Daniel Moreno (Katusha) has been a dominant figure in the first part of the Vuelta a Espana, and today he once again took the headlines when he crushed the opposition on the 27% climb in  Valdepeñas de Jaen. The Spaniard made a fierce acceleration on the lower slopes and held off a desperate chase from Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) to take his second stage win of the race and take over the leader's jersey from Nicolas Roche (Saxo-Tinkoff).

Daniel Moreno was expected to play his usual lieutenant role in this year's Vuelta a Espana but at the end of the 9th stage, the Katusha rider suddenly finds himself with two stage wins and the leader's jersey. His stage win tally was doubled today when he exerted his dominance on the brutally steep 27% ramp in Valdepeñas de Jaen.

In a finish that was tailor-made to the characteristics of his team captain Joaquim Rodriguez who had won when a stage last finished on the climb, he was allowed to make the first Katusha shot. He flew past Tanel Kangert (Astana) who had made the first move, and quickly opened a massive gap.

Alejandro Valverde set off in pursuit and Rodriguez had to dig deep to stay on the wheel of his former team captain. A little further behind Nicolas Roche was desperately trying to defend his overall lead, having combined forces with Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) and world champion Philippe Gilbert.

Valverde was able to keep a rather stable gap to Moreno but he never got any closer. The Katusha rider took a big solo win - his second in the race - while Valverde and Rodriguez crossed the line 4 seconds later.

The clock was ticking and when Roche finished his race in 4th, his loss was 8 seconds. As Moreno picked up 10 bonus seconds and had started the stage just 17 seconds behind, the Katusha rider took it all: the stage win and the red jersey while he also defended his lead in the points competition.

Pre-race favourite Vincenzo Nibali (Astana) limited his losses on a climb that didn't suit him well and so moved into 3rd on GC, 20 seconds behind Moreno. However, he remains ahead of big rivals Valverde and Rodriguez who are 4th and 6th respectively.

A furious speed on the descent towards the bottom of the final climb had split the peloton into pieces. Rigoberto Uran (Sky), Rafal Majka (Saxo-Tinkoff), Thibaut Pinot (FDJ), Domenico Pozzovico (Ag2r) and Haimar Zubeldia (Radioshack) all missed the split and they all lost considerable time as a consequence.

Moreno will get no time to rest on his laurels on tomorrow's 10th stage which is the toughest so far. Two big climbs await inside the final 40km, and the finish on the Alto de Hazallanas is brutally steep. A big showdown between the favourites are expected on a day that should produce massive time gaps.

Starting at 15.00 CEST you can follow the stage on CyclingQuotes.com/live.

5 riders make up the day's break

The 163,7km stage had a lumpy profile for most of the day but the major difficulties were all located near the end. The category 2 Alto de los Frailes was followed by a fast decent to the bottom of the feared steep ramp up to the finish in Valdepeñas de Jaen.

Johnny Hoogerland (Vacansoleil) and Luke Rowe (Sky) attacked as soon as the flag was dropped to signal the official start of the race and they were quickly joined by Javier Aramendia (Caja Rural), Anthony Roux (FDJ) and Lloyd Mondory (Ag2r). The 5-rider group was allowed to pull out a big 6.34 gap.

BMC and Katusha in control

BMC had big plans for Gilbert today and so the American started to organize a chase. They got assistance from Katusha who knew that the finish was perfectly suited to Moreno and Rodriguez.

The two teams brought the gap down to 4 minutes when they decided to step off the gas, allowing the gap to grow back up to 5.30. They kicked back into action and that saw the gap come down at a steady pace.

Lotto joins the chase

Lotto Belisol knew that the finish could be suited to Jelle Vanendert and so the Belgian team also took part in the pace-setting. Jurgen Van De Walle (Lotto), Klaas Lodewyck (BMC), Marco Pinotti (BMC) and Martin Kohler (BMC) did most of the work while Katusha had now disappeared from the front.

