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RACE REPORTS: VUELTA A ESPAÑA STAGE 17: ROUX ROCKS
Road Bike Action & AFP
September 16, 2009
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(Photo: Yuzuru Sunada)
French rider Anthony Roux won Wednesday's 17th stage of the Vuelta a España, his first stage win in a major tour, while Spain's Alejandro Valverde of Spain held on to the overall lead with four days remaining in the race. The 22-year-old, riding for Francaise des Jeux, covered the 193.6-kilometer ride from Ciudad Real to Talavera de la Reina in 4:28:14.
His fellow countryman William Bonnet finished second and triple stage winner Andre Greipel of Germany was third. Both were clocked with the same time as Roux. With the finishing line looming, Roux reined in a lone escapee from an earlier breakway group of five to squeak across the finish line ahead of the main group. "I was concentrated on my race. I knew I could win and I remained calm even when I saw that those who were just behind me were flying. Fortunately the final kilometers were downhill," he told reporters.
With his win 11 of the 22 teams taking part in the 64th Tour of Spain have won at least one stage of the race. Valverde, who finished the stage in 30th place, said he spent most of the stage in the shadows to "to be able to react in case of an unforeseen" move by his nearest rivals in the overall standings. Wednesday's stage was marked by a crash at 50-kilometres from the finish line that involved some 30 riders, including Dutchman Robert Gesink, second overall at 31 seconds from Valverde, and Spain's Ezequiel Mosquera, who is sixth at one minute and 54 seconds from the leader.
Both riders suffered injuries. Gesink had a deep cut in his left knee that required stitches while Mosquera hurt his head. "The helmet saved my life," Mosquera told reporters after the stage ended. The Tour continues on Thursday with a 165-kilometer ride from Talavera de la Reina to Avila.
The three-week race, the third major Tour of the year after the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia, wraps up in Madrid on Sunday with Valverde bidding to win his first major Tour.
Vuelta a España Stage 17, 170km
1. Anthony Roux (Fra/Française des Jeux) 4:28:14
2. William Bonnet (Fra/Bbox Bouygues Telecom) @ s.t.
3. André Greipel (Ger/Columbia-HTC)
4. Daniele Bennati (Ita/Liquigas)
5. Francisco Jose Pacheco Torres (Spa/Contentpolis-Ampo)
6. Jürgen Roelandts (Bel/Silence-Lotto)
7. Sébastien Hinault (Fra/AG2R La Mondiale)
8. Javier Benitez (Spa/Contentpolis-Ampo)
9. Enrico Gasparotto (Ita/Lampre-NGC)
10. Borut Bozic (Slo/Vacansoleil)
Overall Classification After Stage 17
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne) 69:59:34
2. Robert Gesink (Ned/Rabobank @ .31
3. Samuel Sánchez (Spa/Euskaltel-Euskadi) @ 1:10
4. Ivan Basso (Ita/Liquigas) @ 1:28
5. Cadel Evans (Aus/Silence-Lotto @ 1:51
6. Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa/Xacobeo Galicia) @ 1:54
7. Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa/Caisse d'Epargne @ 5:53
8. Paolo Tiralongo (Ita/Lampre-NGC) @ 6:34
9. Tom Danielson (USA/Garmin-Slipstream) @ 8:28
10. Juan José Cobo (Spa/Fuji-Servetto) @ 10:45
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