Week 1 of the 2008 Vuelta closed with a lot of action, many changes in leadership and a fine butt whipping by Astana. Mirroring the Giro, this year's Tour of Spain started out with a short team time trial. These exist purely for show as minimal time can be gained between the GC contenders. Nevertheless, it did produce a lot of suffering as most teams finished with well less than the 9 riders each team started with. Surprise winner, Liquigas finished 8 seconds ahead of Euskaltel - Euskadi and put leader Filippo Pozzato in the first gold leader's jersey.

The second stage was very similar to this year's stage 1 of the Tour de France and consisted of a sharp uphill just before the finish. And just like the Tour, Spanish champ Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), triumphed and ended the day with the leader's jersey. Proving to everyone that his form is good, Valverde still insisted he is here to win stages and not for a high placing on GC.

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The Vuelta's third stage ended in a traditional bunch sprint with Tornado Tom Boonen (Quick Step) returning to his winning ways by beating out Italian Daniele Bennati (Liquigas). By nature of time bonuses, Bennati went on to gain the leader's jersey. Three days and three different leaders for the Vuelta.

The fourth stage was a reverse of the third stage. Bennati came in the winner of this bunch sprint by beating out Boonen. For the first time, the leader's jersey did not change hands after the stage. But with the first big test for the GC the following day, Bennati was not feeling too comfortable in the golden jersey. All of the main contenders have to come out and show their cards in the mostly flat, out and back time trial. More geared towards time trial specialists, the climbers will have to limit their losses before the big climbs begin this weekend.

The 42.5km stage five time trial was won by American Levi Leipheimer (Astana), who came in just 12 seconds ahead of a surprising Sylvain Chavanel (Cofidis). Alberto Contador, Leipheimer's teammate, finished the best of the rest at 4th, just 49 seconds behind while Valverde finished just beyond at 59 seconds. Carlos Sastre (Team CSC) lost 90 seconds to Leipheimer, not bad considering he's the worst of the contenders in this discipline. Leipheimer ended up just 2 seconds ahead of Chavanel for yet another new leader of the Vuelta. Leipheimer becomes the 5th American to win a stage at the Vuelta and only the 2nd ever to wear the leader's jersey. His win adds another dynamic to Team Astana considering they entered the race with one leader, Contador. With Leipheimer's dominant win, the strategy has to change a bit to take advantage of his good form. It remains to be seen if Levi can keep up with Contador in the mountains, who's considered the best climber in the world.

Stage 6 was similar to the 2nd stage and suited the more explosive classics riders. There was a hill just 5km from the finish line that fractured the peloton and gave Italian Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) just the opening he needed to confirm his form just ahead of the World Championships. Chavanel ended up going after bonus sprints for an effort to gain the leader's jersey. It worked, he'll start the next stage 10 seconds ahead of Leipheimer. Not really a disaster for Team Astana who have more lofty goals in the next few weeks.

So on to the Pyrenees, which start this Saturday (Friday was a rest stage). Stage 7 commences three straight days in the mountains and ends in the tiny principality of Andorra. This 233.2km stage includes 1 category three, 1 category two, 1 category one and the final hors category climb to the finish. A tough stage after a rest day is always a question mark as some riders won't know how their bodies will react to the effort. Rest assured, at the end of this stage, the GC picture will become clearer.

On a side note, CyclingTV has been working pretty smoothly. When the most annoying thing is the wrong start times they post, I can't really complain. But I'm still crossing my fingers.

Top 5 GC after stage 6:
1 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis 17.35.35
2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) 0.10
3 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne 0.26
4 Alberto Contador (Spa) Astana 0.57
5 Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank 1.37