An all-out attack by Joaquim Rodriguez on a short but viciously steep ascent earned the home rider victory on the eighth stage and the overall lead in the Tour of Spain 2011 earlier this afternoon.

With 500 metres left on a cobbled street so narrow just two or three competitors could squeeze across it, the Katusha rider blasted away alone for his second stage win in four days.

Italian Michele Scarponi was the second to drag himself to the summit of the slope, nine seconds back. Dutchman Bauke Mollema finished third.

Having gained a 20-second time bonus for his stage win, Rodriguez now has a 32-second overall advantage over team mate Daniel Moreno of Spain, with Dane Jakob Fuglsang in third spot.

The winner on stage four's tough uphill finish at Valdepenas de Jaen, Rodriguez told reporters that Saturday's leg was harder.

"There were constant changes of gradient, from nearly flat to really steep, and that is very tough," he said.

"But I'd come to check out the climb this July and I knew what to expect and how best to race on it. That made a big difference."

Fourth overall last year after losing the lead in the final time trial, Rodriguez said he expected to lose time in Monday's 47-km race against the clock in Salamanca.

"If I lose two minutes on Monday on the top guys I'll be satisfied," he explained. "I know the time-trial specialists like [Britain's Bradley] Wiggins and [Slovenian Janez] Brajkovic are going to destroy me that day.

"But the important thing is to have the lead at the end of the last stage into Madrid, not after Salamanca. Even if I just win this race by half a second I don't care."

Rodriguez said Sunday's summit finish on La Covatilla, a ski station deep in the mountains of western Spain, would represent another opportunity to increase his lead.

"It's not the kind of climb that suits me best but getting a few seconds here and a time bonus there is the best strategy I have," he said.

"Covatilla is a legendary climb and if I play it right I could cause a lot of damage."

Top sprinters Tyler Farrar of the U.S. and Oscar Freire of Spain pulled out during Saturday's stage, a 177.3-km trek through the sierras west of Madrid.

Farrar had an injured hip after being involved in a pile-up on stage seven while triple world champion Freire has had a bad cold since the start of the race.

The 2011 Vuelta a Espana race finishes in Madrid on September 11.

Watch video highlights from all stages of the Vuelta a Espana in our Roadcycling.com video section.