163. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 16:38.
164. Michel Kreder (NED/GRM) 16:38.
165. Stefan Denifl (AUT/CTT) 16:38.
166. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 16:38.
167. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 16:38.
168. Benat Intxausti (ESP/EUS) 16:38.
169. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 16:38.
170. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 16:38.
171. Thor Hushovd (NOR/CTT) 16:38.
172. Joan Horrach (ESP/KAT) 16:38.
173. David Vitoria (SUI/FOT) 16:38.
174. Jorge Montenegro (ARG/ACA) 16:38.
175. Markus Fothen (GER/MRM) 16:38.
176. Roy Sentjens (NED/MRM) 16:38.
177. Daniele Righi (ITA/LAM) 16:38.
178. Oscar Pujol (ESP/CTT) 16:38.
. Yoann Offredo (FRA/FDJ) Retired
. Stuart O’Grady (AUS/SAX) Withdrawn
. Andy Schleck (LUX/SAX) Withdrawn

Overall Classification Results:
1. Joaquin Rodriguez (ESP/KAT) 42h11min 49sec
2. Igor Anton (ESP/EUS) at 0:02.
3. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA/LIQ) 0:04.
4. Xavier Tondo (ESP/CTT) 0:44.
5. Jean Christophe Péraud (FRA/OLO) 0:54.
6. Rubén Plaza (ESP/GCE) 1:17.
7. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (ESP/KGZ) 1:20.
8. Nicolas Roche (IRL/ALM) 1:21.
9. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA/GCE) 1:24.
10. Peter Velits (SVK/THR) 1:28.
11. Tejay Van Garderen (USA/THR) 1:28.
12. Rigoberto Uran (COL/GCE) 1:40.
13. Frank Schleck (LUX/SAX) 1:49.
14. Philippe Gilbert (BEL/OLO) 1:51.
15. Tom Danielson (USA/GRM) 1:54.
16. Vladimir Karpets (RUS/KAT) 1:59.
17. Carlos Sastre (ESP/CTT) 2:13.
18. David Arroyo (ESP/GCE) 2:17.
19. Luis Leon Sanchez (ESP/GCE) 2:23.
20. Denis Menchov (RUS/RAB) 3:31.
21. David García (ESP/KGZ) 3:36.
22. Mikel Nieve (ESP/EUS) 3:39.
23. Vladimir Gusev (RUS/KAT) 4:10.
24. Alexandr Dyachenko (KAZ/AST) 4:27.
25. David Moncoutié (FRA/COF) 5:00.
26. Jan Bakelants (BEL/OLO) 5:18.
27. Andreï Kashechkin (KAZ/LAM) 5:19.
28. Christophe Le Mevel (FRA/FDJ) 5:37.
29. Laurens ten Dam (NED/RAB) 5:45.
30. Inigo Cuesta (ESP/CTT) 5:58.
31. Gustav Larsson (SWE/SAX) 6:06.
32. Alexandre Kolobnev (RUS/KAT) 6:10.
33. David Lopez (ESP/GCE) 6:52.
34. Ludovic Turpin (FRA/ALM) 7:54.
35. Giampaolo Caruso (ITA/KAT) 7:58.
36. Luis Pasamontes (ESP/GCE) 10:48.
37. Egoi Martinez (ESP/EUS) 10:50.
38. Josep Jufre (ESP/AST) 12:06.
39. Remy Di Gregorio (FRA/FDJ) 12:47.
40. Filippo Pozzato (ITA/KAT) 13:21.
41. Roman Kreuziger (CZE/LIQ) 15:03.
42. Javier Moreno (ESP/ACA) 15:15.
43. Carlos Barredo (ESP/QST) 16:00.
44. Guillaume Bonnafond (FRA/ALM) 16:14.
45. Thomas Peterson (USA/GRM) 17:18.
46. Marcos García (ESP/KGZ) 18:18.
47. Juan Manuel Garate (ESP/RAB) 19:24.
48. Greg Van Avermaet (BEL/OLO) 20:01.
49. Marco Marzano (ITA/LAM) 20:05.
50. Gonzalo Rabuñal (ESP/KGZ) 21:04.
51. Jurgen Van Goolen (BEL/OLO) 23:06.
52. Juan Jose Oroz (ESP/EUS) 24:15.
53. Dario Cataldo (ITA/QST) 25:04.
54. Roy Sentjens (NED/MRM) 26:34.
55. Amets Txurruka (ESP/EUS) 26:57.
56. Kanstantsin Siutsou (BLR/THR) 27:52.
57. Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (ESP/ACA) 28:16.
