That crazy Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov rode into the leader's gold jersey at the Vuelta bike race on Wednesday as American Tom Danielson won the 102-mile stage.
Vinokourov attacked race leader Alejandro Valverde on the climb up Alto de Monachil. The Spanish rider finally caught up to Vinokourov on the descent, but Vino accelerated again.
While Valverde couldn't keep up, Vinokourov rode ahead with Danielson, who had been out front in a breakaway most of the day. Danielson finished first, closely followed by Vinokourov; Valverde finished in a group 1:39 later.
Vinokourov's 12-second time bonus for finishing second gave him the margin he needed to top Valverde by 9 seconds in the overall standings.
The Stage 17 victory is Danielson's first win at one of the three Grand Tours, according to the Discovery Channel pro cycling team fan website Paceline. He won the Tour de Georgia last year.
The win propelled Danielson into 6th place overall, 6:09 out of first place. Another Discovery team cyclist, Egoi Martinez, won Stage 11 last week.
The race ends Sunday in Madrid. Thursday's 95-mile stage from Granada to Sierra de la Pandera marks the final day of racing in the Andalusian Mountains with a mountaintop finish.
More on the race at VeloNews and CyclingNews. Also see Danielson's website and Vuelta diaries.
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