Fabio Aru lost the red jersey by a second but remains more than ever in the running for the final victory. Joaquim Rodriguez is the new leader but the conquest of the record doesn't erase the disappointment of not having taken advantage of the last stage on the tremendous climbs of Asturias to knock out his opponents. Not only Aru but also Rafa Maika and Tom Dumoulin who, despite losing something on the asphyxiating final ramps of the Ermita de Alba, defended their classification remaining, respectively, third at 1'35” and fourth at 1'51” behind Purito.
A gap that does not protect either Rodriguez or Aru from possible upheavals in the general classification in the Burgos time trial of almost 39 km that awaits the riders after the rest day this Tuesday. The Dutchman Dumoulin, who is also proving to be tough on the climbs, is one of the strongest time trialists out there. He is the great favorite of the stage, moreover without major altitude difficulties, even if the efforts of more than two weeks could change the balance of power on the road. Maika, according to the results in the races against the clock, defends herself better than Rodriguez who has always had his Achilles' heel in time trials until he lost a Giro and a Vuelta already won.
Purito could also lose a handful of seconds from Aru who, even in the time trials, is not lightning fast and who in the last Giro wore the pink jersey for a day, handing it back to Contador right at the end of the race against time in Valdobbiadene. The time trial will certainly give a more defined physiognomy to the standings but to the advantage of Rodriguez and Aru himself there are three more mountain stages before the final parade in Madrid, especially the penultimate one with four first-category Gpm, the last of which at about ten kilometers from the finish in Cercedilla in the Madrid Sierra.
An uncertain fight right up to the end that does nothing but good for the increasingly hard-fought and throbbing Vuelta, which yesterday also rediscovered a great name that had disappeared from the finish line for years: Frank Schleck, a big and solitary winner, after an authoritative ride on the six Gpm of the stage in the company of nine other fugitives before flying away on the prohibitive slopes of the arrival. Incidents that have definitively put Quintana and Valverde out of the game.
