The answer you're looking for is Eric Caritoux, 1984, six seconds. That's the narrowest final general classification victory in the history of the Vuelta a España, but this year's edition promises to give that record a good run, as Sky's Chris Froome briefly cracked overall leader JJ Cobo of Geox, claiming a stage victory and time bonus that cut his overall deficit to the Spaniard to 13 seconds. Ten years earlier Jose Manuel Fuente won by 11 seconds, so this year's edition is just on the podium of all-time great finishes, but with three Basque stages and the final circuit around Madrid, perhaps Froome can further narrow things, or even steal the jersey off Cobo's back.

The action was pretty tepid until the final ascent to Peña Cabarga, a nasty little 6km climb with a 10% average gradient and ramps of up to 18%. In fact, it was on the steepest sections, with under 3km to go, where Cobo accelerated, trying to seal his victory, with a ragged-looking Froome on his wheel. But Froome was either having a moment or setting up Cobo, because he unleashed the attack of his life, dropping Cobo and briefly looking like he was riding into the overall lead as the Geox man wobbled. The climb never got very easy, and Froome struggled to close out his victory, while Cobo recovered and got back to Froome, albeit after digging way too deep to contest the stage. Froome took a 1" gap and the 20" time bonus, but Cobo got 12 of those back by taking second. Bauke Mollema took third and closed in on a podium finish, as Bradley Wiggins of Sky sagged back and the former overall leader now has to cling to a 24" lead of his own to hold off the young Dutch challenger for third. The rest of the top ten was filled by guys like Dan Martin, the two Euskaltels Anton and Nieve, Marzio Bruseghin and Jurgen Van Den Broeck, all of whom had taken their shots on the lower slopes of the final climb only to lose contact with the two leaders. Results:

1. Christopher Froome, Sky
2. Juan Jose Cobo, Geox, at 0.01
3. Bauke Mollema, Rabobank, at 0.21
4. Dan Martin, Garmin, at 0.24
5. Igor Anton, Euskaltel, at 0.27

Just two contenders left on GC:

1. Cobo
2. Froome, at 0.13
3. Bradley Wiggins, Sky, at 1.41
4. Mollema, at 2.05
5. Denis Menchov, Geox, at 3.48

• yesterday's Assault on Angliru by Chris,
• the current standings at LaVuelta.com,
• a set of large photos at Steephill.tv.

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Geox climber Juan Jose Cobo took his Vuelta a Espana performance up a step and reached new heights in his career with a dramatic victory on the feared slopes of the Alto de l'Angliru, a performance that bested his second from yesterday and which also put him in the leader's red jersey. Cobo attacked as the legendary road steepened, passing Igor Anton of Euskaltel and soloing home through a sea of humanity and over the horrific 23% gradients of the Angliru. The steepest pitch, coming with just under 3km remaining, claimed the hopes of race leader Bradley Wiggins (and the moto camera following him), as he and several others cracked and wobbled, giving Cobo the chance to take his 30-second lead out to 48 seconds over Wouter Poels of Vacansoleil, Cobo's teammate Denis Menchov, and Sky's Chris Froome. Wiggins came in 1.21 down, after a brave defense of his jersey that fell one mega-ramp short of success.

Defending champion Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas dropped out of contention today, as did Jakob Fuglsang and Frederik Kessiakov, both of whom entered the day under a minute down. Bauke Mollema of Rabobank also saw his overall chances dented, though he remains solidly in the white jersey just 1.31 down. Froome and Wiggins are still both within striking distance of Cobo, just 20 and 46 seconds in arrears, with at least one more stage of consequence as the race enters the Basque Country after tomorrow's rest day. Cobo has never finished higher than 10th in a grand tour, so while he is an established climber, his ability to defend a race lead is totally unknown. Cobo becomes the ninth different leader of the race, a statistic that can sometimes be misleading in a grand tour, but in this case is a pretty accurate reflection of a Vuelta lacking in dominant riders.

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Sometimes it pays to join the early breakaway. Michael Albasini of HTC-Highroad celebrated stage victory in Ponferrada after the early escape survived to contest the stage victory. Eros Capecchi finished second, while Daniel Moreno took third.

With the weekend's high mountain stages looming, the field proved content to let the break ride today. The main filed crossed the line 1:32 behind the Albasini. Bradley Wiggins successfully defended his race lead and will wear the Red Jersey into the mountains.

Vincenzo Nibali moved up to second after he picked up some intermediate time bonus love. The Liquigas-Cannondale rider now lurks 4 seconds behind race leader Wiggins. Chris Froome dropped to third at 7 seconds. Nicholas Roche, meanwhile after his day out in the break, moved up to fourteenth overall. Here are the current standings.

