Greig Leach

Tinkoff Saxo was a team with a plan today, a plan that they seemed quite capable of bringing to fruition. With the end of the stage a 17 kilometer climb up to Motril Haza Llamas, Sergio Palinho lead is team leader, Alberto Contador, up the lower slopes, glancing back to see just how many riders he was able to shed from their wheels. Palinho had the veteran, Ivan Basso, on his wheel and then the red jersey of race leader clad Contador. Contador seemed to be doing the entire climb in his traditional pedal dancing style.