Antón 3rd in first test

Igor Antón got off to a very good start in the Vuelta GC battle in today's first real head-to-head test between the overall favourites. Stage three from Marbella to Málaga ended atop a small ascent, with Gilbert thoroughly outclassing the rest with a solo win. Purito Rodríguez wasn't far behind in second at three seconds, while Igor Antón showed his form is right where it has to be by taking third a further ten seconds back. In the process he distanced Nibali by two seconds, Menchov by five, Arroyo, Mosquera and Fränk Schleck by six, and Danielson, Kreuziger, Sastre, Karpets and Lövkvist by 17, while Andy finished in excess of 14 minutes down, obviously ruling himself out of contention. It's still early doors, I know, but I get the feeling that every second will count in this year's edition, so lying 7th overall, just 21 seconds down on the best of the GC riders so far, Purito, is a very good start indeed. Excellent. What was not so excellent was Beñat Intxausti's ride. He finished an unfathomable 19:05 down along with a host of sprinters. What's up with that? I have no idea, but for all I know he could have crashed underway or is suffering from a virus or something. More on Beñat's mystery ride later when I find out. As for the others, Mikel Nieve was an excellent 17th at just 23 seconds. That's a stellar ride, maybe he'll take Beñat's place as Igor's right-hand man as we go along. JJ Oroz ended up at 1:37, Egoi, tired from putting in a superb shift in the break of the day, finished at 2:58, Amets Txurruka, Pablo Urtasun and Gorka Verdugo all finished up at 11 sharp, while Koldo Fernández took it easy and came in towards the very back end of the peloton 25:16 down.