Cobo reigns on Angliru to take red jersey in Vuelta

The hell of Angliru, the feared Asturian mountain with curves reaching 23.5-percent incline upon which Stage 15 of the Vuelta a España ended on Sunday, was transformed into heaven for Juanjo Cobo. The Geox-TMC rider from neighboring Cantabria, who was second on Saturday's stage 14, attacked on the final climb and took the stage, and the leader's red jersey.

With his change of pace, Cobo picked the bones of his rivals: Vicenzo Nibali finished 2:37 behind the Spaniard and dropped to 3:27 behind the race leaders.

Bradley Wiggins, who finished strongly on Saturday and was the owner of the red jersey before Sunday's 142.2km Avilés-Alto de L'Angliru stage, suffered alongside faithful Sky teammate Chris Froome to cross the line 1:21 behind Cobo. Froome powered to the tape in the three-racer group chasing Cobo, with Denis Menchov and Wouter Poels, 48 seconds later than the stage winner.

Battle was joined before the final ascent of Angliru, on the smaller knoll of Alto del Cordal, a five-kilometer climb that serves as an aperitif for the meatier main course. Simon Geschke, Andrew Talansky and Dimitri Champion wanted to have their dose of protagonism and led an early breakaway, but the peloton chased them down with 27 kilometers still to race. Nibali's Liquigas team, accustomed to bearing its teeth on downhill stretches this year, took the initiative on the ensuing descent, forcing Wiggins and his Sky colleagues to employ all their resources to stay in touch with the group.

Wiggins, though, dropped back in the descent and was forced to begin the ascent of Angliru in the worst possible manner: pounding away to keep pace with Nibali. Carlos Sastre managed to catch the leaders and Igor Antón, a favorite for the title at the outset, finally took the chance to show why, easily catching Sastre and leaving the peloton in his wake. Then Cobo erupted from the leading group and took on Antón, powering past the Basque climber and toward the line, his rivals floundering in his wake.

The British Sky pair are still within seconds of Cobo in the overall standing - Froome 20 adrift and Wiggins 46 - with Bauke Mollema, who sported the red jersey on Stage 9, 1:36 behind the new leader.