Vuelta Weekend Roundup

It's been a busy weekend at the Vuelta, so lets get on with it.

Fist of all, here's the scores after stage 7. Looks like I just stayed ahead of the Roulers.

Stage 8 featured a brutal finish, that was as steep-as-a-steep-thing. Just as I, and plenty of other people thought, it was the sort of finish that suited Joaquim Rodriguez.

So J-rod took the leaders jersey, and my team did enough to keep me at the top of the table. And now it seems I have a new team snapping at my heels, as Hombre Ariba! have moved into second.

Stage 9 today was another uphill finish. So surely another chance for Rodriguez to shine?

Well no. It was to be a day for young Dan Martin of Garmin-Cervelo, who earned his first Grand Tour stage win.

As the road went up, some big names began to struggle. First it was Igor Anton in trouble. Then went Scarponi, J-rod and Van Den Broeck. The small group that made it to the finish may have been led in by Martin, but it was second placed Bauke Mollema who took over the race lead, by 1 second from Rodriguez.

Bradley Wiggins was strong today. Working away at the front, he took back some of the time he lost during that disastrous team time trial. Tomorrow we've got the big individual time trial, and over 47km, there could be some big gaps. As long as he didn't do too much today, it could be a chance for Bradley to take back more time. And maybe take the race lead, as he sits only a minute behind Mollema. Also hoping to do well against the clock tomorrow will be Menchov and Nibali, while the likes of Tony Martin and Cancellara will be hoping to take the stage win.