58. Maciej Paterski (POL/LIQ) 29:15.
59. Johannes Fröhlinger (GER/MRM) 29:32.
60. Gustavo Cesar (ESP/KGZ) 30:55.
61. Oscar Pujol (ESP/CTT) 32:21.
62. Daniele Pietropolli (ITA/LAM) 32:56.
63. Manuele Mori (ITA/LAM) 33:03.
64. Enrico Gasparotto (ITA/AST) 33:32.
65. Dmitriy Fofonov (KAZ/AST) 33:42.
66. José Alberto Benítez (ESP/FOT) 34:17.
67. Assan Bazayev (KAZ/AST) 35:08.
68. Ivan Santaromita (ITA/LIQ) 35:08.
69. Mauro Finetto (ITA/LIQ) 35:24.
70. Imanol Erviti (ESP/GCE) 36:27.
71. Delio Fernández (ESP/KGZ) 39:18.
72. Markus Fothen (GER/MRM) 40:09.
73. Rinaldo Nocentini (ITA/ALM) 40:24.
74. Tony Gallopin (FRA/COF) 41:24.
75. Romain Zingle (BEL/COF) 41:29.
76. Oliver Zaugg (SUI/LIQ) 42:20.
77. Grischa Niermann (GER/RAB) 44:00.
78. Serafín Martínez (ESP/KGZ) 44:55.
79. Mickaël Cherel (FRA/FDJ) 46:12.
80. Matteo Tosatto (ITA/QST) 46:46.
81. Blel Kadri (FRA/ALM) 47:15.
82. Joan Horrach (ESP/KAT) 47:31.
83. Gustavo Rodríguez (ESP/KGZ) 48:32.
84. Daniele Bennati (ITA/LIQ) 48:45.
85. Grega Bole (SLO/LAM) 50:11.
86. Mathieu Sprick (FRA/BTL) 51:23.
87. Sébastien Minard (FRA/COF) 52:08.
88. Johann Tschopp (SUI/BTL) 53:28.
89. Anders Lund (DEN/SAX) 53:43.
90. Jelle Vanendert (BEL/OLO) 54:10.
91. Oscar Freire (ESP/RAB) 54:30.
92. Frederik Willems (BEL/LIQ) 55:30.
93. Andrey Zeits (KAZ/AST) 56:23.
94. Xavier Florencio (ESP/CTT) 57:26.
95. Juan Javier Javier Estr (ESP/ACA) 58:05.
96. Gorka Verdugo (ESP/EUS) 59:15.
97. Arthur Vichot (FRA/FDJ) 1h00:00.
98. Perrig Quemeneur (FRA/BTL) 1h00:18.
99. Niki Terpstra (NED/MRM) 1h00:42.
100. Giampaolo Cheula (ITA/FOT) 1h01:12.
101. Javier Ramirez (ESP/ACA) 1h02:19.
102. Paul Voss (GER/MRM) 1h04:04.
103. Jose Luis Arrieta (ESP/ALM) 1h04:09.
104. Kevin De Weert (BEL/QST) 1h04:23.
105. Christian Vande Velde (USA/GRM) 1h05:07.
106. Hubert Dupont (FRA/ALM) 1h06:31.
107. Remi Pauriol (FRA/COF) 1h06:32.
108. Sergey Renev (KAZ/AST) 1h07:29.
109. Allan Davis (AUS/AST) 1h12:46.
110. Nicolas Vogondy (FRA/BTL) 1h13:07.
111. Pablo Urtasun (ESP/EUS) 1h13:29.
112. Martin Pedersen (DEN/FOT) 1h14:02.
113. Bjoern Schroeder (GER/MRM) 1h14:22.
114. Manuel Ortega (ESP/ACA) 1h16:14.
115. Dominik Roels (GER/MRM) 1h16:37.
116. Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP/GCE) 1h17:19.
