Stage 19 confirmed the impression of the previous day at Pena Cabarga: Chris Horner is the most incisive of the favorites. The American from RadioShack-Leopard took the overall lead over from Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) as he crossed the line six seconds ahead of the Italian. However, he couldn’t prevent Spanish star Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) from claiming his first victory at the Vuelta a España this year.

Purito
Polka dot jersey wearer Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) initiated a 20-man breakaway at km 2: Nico Sijmens (Cofidis), David Tanner (Belkin), Francis De Greef (Lotto-Belisol), Rafa Valls (Vacansoleil-DCM), Edvald Boasson Hagen and Xavier Zandio (Team Sky), Georg Preidler (Argos-Shimano), Danilo Wyss, Ivan Santaromita and Dominik Nerz (BMC), Benat Intxausti (Movistar), Paul Voss (NetApp-Endura), Pablo Urtasun (Euskaltel), Manuele Mori (Lampre-Merida), Leigh Howard and Christian Meier (Orica-GreenEdge), David Arroyo (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Andriy Grivko (Astana) and Daniele Ratto (Cannondale).
In the first hour of racing, the distance covered was 2.35. Dutch national champion Johny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil-DCM) pulled out of the Vuelta. Led by Katusha and Omega Pharma-Quick Step, the peloton didn’t allow much advantage to the escapees who only had 2.14 lead at the feed zone. At km 88, Boasson Hagen and Preidler rode away from the front group. They passed the Alto de San Elmiliano in that order while Edet grabbed one more point for the king of the mountains classification.
While the peloton never had a deficit of more than 2.30, Euskaltel remained the only team with nine riders as Astana’s Maxim Iglinskiy called it a quit. All chasers in between the leading duo and the bunch got caught with 23km to go. Dennis Vanendert (Lotto-Belisol) tried his luck, soon rejoined by Mikaël Chérel (AG2R-La Mondiale), Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural-Seguros RGA), Pieter Serry and Serge Pauwels (OPQS), Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil-DCM), Luis Angel Mate (Cofidis), José Herrada (Movistar), José Mendes (NetApp-Endura), Gorka Verdugo (Euskaltel), Andriy Zeits (Astana) and Christian Knees (Team Sky).
Mendes was alone in the lead in the streets of Oviedo but less than a minute behind, the peloton strongly led by FDJ.fr and Saxo-Tinkoff didn’t give him many chances to stay away. The ascent to the Alto de Naranco was very fast. Mendes got reined in 1.1km before the finish. Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff) and Michele Scarponi (Lampre-Merida) tried their luck but were severely counter-attacked by Joaquim Rodriguez (Katusha) who claimed his first stage win since the start in Galicia – and the third for Spain with two by his team-mate Dani Moreno. This is his seventh victory at the Vuelta a España.
As he crossed the line six seconds ahead of Nibali, Horner will wear the red jersey for stage 20 from Aviles to the Angliru (142.2km).

The quotes on the finish line

Stage winner Joaquim “Purito” Rodriguez (Katusha): “This is what I wanted. I promise, believe it or not, that I’ve told my team-mates two or three times to stop pulling because they were riding very fast and I wasn’t confident in my strength as the finale wasn’t steep enough for me. But the little hope I had for winning, my team played it all from kilometer zero onwards. I’m super happy. I’ve put a smile back on my face. This kind of victory counts double. I’m very ambitious and I race for winning. Tomorrow, I hope for more, even though I’m already very proud of today’s performance. The Angliru is a beautiful finale for any climber. To put one’s signature on the top is very special. Today’s win is an incredible moral blow. I hope to be able to win again. But the overall victory seems more complicated. I keep the illusion though. The other contenders are tired too. It can change everything because the Angliru doesn’t forgive anything. I’ll fight as much as I can for the podium. Let’s dream. But do not rule Vincenzo [Nibali] out.”

Diego Ulissi (Lampre-Merida), second: “It’s a pity to miss out on a stage win at the Vuelta but it’s no shame to finish second behind such a great champion [Joaquim Rodriguez]. I’m happy with my ride. In fact, the most important is to feel the good shape coming ahead of the world championship. In the past three days, I’ve become certain to have an excellent condition to be able to show up at the World’s at my best.”

Most aggressive rider Edvald Boasson Hagen (Team Sky): “It would have been nice to have a bigger gap. Yesterday, Vasil Kiryienka demonstrated that it’s possible to win a stage from a breakaway so I wanted to do the same. Unfortunately, the peloton rode full gas behind us. My condition is getting better and better, it’s looking good ahead of the world championship.”

