Come Saturday afternoon we will know which one of two riders will ride into Madrid wearing a red jersey which has changed hands as much over the last few weeks as a jazz mag in a boys dormitory (or Pippo Pozzato's hotel room, if you will).

In one corner, with a 50 second cushion, is Sicilian youngster Vincenzo Nibali, the self-proclaimed 'Shark from the Strait'; in the other is grizzled Spanish veteran Ezequiel Mosquera, known as Zeke by his nearest and dearest (apparently his favourite character in Lost is the Bearded Man from The Others, known also as Mr Friendly).

The location for the super

Joaquin Rodriguez seized the red jersey once the Vuelta resumed after the opening rest day and the same Spaniard is in the lead on the second rest day a week later. So, not much has happened then? Wrong. Here are some of the things we have learned from the second week of the race.

Nobody wants to keep hold of the red jersey until Madrid: Rodriguez got stage fright and lost his slender lead after just one day to the man from whom he stole it. Igor Anton looked comfortable in red but not so much when covered in red blood. Vincenzo Nibali, with his slender four second lead, always looked as if he

So secret is Filippo Pozzato's weapon, he's keeping it firmly concealed in his trousers. Yes, this is the news that the oily long-haired Italian lothario is prepared to abstain from sex in a bid to be in tip-top condition for the World Championships.

In fact, it's now been five months since Pozzato had a bit of hanky panky - and with the Worlds still 23 days away, there will be no action between his sheets for a number of weeks.

Saddles' first thoughts are for Pippo's current room-mate on the Vuelta: it must be like being in the dormitory of an all-boys boarding school after lights out.

No one actually laid the blame for Monday's dramatic Tour spills on Tony Hayward's back door but they might as well have got on the bandwagon and stuck the knife in the BP chief executive.

The race's competition director Jean-Francois Pescheux said after the farcical finish to stage two in Spa that the mass crash was caused by oil or diesel fuel on the road.

As soon as the words came from his mouth, journalists around the world sharpened their knives at the prospect of another BP carve-up.

With the Gulf of Mexico filled to busting point with unrefined crude oil, it was only a matter of time

Andy Schleck may have taken the Tour's Tourmalet queen stage but it will be his winking rival Alberto Contador who will ride into Paris in yellow.

Not that Andy seems too bothered by it all. He's too busy being star struck in the company of a soon-to-be triple Tour winner.

What's more, Schleck's second stage victory of the race seemed rather scripted - as if he and Contador had decided, at some point during the final nine kilometres of attrition they rode more or less side by side, that it would be that way.

You take the stage; I'll take the Tour. Deal? Well, Andy wasn't complaining. He

If you ask Saddles, Astana have been fairly repugnant throughout the Tour - a surprise given we all presumed their nasty side would have left along with the garbage marked Armstrong and Bruyneel at the fag end of last season.

A few days ago, we had Alexandre Vinokourov cracking on the Col de la Ramaz only to get a sudden second wind on discovering the plight of an old foe.

"I'd almost sat up," Vino admitted with fire in his belly, "but when I heard that Armstrong had been dropped, I decided to get back to the front of the group with my team-mates."

And what a genial bunch of team-mates they

With the Vuelta taking a pause for its first rest day Blazin' Saddles reflects over the first eight days and one night of racing. Here are the principal things we have learnt:

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The 2010 Vuelta is an unpredictable beast: The
ubiquitous David Moncoutie opening mountain stage win and donning of the polka
dot jersey aside, the race has been a tough one to call so far. Nine different
stages have come up with nine different winners - none of whom have been the
guy we most expected to win, Mark Cavendish. Even the riders are confused, with
Oscar Freire saying about the stage two winner:

Like everyone in the cycling community, Saddles was
saddened by the news of the passing away of Laurent Fignon this week.

Cancer was one particular opponent the prolific Frenchman
couldn't overcome - although typically he gave it his best shot.

Back in July on his birthday, Saddles was given - by
his brother Axel - a copy of Fignon's honest and compelling autobiography
"We Were Young and Carefree".

It was July 3 the day the Tour started in Rotterdam.
Over the next three weeks Fignon would be following the race for the fifth year
running as an analyst on French TV - while undergoing intensive