Bradley Wiggins claimed the overall lead in the Vuelta a España today, replacing Team Sky colleague Chris Froome.
Wiggins, having climbed into the top three in Monday's time-trial in Salamanca, finished 13th on today's 11th stage between Verin and Estacion de Montana Manzaneda and, with Froome 27 seconds back in 34th spot, it was enough to see him earn the red jersey.
Wiggins, who crashed out of the Tour de France with a broken collarbone, now boasts a seven-second lead over Froome in the overall classification, with reigning Vuelta champion Vincenzo Nibali in third spot, four seconds further adrift.
Today's 167-kilometre stage victory went to Frenchman David Moncoutie of Cofidis, who made a solo breakaway towards the end to cross the mountain finish in a time of four hours and 38 minutes.
Spanish duo Benat Intxausti (Movistar) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Rabobank) came home in second and third spots, respectively, one minute and 18 seconds behind Moncoutie.
Wiggins said: "I'm absolutely delighted to be in red and cannot thank my team-mates enough - they looked out for me and 'Froomey' right the way through the stage and did a fantastic job.
"It was chilly out there on that final climb but I felt comfortable right the way to the finish. When Rodriguez attacked there was no point in trying to follow him and as always, I just kept a steady pace and worked my way to the top.
"To have Team Sky one and two on the podium is about as good as it gets really."
Vuelta a España, Estacion de Montana Manzaneda, Spain
Leading positions after Stage 11 (Verin – Estacion de Montana Manzaneda, 171km): 1 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit En Ligne 4 hrs 38 mins 00 sec, 2 Benat Intxausti Elorriaga (Spa) Movistar Team at 1 min 18 secs, 3 Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Rabobank Cycling Team at same time, 4 Mathias Frank (Swi) BMC Racing Team at 1.36, 5 Sergio Miguel Moreira Paulinho (Por) Team RadioShack at 1.43, 6 Matteo Montaguti (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale at 2.29, 7 Amets Txurruka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi at same time, 8 Aitor Perez Arrieta (Spa) Lampre – ISD at 2.55, 9 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team at 3.01, 10 Vicente David Bernabeu Armengol (Spa) Andalucia Caja Granada at 3.08, 11 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team at same time, 12 Wout Poles (Ned) Vacansoleil-DCM Pro Cycling Team at same time, 13 Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Sky Procycling at same time, 14 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC at same time, 15 Sergio Pardilla Belllon (Spa) Movistar Team at same time
Selected Others: 34 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling at 3 mins 35 secs, 144 Ian Stannard (Gbr) Sky Procycling at 23.00
General classification after Stage 11: 1 Bradley Wiggins (Gbr) Sky Procycling 42 hrs 50 mins 41 secs, 2 Christopher Froome (Gbr) Sky Procycling at 0.07, 3 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale at 0.11, 4 Fredrik Kessiakoff (Swe) Pro Team Astana at 0.14, 5 Jakob Fuglsang (Den) Leopard Trek at 0.19, 6 Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team at 0.47, 7 Maxime Monfort (Bel) Leopard Trek at 1.06, 8 Juan Jose Cobo Acebo (Spa) Geox-TMC at 1.27, 9 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre (Spa) Team RadioShack at 1.53, 10 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Team RadioShack at 2.00, 11 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Omega Pharma-Lotto at 2.01, 12 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Movistar Team at 2.22, 13 Denis Menchov (Rus) Geox-TMC at 2.42, 14 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team at 2.56, 15 Sergio Pardilla Belllon (Spa) Movistar Team at 3.03
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