Vuelta a España 2008/9. stage

Result of the 9th stage
First		Greg Van Avermaet	SIL	4:57:22 h
Second		Davide rebel	GST	equal time
Third		Juan Antonio Flecha	RAB	equal time
Fourth		Rinaldo Nocentini	ALM	equal time
fifth		Damiano Cunego	LAM	equal time
Sixth		Xabier Zandio	GCE	equal time
seventh		Patrice Halgand	CA	equal time
Eighth		Andrea Tonti	QST	equal time
Ninth		Christophe Kern	CA	equal time
Tenth		Egoi Martínez	EUS	equal time
Intermediate results after the 9th stage
Overall rating		Egoi Martínez	EUS	33:23:56 h
Second		Levi Leipheimer	AST	+ 0:11 min
Third		Alberto Contador	AST	+ 0:32 min
Scoring		Alejandro Valverde	GCE	74 P.
Second		Greg Van Avermaet	SIL	73 P.
Third		Daniele Bennati	LIQ	63 P.
Mountain scoring		David Moncoutié	COF	78 P.
Second		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	51 P.
Third		Juan Manuel Gárate	QST	32 p.
Combination scoring		Alberto Contador	AST	13 P.
Second		Levi Leipheimer	AST	23 p.
Third		Alejandro Valverde	GCE	24 p.
Team evaluation		Caisse d'Epargne	GCE	99:54:20 h
Second		Team Astana	AST	+ 5:58 min
Third		Euskaltel-Euskadi	EUS	+ 7:59 min

The 9th stage of the Vuelta a España 2008 on September 8th led over 200.8 kilometers from Vielha e Mijaran to Sabiñánigo . There were two sprint ratings and one mountain rating each in the 3rd and 1st category as well as two mountain ratings in the 2nd category on the program.

After the two difficult mountain climbs the days before, the profile of today's stage seemed to favor an outlier group. So the stage was not exactly predestined for fights for the golden jersey with a distance of 70 kilometers from the last mountain to the finish. Nevertheless, it should take 50 kilometers for a group to clear away. In the first phase of the race, the previous day's winner David Moncoutié was again very active and determined to take the lead in the mountain classification, which he ultimately succeeded in doing. He finished fourth in the first mountain classification of the day and then won the remaining three. After the second mountain of the day, a top group of twelve managed to break away: Davide Rebellin , Damiano Cunego , Greg van Avermaet , Alan Pérez , Egoi Martínez , Andrea Tonti , Xabier Zandio , Patrice Halgand , Christophe Kern , Juan Antonio Flecha , Rinaldo Nocentini and David Moncoutie. These twelve drove a lead of over seven minutes on the main field and were not overtaken until the finish. Since none of the outliers was able to break away decisively, the day's victory was achieved in the group's sprint. Here Greg van Avermaet was the strongest and secured victory. Since the teams in the field did not consistently follow up, the peloton was 6:42 minutes behind at the finish. Thus, Egoi Martínez, who was 6:41 minutes behind the stage, took over the gold jersey. Thanks to the time bonuses during the stage, his lead was eleven seconds.

Sprint ratings

• 1st intermediate sprint in Castejón de Sos (kilometer 64.4) (900 m above sea level)

First		Greg van Avermaet	SIL	4 p.
Second		Egoi Martínez	EUS	2 p.
Third		David Moncoutie	COF	1 P.

• 2nd intermediate sprint in Sabiñánigo (km 184.8) (780 m above sea level)

First		Egoi Martínez	EUS	4 p.
Second		Greg Van Avermaet	SIL	2 p.
Third		Alan Perez	EUS	1 P.

• Arrival in Sabiñánigo (790 m above sea level)

First		Greg Van Avermaet	SIL	25 p.
Second		Davide rebel	GST	20 p.
Third		Juan Antonio Flecha	RAB	16 p.
Fourth		Rinaldo Nocentini	ALM	14 p.
fifth		Damiano Cunego	LAM	12 p.
Sixth		Xabier Zandio	GCE	10 p.
seventh		Patrice Halgand	CA	9 p.
Eighth		Andrea Tonti	QST	8 p.
Ninth		Christophe Kern	CA	7 p.
Tenth		Egoi Martínez	EUS	6 p.
11.		David Moncoutie	COF	5 p.
12.		Alan Perez	EUS	4 p.
13.		Wouter Weylandt	QST	3 p.
14th		Philippe Gilbert	FDJ	2 p.
15th		Claudio Corioni	LIQ	1 P.

Mountain ratings

• Alto del Túnel de Vielha, 2nd category (km 12.2) (1,615 m above sea level)

First		Mikhail Ignatiev	TCS	10 p.
Second		Maarten Tjallingii	SIL	7 p.
Third		David Moncoutie	COF	5 p.
Fourth		Valerio Agnoli	LIQ	3 p.
fifth		Juan Antonio Flecha	RAB	2 p.
Sixth		Martin Velits	MRM	1 P.

• Coll de L'Espina, 2nd category (kilometer 46.2) (1,410 m above sea level)

First		David Moncoutie	COF	10 p.
Second		Philippe Gilbert	FDJ	7 p.
Third		Alan Perez	EUS	5 p.
Fourth		Damiano Cunego	LAM	3 p.
fifth		Alberto Losada	GCE	2 p.
Sixth		Amets Txurruka	EUS	1 P.

• Puerto de la Foradada, 3rd category (km 92.5) (1,020 m above sea level)

First		David Moncoutie	COF	6 p.
Second		Alan Perez	EUS	4 p.
Third		Andrea Tonti	QST	2 p.
Fourth		Damiano Cunego	LAM	1 P.

• Puerto de Serrabolo, 1st category (kilometer 134.4) (1,290 m above sea level)

First		David Moncoutie	COF	16 p.
Second		Egoi Martínez	EUS	12 p.
Third		Greg Van Avermaet	SIL	10 p.
Fourth		Damiano Cunego	LAM	8 p.
fifth		Davide rebel	GST	6 p.
Sixth		Andrea Tonti	QST	4 p.
seventh		Juan Antonio Flecha	RAB	3 p.
Eighth		Rinaldo Nocentini	ALM	2 p.
Ninth		Christophe Kern	CA	1 P.