Nieve won the “Queen's stage” of the Spanish classic, a grueling 181.4-kilometer (112.7-mile) ride with a special category finish in 4 hours, 51, 59 seconds for the Spaniard's first career stage win.

Frank Schleck of Saxo Bank was 1:06 back for second while Kevin de Weert was third.

Rodriguez wears the leader's red jersey for the second time after finishing fourth to move 33 seconds ahead of overnight leader Vincenzo Nibali a time of 70:24:39.

Ezequiel Mosquera of Spain finished sixth Monday to be 53 seconds behind Rodriguez in third, while Schleck is 2:16 back in fourth.
 
Gesink wins in Montreal  

In Montreal, Canada, Robert Gesink emerged as one of the strongmen of the late cycling season on Sunday when he won the inaugural Grand Prix de Montreal, but the Dutchman has ruled out competing in next month's world championships.

"I'm not going (to the worlds) because my end of season goal is to ride a great Tour de Lombardie," said Gesink, who beat young Slovak Peter Sagan and local favorite Ryder Hesjedal on the 193.6 kms of the race.

"I don't think the Melbourne course suits me and with the jetlag, it won't be a great preparation for Lombardie,” he added.

The Italian classic takes place two weeks after the Sept. 29-Oct. 3 world championships in Australia.

Dutch cycling's leading hope for two seasons, Gesink is coming of age at 24. He was sixth in the last Tour de France and was a major contender in the Tour of Switzerland earlier in the summer.

On a tricky, hilly course traced around the Mount Royal, the Rabobank rider played a waiting game and it paid off. "The gameplan was to wait until the last lap to move. It was tricky because I had good legs but I stuck to the plan and it worked," he said.

A punishing move in the last of 16 ascents of the main hill, the Camilien-Houde climb, did the trick.

Gasping for air in the finale, the lean climber managed to hold his rivals at bay, a sign of his current strength as the chasing group included all the favorites.

"It's probably the biggest win in my career because it's my first in such a one-day race," he said.

While Sagan's second place confirmed the young Slovak's strength after his stage victories in Paris-Nice, Tour de Romandie and Tour of California, Hesjedal was probably the rider with most to lose on home turf.

"It's as good as can be because I had the honor of riding with the number one bib at home," he said.

Yet the Garmin-Transitions rider was left to lead the chase for most of the day, wasting a lot of strength while his rivals watched for his every move.

"It's hard to understand. This is a one-day race. It was not like I had the yellow jersey on my back. It looked as if they did not want to win here," said the Canadian, seventh in the last Tour de France, about the lack of support he received.

The Quebec and Montreal Grand Prix were the first ProTour races held in North America and the International Cycling Union (UCI) president Pat McQuaid said they "laid the foundations for great and lasting ProTour dates in Canada.”