As they approached the bottom of the day's first climb, the gap was less than a minute and the battle for position had intensified. Belkin took control in an attempt to position Bauke Mollema and Laurens Ten Dam but several trains were organized near the front of the peloton.

The break is caught

With 29km to go, the break was almost caught and so Aramendia decided to attack. Mondory set off in pursuit and Roux bridged across to his compatriot. Rowe and Hoogerland fell back to the peloton which was now led by Belkin and NetApp.

It was not a day for a breakaway and a few moments later, both the leader and the chase duo were caught. Belkin set a high speed with Stef Clement and David Tanner when they hit the bottom of the climb.

Txurruka attacks

Amets Txurruka (Caja Rural) exploited a moment of hesitation to attack but moments later Alexandre Geniez (FDJ) decided to string out the peloton in an attempt to reduce the stress for his team captain Thibaut Pinot. Hence, Txurruka never got a big gap and he was quickly overtaken by Robert Kiserlovski (Radioshack) when the Croatian made his attack.

Kiserlovski dangled a little in front of the peloton which was now led by BMC. Suddenly, Edvald Boasson Hagen (Sky) decided to test his legs for the world championships and the Norwegian quickly overtook Kiserlovski who fell back to the peloton.

Movistar leads the peloton

Nicolas Edet (Cofidis) set off in pursuit while Movistar took control in the peloton, the Spanish team trying to keep Valverde in a good position for the descent. Boasson Hagen had a 15-second gap when he crested the summit while Jose Herrada led the peloton up to Edet a little later.

Juan Antonio Flecha (Vacansoleil) made a short-lived attack on the descent. Luis-Leon Sanchez (Belkin) appeared to have more success when he made his move and for some time, the Spaniard was in pursuit of the lone Norwegian.

Paolini splits the peloton

Katusha didn't want to miss the opportunity to win the stage and so the Russian team hit the front, using Luca Paolini as a fabulous guide down the descent. Repeatedly, he had to slow down to wait for his teammates but the pace was still fast enough to blow the peloton to pieces.

Alberto Losada and Giampaolo Caruso (both Katusha) led a select group of race favorites up to Boasson Hagen with 1,8km to go but it was Janez Brajkovic (Astana) who hit the climb in first position. Next in line was Maciej Paterski (Cannondale), the Pole trying to set a steady pace that would suit his captain Ivan Basso.

That was when Kangert made his move, only to see Moreno make an immediate counterattack. The Spaniard flew up the steep slopes to double his stage win tally and take the red jersey.

Result:

1. Daniel Moreno 4.18.57

2. Alejandro Valverde +0.04

3. Joaquim Rodriguez

4. Nicolas Roche +0.08

5. Samuel Sanchez +0.09

6. Rinaldo Nocentini

7. Vinceno Nibali

8. Philippe Gilbert +0.13

9. Warren Barguil

10. Igor Anton +0.15

General classification:

1. Daniel Moreno 35.53.34

2. Nicolas Roche +0.01

3. Vincenzo Nibali +0.20

4. Alejandro Valverde +0.22

5. Chris Horner +0.28

6. Joaquin Rodriguez +0.56

7. Leopold König +1.09

8. Haimar Zubeldia +1.10

9. Rigoberto Uran +1.24

10. Ivan Santaromita +1.26

Points classification:

1. Daniel Moreno 93

2. Nicolas Roche 68

3. Alejandro Valverde 65

4. Michael Matthews 53

5. Joaquim Rodriguez 49

Mountains classification:

1. Nicolas Roche 15

2. Leopold König 12

3. Daniel Moreno 12

4. Nicolas Edet 11

5. Edvald Boasson Hagen 5

Combination classification:

1. Daniel Moreno 5

2. Nicolas Roche 5

3. Leopold König 16

4. Alejandro Valverde 17

5. Chris Horner 25

Teams classification:

1. Movistar 107.00.10

2. Saxo-Tinkoff +0.17

3. Radioshack +0.32

4. Astana +1.24

5. NetApp-Endura +2.46