Behind them, the main pack lived through a nerve-wracking day, with several spills and an attack by the Caisse d’Epargne team which tried to surprise their rivals with the “abanicos” (fan formation riding). The stage was very exiting in the final kilometres, although ultimately there were no time differences among the favourites. Ezequiel Mosquera had a flat tire and lost 40 seconds, but since it was within the final three kilometres he didn’t lose ground in the overall classification on a day when all the favourites had to spend a lot of energy.

Andreas Klier, winner of the 13th stage of the Vuelta, thought that Jeremy Roy of the Française des Jeux team was going to pose more of a threat than Gerolsteiner's Tom Stamsnijder, in part due to the rivalry between the T-Mobile and Gerolsteiner riders. Klier, who is wearing an amulet around his neck his son gave him to wish him luck in the Vuelta, stated that the victory won't make him forget the "frustrating" season he's endured following a serious crash in which he suffered several fractured bones. Klier also said: "The bad weather didn’t bother me that much, since I personally like days like this. The victory, yes, it does serve to motivate me in looking ahead to next season and especially thinking of the classic spring races. the Tour of Flanders will be my main goal."

Galician rider Ezequiel Mosquera (Karpin-Galicia) said the 13th stage of the Vuelta was a horrendous day for him: "It’s one of those days you don’t forget. We had to ride through genuine rivers and avoid a whole lot of spills on a roadway that was more like a skating rink than a road surface to ride on... Then Caisse d’Epargne sprung an attack and caught me in a bad position. When I managed to get in and thought things were calming down, I got a flat tire and it was time to be nervous again. It’s been a crazy day". Ezequiel Mosquera added: "The problem in Murcia is that it hardly ever rains. That’s why it’s very dangerous for the riders on a day when it does rain because the road surface isn't clean and it becomes quite dangerous. When the big spill of the day happened, it was practically impossible to keep riding without falling, but cycling is like that."

According to Rabobank sports director Erik Breukink his team had no trouble to defend Denis Menchov's golden jersey: "There were three riders far behind in the classification who went on the attack, perfect. It was a rather chaotic day because of all the crashes and flat tires. In the finale, while the pack was gradually breaking up into bits, it was not a problem for Denis to maintain his position in the front, mainly because we had been continuously riding in the front ranks. After the split-up, he still had some teammates around him. So, we were not taken by surprise."

"It was heavy weather. Fortunately, it improved a little bit during the finale," was Erik Breukink's observation. The numerous crashes were a logical result of this. "Joost Posthuma fell on the asphalt once, but he was quick to get back on his bike. He was also the only one involved in a crash, so the damage was relatively minimal."

The stage which finished in Torre Pacheco didn’t result in any major upheavals in the overall standings of the Vuelta, although the closeness of the standings is increasingly the dominant note of the great national race. In the battle for the gold jersey, and despite the superior showing that Menchov has shown to this point, you have to remember that the Rabobank rider only has a two-minute edge over Caisse d'Epargne's Vladimir  Efimkin and fewer than three over Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto), not to mention Carlos Sastre (CSC). In the fight in the overall points classification, Paolo Bettini (Quickstep) continues as leader, but Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital), Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and his teammate Erik Zabel are increasingly involved in the struggle for this jersey. The duel will most likely not be resolved until Madrid. In the king of the mountains classification, only one point separates Denis Menchov, the leader, from the contender, Serafín Martínez, in second place. Menchov enjoys a much more comfortable lead in the combination classification.