The Czech Leopold König gave the German team NetApp-Endura the first day's victory in a Grand Tour on the eighth stage of the Vuelta. While he had to settle for fourth place in the second part of the day, his timing was perfect this time. After a 12-man lead group around Dominik Nerz (BMC) from the Allgäu had dominated the race for a long time, the favorites took matters into their own hands towards the end of the stage.
Ivan Basso (Cannondale) in particular was ambitious here. But the first attack came six kilometers before the finish from Igor Anton (Euskaltel). The Basque quickly opened up a small lead but couldn't hold it. Because when König launched an attack with two kilometers to go and had the Frenchman Thibault Pinot (FDJ) and Basso, Daniel Moreno (Katusha) and Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) in tow, his escape was over. King was able to keep his pace. The Czech was correspondingly delighted when he crossed the finish line after 166 kilometers on the Alto Peñas Blancas. Since neither Alejandro Valverde (Movistar), Joaquin Rodriguez (Katusha) nor Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) were within striking distance behind König, Roche took over the red jersey of the overall leader as third on the day.
//Result
1. Leopold Koenig (NetApp-Endura) 4:09:46
2. Daniel Moreno Fernández (Katusha) 0:00:01
3. Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) 0:00:05
4. Thibaut Pinot (FDJ.fr) 0:00:05
5. Ivan Basso (Cannondale) 0:00:05
//In total
1. Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) 31:39:30
2. Christopher Horner (RadioShack Leopard) 0:00:17
3. Daniel Moreno Fernández (Katusha) 0:00:17
4. Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) 0:00:18
5. Leopold Koenig (NetApp-Endura) 0:00:29