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Sánchez wins, climbs podium; Menchov secures; Sastre endures
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Samuel Sánchez delivered his third stage victory of this year’s Vuelta a España to secure his Basque Euskaltel-Euskadi team its first-ever podium finish in a grand tour in the team’s 14-year history.
Sánchez roared over Saturday’s short 20km individual time trial in the suburbs north of Madrid to knock Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) off the podium and give compatriot Carlos Sastre (CSC) a good fright for the second spot on the podium.
Race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank) didn’t risk crashing after a late afternoon squall dampened some portions of the route and stopped the clock for second at 12 seconds back to secure overall victory going into Sunday’s finale in Madrid.
“When I heard that I had taken four seconds out of Evans at the first time check, that only gave me more motivation to push even harder,” said Sánchez, who started the day nine seconds behind the Aussie. “The goal today was to claim the podium. Winning a third stage is just a bonus.”
It all came down to a matter of seconds for the final podium spots.
Sánchez took 19 seconds out of Evans to relegate the Aussie to fourth place by 10 seconds.
A runner-up at the 2007 Tour de France, Evans was poised to become the first rider since 2002 to finish on the podium in two grand tours in one season, but he faltered over the past few days under relentless attacks from both Sastre’s Team CSC and Sánchez’s Euskaltel-Euskadi.
Evans was just four seconds slower than Sánchez at 7.3km but lost grip on third when he ceded 13 seconds by 15km on the undulating course with a series of rollers and false flats. Sánchez, smelling blood of delivering the stage win-podium double, flew over the final technical sections of the course and Evans stopped the clock in sixth at 19 seconds slower.
“It’s a little bit disappointing, that’s true. I felt good in the time trial and I honestly don’t know where I lost the time. It’s the fatigue of the season catching up with me,” Evans said. “When you’re so close to winning the Tour and so close to finishing on the podium at the Vuelta, of course I’m disappointed. I’ve been at the top for a long time in this season and I didn’t see a lot of those guys (Sánchez or Sastre) ahead of me at Paris-Nice or the Tour.”
Sastre, 32, finally ended his bad luck run of fourth place finishes by holding off both Sánchez and Evans in the time trial to hang on to second.
Sastre stopped the clock 15th at 41 seconds back to secure second at 3:31 behind Menchov and 15 seconds ahead of Sánchez. The same pair finished 1-2 in the 2005 Vuelta following the disqualification of Roberto Heras for EPO.
Sastre will score his 10th top-10 grand tour result with his second-place finish in Madrid.
“I really wanted to end this streak of finishing fourth and simply gave everything I’ve had,” said Sastre, who twice finished second at the Tour and once at the Vuelta. “When I heard I wasn’t losing so much time at the first split, that only gave me more motivation. The aggression of the past few days helped me to take second and I thank my teammates for their hard work.”
Magnus Backstedt (Liquigas) set an early blistering opening fastest time at the first time check at 7.3km, some 38 seconds faster than Santos González (Karpin-Galicia) among the early starters. The big Swede couldn’t carry his speed on the series of rollers heading back to the finish and settled for 13th at 40 seconds back.
Both Jason McCartney (Discovery Channel) and Christian Vande Velde (CSC) posted strong rides. McCartney was seventh at 25 seconds slower and Vande Velde 14th at 41 seconds slower.
McCartney was hoping for another victory to go along with his win in Stage 14 and finished seven seconds off the early best time set by González.
“I went as hard as a I could at the start. I thought I would have more power than I did. I tried to save myself Friday and I think on Thursday I really hard my first bad day. I wasn’t bad, but today I went as hard as I could. That’s all I could,” McCartney said. “My legs feel good and we’ll see what happens next week in the world’s.”
Both McCartney and Vande Velde are heading to Stuttgart to be part of the U.S. world’s team where McCartney will also race in the time trial.
If the day belonged to Sánchez, it was Menchov who leaves this Vuelta in the leader’s jersey.
Barring disaster in Sunday’s 102km final romp into Madrid, Menchov will claim the Vuelta for the second time in three years. This time around, however, he wins the Vuelta outright.
“I knew coming to this Vuelta that I had good legs. After suffering through some truly bad moments in this year’s Tour, I put all that behind me after one week and started to think about the Vuelta,” Menchov said. “I never really had a bad day. I was strongest in the block of stages around the Pyrénées. I am looking forward to celebrating the victory tomorrow with my teammates in Madrid, something I missed in 2005.”
62nd Vuelta a España, Collado Villalba, 20km TTWinner - Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) – takes third stage win of race and slots into third on GCLeader - Denis Menchov (Rabobank) – widens lead to secure second overall title in three yearsClimber - MenchovPoints - Daniele Bennati (Lampre-Fondital) – wants to win finale in Madrid on SundayCombined - Menchov – leading all categories except pointsTeam - Caisse d’EpargnePeloton - 145 riders – Xabier Zandio (Caisse d’Epargne) DNS – to be with his wife, who gave birth three days ago
FULLRESULTSStage Results
1. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 22:11
2. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 0:12
3. Stef Clement (Nl), Bouygues Telecom, 0:14
4. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 0:16
5. Santos González (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 0:18
6. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 0:19
7. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel Team, 0:25
8. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 0:26
9. Maxime Monfort (B), Cofidis, 0:28
10. Adam Hansen (Aus), T-Mobile, 0:34
11. Sylvain Chavanel (F), Cofidis, 0:38
12. Joost Posthuma (Nl), Rabobank, 0:40
13. Magnus Backstedt (Swe), Liquigas, 0:40
14. Christian Vandevelde (USA), CSC, 0:41
15. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 0:41
FULLRESULTSOverall
1. Denis Menchov (Rus), Rabobank, 78:21:40
2. Carlos Sastre (Sp), CSC, 3:31
3. Samuel Sánchez (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 3:46
4. Cadel Evans (Aus), Predictor-Lotto, 3:56
5. Ezequiel Mosquera (Sp), Karpin Galicia, 6:34
6. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 7:07
7. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Caisse d'Epargne, 8:09
8. Igor Antón (Sp), Euskaltel-Euskadi, 8:44
9. Manuel Beltrán (Sp), Liquigas, 9:38
10. Carlos Barredo (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 10:12
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