Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) rode away from all his pre-race rivals in today's stage of the Vuelta a Espana but lost a massive 48 seconds to new leader Chris Horner (Radioshack). Now 2nd overall, Nibali and his Astana team is confident that he has time on his side and is now getting into his best form.

Pre-race favourite Vincenzo Nibali showed that he is ready to win this year's Vuelta a Espana when he left all of his pre-race rivals behind on today's mountain stage. However, a danger man emerged along the way as Chris Horner rode himself into the leader's jersey by taking an impressive solo win atop the steep Alto de Hazallanas.

Nibali is now 2nd overall, 43 seconds behind Horner. Many were surprised by the American's performance but Nibali had always known that the Radioshack rider was a danger man.

“The race was very much controlled when Chris Horner attacked," he explained. "We watched each other. There were a few attacks but I looked at climbing at my own rhythm. Once I could do my race alone, I didn’t lose any more time on Horner. It’s impossible to do everything. Horner is in a great shape. This is his second stage win. He has already demonstrated that his condition is excellent at the moment, despite his age.”

Nibali is confident that he still has time to take back what he lost today and has set his sights on the time trial which follows on Wednesday following tomorrow's rest day.

"I had Jakob Fuglsang with me in the final climb and he set a good pace to eliminate a lot of the main group," he said. "Horner attacked soon after that but I chose to wait until 2.5km to go to make my own separation. I think this Vuelta is still a long way from the finish, and there are so many difficult days ahead of us, starting with the time trial on Wednesday. But tomorrow is a rest day, and that's the most important thing right now."

Nibali has also set his sights on the world championships. Hence, he started the race a little under-prepares, hoping to get into his top shape by the time the race reached its first rest day. According to sports director Aleksandr Shefer, everything is going as planned.

"Nibali came into the Vuelta at about 75 percent of his full form, and our goal was simply not to lose time against the main rivals before the first rest day," he said. "Tomorrow is the first rest day and he is in second place. Probably he won't take the jersey back in the time trial in Wednesday, because it's a short course and Horner is a good time trialist on his own. But after the first rest day Nibali is going to be in top form more or less, and if we can get to within about 15 seconds of the jersey then we will all be in chocolate."

Starting at 13.10 CEST you can follow the time trial in its entirety on CyclingQyotes.com/live.