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Super sprinter Peter Sagan of Liquigas-Cannondale won Thursday's stage in Pontevedra.John Degenkolb, the young German sprinter from HTC-Highroad finished second, while Leopard-Trek's Daniele Bennati took third.

To no one's real surprise, the relatively flat stage came down to a bunch sprint. First HCT-Highroad, then Leopard-Trek took control in the closing kilometers, but Sagan came out on top and celebrated his second stage victory of this Vuelta a España.

Thanks to today's win, Sagan now sits just 6 points behind Joaquím Rodríguez of Katusha in the Points classification.

The general classification remained relatively unchanged with Bradley Wiggins of Team Sky retaining the Red Jersey of race leader. Chris Froome sits second at 7 seconds, Fredrik Kessiakoff is third at 9 seconds. A small split in the bunch near the finish allowed Bauke Mollema to gain 11 seconds on Wiggins. Smart riding by the Dutchman there! Here are the complete standings for the Vuelta a España.

David Moncoutié of Cofidis won Wednesday's stage of the Vuelta a España after a solo escape. The stage finished at the summit of the Estación de Montaña Manzaneda and perfectly suited the lanky French climbing specialist.

Moncoutié has an affinity for the Spanish mountains. He counts three previous stage victories at the Vuelta a España, and he has also won the mountains classification three times.

Beñat Intxausti of Movistar finished second at 1:18. Luis León Sánchez crossed the line third at same time. Behind them, Joaquím Rodríguez of Katusha made a dash for freedom from the main field in the closing kilometers, but only picked up a few seconds.

In the general classification battle, Bradley Wiggins took over the race lead from his team-mate Chris Froome, who led the race after a stellar showing in Monday's time trial. Wiggins entered the Vuelta as Team Sky's leader, and the team stayed with the plan, despite Froome's overnight lead. Froome went to the front and worked for Wiggins on the final climb, and Wiggins did enough work to take the Red Jersey.

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Tony Martin of HTC-Highroad won today's stage of the Vuelta a España, a 47 kilometer time trial in Salamanca. Martin beat out two Team Sky riders to take the stage victory. Chris Froome finished second at :59, Bradley Wiggins third at 1:22. Wiggins went out fast, but seemed to slow in the second part of the race, perhaps due to a growing headwind. Swiss time trial specialist Fabian Cancellara finished fourth at 1:27 behind the flying Martin.

Thanks to his strong ride in the time trial, Team Sky's Chris Froome took over the race lead. The general classifiation battle remains tight as Jakob Fuglsang of Leopard-Trek sits second at 12 seconds, while Bradley Wiggins is second at 20 seconds. Last year's winner Vincenzo Nibali of Liquigas-Cannonadle is fourth at 31 seconds. The standings set up an intriguing plotline at Team Sky, where Wiggins entered the race as the team's general classification leader, but not trails his young team-mate Froome.

Tomorrow, the Vuelta takes a rest day. Then, it's back into the mountains. Wednesday's stage runs 167 kilometers from Verìn to the Estaciòn de Montaña Manzaneda. Yes, kids, that bit about the Estaciòn de Montaña means uphill finish. It should be another day for the general classification to reshuffle.

Here is the current general classification:

Vuelta a España complete results and general classification standings.

Reports are coming (from VeloNews so far) that Garmin-Cervelo sprinter and US national team ace Tyler Farrar may have to abandon the Vuelta a Espana with an injury to his hip. Farrar headed off for x-rays, unable to place any weight on his left leg, after landing hard in a crash at the end of stage 7 of the Vuelta a Espana. Marcel Kittel of Skil-Shimano won the bunch sprint to Talavera de la Reina, just ahead of the crash, which happened when Farrar and Vacansoleil's Michel Golas collided while vying for the same narrow opening in the front wall of riders with 300 meters to go. Kittel outlasted yesterday's winner Peter Sagan of Liquigas for the win, with Rabobank's Oscar Freire third.

If x-rays are negative, Farrar may yet abandon the race but still have time to recover (albeit without the preferred race miles) in time for the sprinter-friendly World Championships in Copenhagen, with the road race a full month away (Sept. 25). But Farrar landed hard on his hip at full speed, and any more complicating injury such as a fracture would surely bring an end to his season. Without Farrar, the United States has limited options at the Worlds, considering the immense talent other countries will bring.

Results:

1. Marcel Kittel, Skil-Shimano
2. Peter Sagan, Liquigas, s.t.
3. Oscar Freire, Rabobank, s.t.
4. Daniele Bennati, Leopard-Trek, s.t.
5. Lloyd Mondory, AG2R, s.t.

No change on GC, Sylvain Chavanel still leads Dani Moreno by 15 seconds.

SebWatch: A daily check-in on Sebastian Lang's quest to finish all three 2011 Grand Tours. Sebastian finished 123rd today, safely inside the peloton, with no time gap. Fourteen stages to Madrid!