King of the mountains Nicolas Edet (Cofidis): “The stage started on a fast note. Nico Sijmens did a great job for me. In fast, he did the same as two years ago for David Moncoutié who was fighting against Matteo Montaguti for the same jersey. My goal was to grab some points. I got one but I’ve been scared when two riders [Edvald Boasson Hagen and Georg Preidler] rode away. Shall I win the KOM classification by one point, I’ll have had a good stage today. However, my legs were much better than yesterday and we’ll draw the conclusion tomorrow.”

Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff): “It was a perfect finish for me but the attack we planned didn’t work. I was hoping to be dragged till 1km to go and try from there. I’m disappointed. We’ll debrief and start all over again tomorrow. The Angliru gave me mixed feelings in the past. It was good in 2008 but bad in 2011. It’s a very tough climb. It’s one of those stages where anything can happen.”

Alejandro Valverde (Movistar): “I always want to win but Purito played his cards very well. His team has been great and we can only congratulate them. I wasn’t too far away from him but I couldn’t do more. Now we have the decisive day ahead: the Angliru is so demanding that the only tactic up there is to put your rhythm and forget the others. Horner is the big favorite.”

Ergebnisser Etappe 19:

San Vicente de la Barquera – Oviedo. Alto del Naranco 181,0 kms. 13/09/2013 17:38:07
1º 121 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP KAT 4:16:13 10″
2º 139 ULISSI, Diego ITA LAM a 11 6″
3º 127 MORENO, Daniel ESP KAT a 11 4″
4º 91 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 11
5º 184 HORNER, Christopher USA RLT a 14
6º 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP MOV a 14
7º 131 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAM a 16
8º 151 KONIG, Leopold CZE TNE a 20
9º 31 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA AST a 20
10º 205 ROCHE, Nicolas IRL TST a 23
11º 36 KANGERT, Tanel EST AST a 25
12º 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA ALM a 33
13º 56 NERZ, Dominik GER BMC a 41
14º 96 NIEVE, Mikel ESP EUS a 41
15º 5 HERRADA, José ESP MOV a 41 1″
16º 198 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY a 45
17º 95 MARTÍNEZ, Egoi ESP EUS a 51
18º 186 KISERLOVSKI, Robert CRO RLT a 51
19º 63 CARDOSO, Andre POR CJR a 51
20º 157 MENDES, José Joao POR TNE a 1:02
21º 22 BARGUIL, Warren FRA ARG a 1:05
22º 101 PINOT, Thibaut FRA FDJ a 1:05
23º 156 HUZARSKI, Bartosz POL TNE a 1:05
24º 103 ELISSONDE, Kenny FRA FDJ a 1:29
25º 164 MEERSMAN, Gianni BEL OPQ a 1:29
26º 82 BAGOT, Yohann FRA COF a 1:29
27º 206 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker DEN TST a 1:29
28º 99 VERDUGO, Gorka ESP EUS a 1:29
29º 202 MAJKA, Rafal POL TST a 1:42
30º 165 PAUWELS, Serge BEL OPQ a 1:57
31º 2 CAPECCHI, Eros ITA MOV a 1:57
32º 41 MOLLEMA, Bauke NED BEL a 1:57
33º 94 LANDA, Mikel ESP EUS a 1:57
34º 85 MATE, Luis Angel ESP COF a 1:57
35º 76 PATERSKI, Maciej POL CAN a 2:25
36º 68 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP CJR a 2:25
37º 61 ARROYO, David ESP CJR a 2:25 1″
38º 32 BRAJKOVIC, Janez SLO AST a 2:37
39º 183 HERMANS, Ben BEL RLT a 2:37
40º 132 ANACONA, Winner COL LAM a 2:41
41º 45 GARATE, Juan Manuel ESP BEL a 2:49
42º 115 HOWES, Alex USA GRS a 3:06
43º 107 ROUX, Anthony FRA FDJ a 3:18
44º 214 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP VCD a 3:26
45º 15 CHEREL, Mikael FRA ALM a 3:44
46º 19 NOCENTINI, Rinaldo ITA ALM a 3:50
47º 52 EIJSSEN, Yannick BEL BMC a 4:00
48º 97 OROZ, Juan Jose ESP EUS a 4:19
49º 152 BARTA, Jan CZE TNE a 5:28
50º 173 CLARKE, Simon AUS OGE a 5:29
51º 209 ZAUGG, Oliver SUI TST a 5:29
52º 191 HENAO, Sergio Luis COL SKY a 5:29
53º 81 COPPEL, Jerome FRA COF a 5:29
54º 192 BOASSON HAGEN, Edvald NOR SKY a 5:42 6″
55º 33 FUGLSANG, Jacob DEN AST a 5:42
56º 27 PREIDLER, Georg AUT ARG a 5:42 4″

