Having been slightly disappointed with his performance in the first mountain stage, Joaquim Rodriguez bounced back with a great performance in today's second mountain battle. The Spaniard was pleased with his showing that allowed him to bridge the gap to Alberto Contador in the finale.

In the longest climb so far in the 2014 Vuelta a España, Team Katusha’s Joaquim Rodriguez took the first step in gaining back the time he needs in the general classification. With alone rider ahead to take the win and remains of the break being picked off along the way, Rodriguez used his teammates Eduard Vorganov and Dani Moreno to gain time on many other top riders, remaining in sixth place but pulling back 15-seconds in his quest to move onto the podium.

"It was tough. At one time I had a bad moment because of the cold as we were all soaked by the rain. In the end I am happy with how the race evolved and how well the team worked for me. They pulled very hard, making the final climb hard, until the moment when Contador attacked. Initially I had to let him go but very quickly I was able to make my return to the front," said Joaquim Rodriguez.

"Today it was a good opportunity to try to win the stage and to gain some seconds from our rivals. That was our original intention, but after a big group broke away the only thing we could do was send our rider in there, too. It was Eduard Vorganov who joined the breakaway group. He did a very strong race today. During the stage we tried to control the situation and to hold Joaquim in front. On the final climb the rain made the race even more complicated, but we were ready for it. The team did a nice job in the final climb, moving Joaquim to the leading position. When Contador attacked, Purito was helped by Dani and Eduard so was able to come to Contador and to win seconds from Valverde and Froome. It was a good result on the day for us," said team director José Azevedo.

It’s time for the well deserved first rest day on Monday. The peloton will take some time off the bike before returning to race against the clock in a long time trial of 36.7 km. Tuesday’s stage 10 begins in Real Monasterio de Santa María de Veruela and ends in Borja.The course profile includes a climb in the middle of the stage and should reshape the general classification going into a very difficult second week of racing at the 2014 Spanish tour.