Philippe Gilbert of Belgium won the 19th stage of the Spanish Vuelta, which Italian cyclist Vincenzo Nibali still leads going into the decisive penultimate leg.

Gilbert, who was overall leader for five days early in the Spanish classic, won his second stage of the current edition after crossing the finish line in 5 hours, 43 minutes, 41 seconds yesterday. Tyler Farrar of the United States finished second in the same time.

Filippo Pozzato of Italy led a group of seven riders who were one second behind, including Nibali.

The Liquigas-Doimo cyclist stretched his overall lead over Ezequiel Mosquera of Spain by 12 seconds for a 50-second lead going into tpday's 172.1-kilometre leg that ends at at altitude of 2,247 metres in Bola del Mundo.