General Classement:

San Vicente de la Barquera – Oviedo. Alto del Naranco 181,0 kms.
3074,8 kms.
13/09/2013 17:40:40
1º 184 HORNER, Christopher USA RLT 77:56:05 85 24″
2º 31 NIBALI, Vincenzo ITA AST a 3 64 12″
3º 1 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP MOV a 1:06 12 19″
4º 121 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP KAT a 1:57 51 18″
5º 205 ROCHE, Nicolas IRL TST a 3:49 62 20″
6º 11 POZZOVIVO, Domenico ITA ALM a 6:00 66 4″
7º 151 KONIG, Leopold CZE TNE a 6:38 6 10″
8º 101 PINOT, Thibaut FRA FDJ a 7:02 62
9º 91 SÁNCHEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 7:45 69
10º 127 MORENO, Daniel ESP KAT a 11:05 97 36″
11º 36 KANGERT, Tanel EST AST a 11:18 80
12º 131 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LAM a 12:13 96 9″
13º 5 HERRADA, José ESP MOV a 12:53 33 1″
14º 61 ARROYO, David ESP CJR a 15:55 97 1″
15º 56 NERZ, Dominik GER BMC a 18:52 24 2″
16º 186 KISERLOVSKI, Robert CRO RLT a 20:11 28
17º 206 SÖRENSEN, Chris Anker DEN TST a 21:33 90 13″
18º 63 CARDOSO, Andre POR CJR a 24:29 21 4″
19º 2 CAPECCHI, Eros ITA MOV a 25:06 66
20º 92 ANTON, Igor ESP EUS a 26:00 37
21º 82 BAGOT, Yohann FRA COF a 28:46 26
22º 202 MAJKA, Rafal POL TST a 29:30 14
23º 198 URAN, Rigoberto COL SKY a 33:29 1 6″
24º 157 MENDES, José Joao POR TNE a 38:13 95
25º 68 TXURRUKA, Amets ESP CJR a 42:13 4 2″
26º 191 HENAO, Sergio Luis COL SKY a 43:10 97
27º 96 NIEVE, Mikel ESP EUS a 45:30 71
28º 32 BRAJKOVIC, Janez SLO AST a 49:05 85
29º 95 MARTÍNEZ, Egoi ESP EUS a 57:29 6 1″
30º 33 FUGLSANG, Jacob DEN AST a 58:19 42
31º 139 ULISSI, Diego ITA LAM a 1:04:59 11 7″
32º 27 PREIDLER, Georg AUT ARG a 1:13:09 71 4″
33º 107 ROUX, Anthony FRA FDJ a 1:14:52 52 3″
34º 165 PAUWELS, Serge BEL OPQ a 1:16:10 5
35º 156 HUZARSKI, Bartosz POL TNE a 1:16:23 20 4″
36º 209 ZAUGG, Oliver SUI TST a 1:17:51 59
37º 103 ELISSONDE, Kenny FRA FDJ a 1:22:42 97
38º 22 BARGUIL, Warren FRA ARG a 1:22:43 91 20″
39º 142 DE GREEF, Francis BEL LTB a 1:24:35 88 3″
40º 94 LANDA, Mikel ESP EUS a 1:27:16 80
41º 81 COPPEL, Jerome FRA COF a 1:29:29 81
42º 85 MATE, Luis Angel ESP COF a 1:30:40 9
43º 9 SZMYD, Sylvester POL MOV a 1:30:54 46 1″
44º 218 VALLS FERRI, Rafael ESP VCD a 1:33:45 20
45º 122 CARUSO, Giampaolo ITA KAT a 1:35:01 99
46º 104 GENIEZ, Alexandre FRA FDJ a 1:37:43 67 13″
47º 41 MOLLEMA, Bauke NED BEL a 1:40:07 92 15″
48º 214 FLECHA, Juan Antonio ESP VCD a 1:40:15 26 3″
49º 58 SANTAROMITA, Ivan ITA BMC a 1:41:00 22
50º 166 SERRY, Pieter BEL OPQ a 1:41:55 60

Chris Horner im roten Trikot

Edvald Boasson Hagen und Georg Preidler

Michele Scarponi und Nicholas Roche

Jose Mendes greift an

Jose Herrada

Katusha bei der Arbeit