117. Philip Deignan (NIR/CTT) 1h17:55.
118. Samuel Dumoulin (FRA/COF) 1h17:56.
119. Vincent Jérôme (FRA/BTL) 1h18:21.
120. Pierre Cazaux (FRA/FDJ) 1h18:58.
121. Sergio Carrasco (ESP/ACA) 1h19:17.
122. Sébastien Hinault (FRA/ALM) 1h20:29.
123. Danilo Hondo (GER/LAM) 1h20:44.
124. Antonio Piedra (ESP/ACA) 1h22:00.
125. Markus Eichler (GER/MRM) 1h22:40.
126. Davide Malacarne (ITA/QST) 1h25:05.
127. Mauricio Ardila (COL/RAB) 1h26:23.
128. William Bonnet (FRA/BTL) 1h26:28..

129. Nico Sijmens (BEL/COF) 1h26:48.
130. Martin Velits (SVK/THR) 1h26:57.
131. Manuel Cardoso (POR/FOT) 1h27:16.
132. Thor Hushovd (NOR/CTT) 1h28:51.
133. Leif Hoste (BEL/OLO) 1h29:46.
134. Stefan Denifl (AUT/CTT) 1h30:04.
135. David Millar (GBR/GRM) 1h32:01.
136. Daniele Righi (ITA/LAM) 1h32:36.
137. Enrique Mata (ESP/FOT) 1h33:05.
138. David Gutiérrez Gutiérrez (ESP/FOT) 1h33:38.
139. Dmitriy Kozontchuk (RUS/RAB) 1h34:09.
140. Gianni Meersman (BEL/FDJ) 1h34:32.
141. Sébastian Langeveld (NED/RAB) 1h34:36.
142. Yauheni Hutarovich (BLR/FDJ) 1h34:43.
143. Alexandre Pichot (FRA/BTL) 1h35:43.
144. Nikolas Maes (BEL/QST) 1h36:10.
145. Kasper Klostergaard (DEN/SAX) 1h37:27.
146. Michel Kreder (NED/GRM) 1h37:29.
147. Olivier Kaisen (BEL/OLO) 1h37:41.
148. Hayden Roulston (NZL/THR) 1h37:54.
149. Sebastien Chavanel (FRA/FDJ) 1h37:56.
150. José Vicente Toribio (ESP/ACA) 1h38:00.
151. Nick Nuyens (BEL/RAB) 1h38:57.
152. Vladimir Isaichev (RUS/KGZ) 1h39:47.
153. Benat Intxausti (ESP/EUS) 1h39:50.
154. Koldo Fernandez (ESP/EUS) 1h40:31.
155. Andreas Stauff (GER/QST) 1h41:04.
156. Christophe Riblon (FRA/ALM) 1h41:54.
157. Tyler Farrar (USA/GRM) 1h42:08.
158. Wouter Weylandt (BEL/QST) 1h42:46.
159. Robert Forster (GER/MRM) 1h43:46.
160. Jacopo Guarnieri (ITA/LIQ) 1h45:38.
161. David Zabriskie (USA/GRM) 1h46:32.
162. Matthew Goss (AUS/THR) 1h46:51.
163. Johnnie Walker (AUS/FOT) 1h47:00.
164. Matthew Wilson (AUS/GRM) 1h47:26.
165. Lars Bak (DEN/THR) 1h49:32.
166. Angelo Furlan (ITA/LAM) 1h49:45.
167. Mark Cavendish (IDM/THR) 1h50:00.
168. David Vitoria (SUI/FOT) 1h50:10.
169. Jorge Montenegro (ARG/ACA) 1h50:53.
170. Juan José Haedo (ARG/SAX) 1h51:06.
171. Theo Bos (NED/CTT) 1h51:16.
172. Denis Galimzyanov (RUS/KAT) 1h51:52.
173. Mikhail Ignatiev (RUS/KAT) 1h51:54.
174. Dominik Klemme (GER/SAX) 1h55:08.
175. Fabian Cancellara (SUI/SAX) 1h56:47.
176. Valentin Iglinskiy (KAZ/AST) 2h05:23.
177. Arnaud Labbe (FRA/COF) 2h05:34.
178. Julian Dean (NZL/GRM) 2h21:00.

Article:AFP
Photos: Corvos