"There was a crisis," said team manager Erik Dekker about the nineteenth stage of the Vuelta. Captain Robert Gesink had to give everything he got to stay with the favorites during two climbs of the first category. The Dutchman pulled it off it the end and finished in a good seventh place. The Spaniard David Arroyo won the stage.

The were several attacks on the first climb already. A group of twelve riders managed to stay ahead. When Alberto Contador took a break to pee in the back of the pack, Moreno and Rodriguez, two dangerous riders in the classification, jumped towards the lead group. "There was a crisis from then on and that never stopped," said Dekker.

The lead of the first group stabilized around a minute until the second climb. "They went up there really fast," stated Dekker. Robert Gesink could not keep up when Carlos Sastre jumped to the lead group. "All favorites were together in the front, except Robert. He linked up on the top of the climb. The Vuelta ended there," summarized Gesink.

This meant a hard time for the other riders of the Rabo ProTeam as well. Dmitriy Kozontchuk was the first Rabo rider after Gesink to join the lead group. "He did that very well," said Dekker. Grischa Niermann and Marc de Maar also came back. There were problems for Juan Antonio Flecha. He was behind a crash on the first climb. There was good news about Theo Eltink. "What he was doing looked good and he was along nicely until his tire popped. A shame, because it would really have boosted his morale," said Dekker.

What is at stake tomorrow in the climb time trial is the top-five ranking from Robert Gesink. "It is going to be five six or seven. I know he is going to do well. But he has to be really good to hold on to the fifth place," according to Dekker.