Euskaltel chill out as Bola del Mundo looms large

Euskaltel did not leave their mark on today's stage 19 from Piedrahíta to Toledo, insteading opting to save forces for tomorrow's big showdown on the Bola del Mundo. Some of the guys actually did try to get into the break early on anyway, but they fortunately didn't succeed. The stage-finish was a little harder than anticipated, resulting in most of the sprinters getting eliminated. Koldo was one of the casualties, rolling in in 30th place at 15 seconds along with Oroz and Nieve. Txurruka was 36 back, Verdugo 53 and Urtasun 1:03. I assume Euskaltel will do their utmost to light up tomorrow's penultimate stage to the top of the Bola del Mundo in search of another stage-victory. Mikel Nieve is likely to be Euskaltel's best hope of achieving that goal, but I suspect Amets, JJ and/or Gorka Verdugo will try to infiltrate the early break. It's going to be fireworks.