Antón awesome on Alto del Morredero

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Igor Antón climbed his way into the race lead at the Vuelta a Castilla y Leon on Friday as he claimed a stage win at the mountain-top finish at the Alto del Morredero. The Euskaltel rider finished 12 seconds ahead of Juan Maurizio Soler (Caisse d'Epargne) and Alberto Contador (Astana), whom he had attacked with less than two kilometres to race on a tough stage in northern Spain.

Antón now leads the general classification from Contador, with Eziquiel Mosquera in third place overall, after the Xacobeo Galicia rider finished the stage on the same time as Soler and Contador.

Antón's victory came after an action-packed final climb, as a flurry of riders staked their claim for the stage win. In the end it was a four-man group (Anton, Soler, Contador and Mosquera) who proved the most resilient. Mosquera initiated the race winning escape, with Contador and Antón latching onto his attack with around 10 kilometres to race. Soler bridged across before launching several counter-moves of his own.

Eventually Antón was able to un-hitch his companions as he forged a solo trail into the final two kilometres of the stage. The Spaniard quickly stretched his gap to around 100 metres, and looked strong as he passed beneath the one-to-go marker, which was angled across the tarmac on account of the narrow roads.

Several nervous glances gave way to a fist-pump as Antón rolled across the line to take his first victory of the season, and the third for his team this year. Like former-race leader Theo Bos (Cervélo TestTeam), Antón's ownership of a race leader's jersey is the first for the Euskaltel-Euskadi squad this year.

He sits 13 seconds clear of Contador and Mosquera, who now occupy the second and third spots on general classification, respectively. Saturday's stage four individual time trial is now expected to decide the eventual destination of the maroon leader's jersey.

“Everyone likes to win, but Igor has been very strong”, said Contador of Friday's stage. “For me it is a good result. At the end it was 13 seconds, which is not a lot, but we will see tomorrow how it turns the time trial.

Hills keep the peloton on its toes

With the Category 1 climbs of the Alto de Fondebadon and Alto del Morredero on the agenda, the peloton had started the day keen to remain intact. Several breakaway attempts were snuffed out before Javier Aramendia (Euskaltel-Euskadi), Steven Kruijswijk (Rabobank), Jose Toribio (Andalucía-CajaSur), Serafin Martinez (Xacobeo Galicia), Ruben Reig (Caja Rural) and Ricardo García (Orbea) eked out a narrow lead.

However, six riders were only able gain a march of some 46 seconds before Astana set about bringing them back into the fold, as rain fell for the third day in a row.

The peloton remained intact on the first of the day's two Category 1 ascents, the Alto de Foncebadón. Iban Mayoz (Footon-Servetto) again came to the fore as he added to his mountains point haul with second place at the Foncebadón, and the same position at the Category 3 Alto de Onamia that followed.

Jorge Azanza (Euskaltel-Euskadi) took the biggest bundle of points at the Onamia, having attacked on the descent off the Foncebadón. The Spaniard moved a minute ahead of the peloton before Astana, again, neutralised affairs.

With the final ascent of the Alto del Morredero looming, Andoni Blázquez (Orbea) set off, with Michal Kwiatkowski (Caja Rural) in tow. Yet again, Astana controlled the tempo of the peloton, but allowed the pair to establish one of the largest gaps of the day - almost two minutes. However, with rain added to the 15 per cent gradient of the Morredero's lower slopes, nature conspired against the leaders as their advantage began to diminish.

Blázquez fell off the pace with 20 kilometres-to-go as Kwiatkowski continued with 1:30 of the lead still intact. Behind him, Euskaltel-Euskadi was driving the pace. As the peloton began to fracture under the pressure, Blázquez was caught, as was Kwiatkowki shortly thereafter.

Mikel Landa (Orbea) was the next to go, leaping forth from a lead group of around 25 riders, which included all the heads of state (Alberto Contador, Igor Antón, Ezequiel Mosquera, Denis Menchov, Tiago Machado, Janez Brajkovic, David Bernabeu and Reuben Plaza). Landa's escapade was short-lived and marked the entry into the final 13 kilometres.

An attack by Stefan Denifl (Cervélo) was answered by Mosquera, whose move would prove to be decisive. He was joined by Contador, Antón and Soler, as a chase group of seven riders, including Menchov took their position behind the new leaders.

Despite several parries in the front group, it was Antón who was the one who had the most power as he surged up the snow lined roads to take a well-earned victory and the race lead.