Mikel Nieve (Team Euskaltel) escapes to impressive stage 16 win in 2010 Tour of Spain; Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha) grabs overall lead in Vuelta a Espana 2010.

Local rider Joaquin Rodriguez (Team Katusha) took the overall lead in the Vuelta a Espana after the race's toughest stage on Monday, but with only five days left the final result is far from decided.

Rodriguez's Spanish compatriot Mikel Nieve won the 16th stage, the third for his Euskaltel-Euskadi squad in the Tour of Spain 2010.

Nieve broke away from a five-man group eight kilometres from the Asturias summit finish of Cotobello just over a minute ahead of Frank Schleck of Luxembourg and Team Saxo Bank, with Belgium's Kevin de Weert third.

Rodriguez powered out of a tiny pack of favourites with less than a kilometer to go to the sundrenched summit of Cotobello at the climax of the 181 km stage in the Asturian mountains, regaining the lead he held for one day earlier in the tour.

Fourth in this stage, the Katusha rider is 33 seconds ahead of Team Liquigas' Vincenzo Nibali, with Ezequiel Mosquera of Spain 53 seconds back, signalling a tough contest over the next five days. Stage winner Nieve dedicated the first victory of his career to one of the race's previous leaders, his teammate Igor Anton who crashed badly and dropped out on Saturday.

"Igor would have won overall for sure and when he quit like that it felt like our world had caved in," Nieve said.

The 2010 Vuelta a Espana concludes on September 19th in Madrid.

Stay tuned to Roadcycling.com for complete 2010 Vuelta a Espana coverage including news, results, interviews and video highlights from every stage. Spread the word about our 2010 Vuelta coverage and please support our advertisers - they make our Tour of Spain 2010 coverage possible! When not at your computer, visit our mobile cycling magazine Roadcycling.mobi from your mobile phone or download our new cycling app for Nokia phones.