While the big headlines in bicycle racing lately all have dealt with doping, a group of cyclists are beginning the third and final week of the Spanish soap opera entitled the Vuelta a Espana.
The overall leader of the race is Spanish cyclist Alejandro Valverde. We last heard from him when he clipped the back wheel of a teammate in the Tour de France, broke his collarbone and dropped out.
Closing in is Alexandre Vinokourov, the leader of Kazakhstan's Astana team. A top 5 finisher in the 2005 Tour de France, Vinokourov couldn't compete in this year's TdF after the manager of the team (at the time sponsored by Liberty Segurous) was wrapped into the Operation Puerto drug scandal.
Vinokourov has won two stages, but remains 1:42 behind Valverde, tied for second with Carlos Sastre of Team CSC.
Euskaltel's Igor Anton finished 23 seconds ahead of the battling Valverde and Vinokourov in Tuesday's 90-mile stage between Almeria and the mountaintop finish at Calar Alto. Two more major climbs are on tap Wednesday on the way to Granada.
Who else is competing in the Vuelta?
Italian sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, this year's hard luck Ale Jet, was competing until the weekend when he punched the side of the team bus after a loss and broke his hand. He missed most of the Giro d'Italia and all of the Tour de France after breaking his kneecap in the Giro. The Milram cyclist has been the man to beat in mass sprints in recent years.
Last year's Vuelta winner, Russian Denis Menchov, raced until Stage 11, when he pulled out with stomach problems.
How about Tour de France 2nd place finisher (and winner if Floyd Landis is disqualified) Oscar Pereiro? He sits in 46th overall in his role as a domestique on Valverde's Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears team. He told Eurosport, “It's a job I love to do.”
The highest placed US cyclist is Tom Danielson of the Discovery Channel team at 8:05 minutes out of first place. Team Manuel Beltran is the highest Discovery teammate in 6th place, 5:34 out of first.
Chris Horner of Davitamon-Lotto sits in 23rd place, 21 minutes behind. He finished 3:38 behind on Tuesday. Freddie Rodriguez, also Davitamon, is in 121st place, 1:54 hours back. His job isn't the general classification; he's supposed to get sprinter Robbie McEwen to the finish line
More news and results are available online at CyclingNews, VeloNews, and Eurosport. Also, OLN is scheduled to broadcast the Vuelta frm 5 – 7 p.m. Sunday (ET). Of course, the whole thing is live online at Cycling.TV.
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