Irishman Phil Deignan won Stage 18 of the Vuelta a Espana on Thursday as the Grand Tour winds down to Sunday's finish in Madrid with Alejandro Valverde still leading.
Cervelo team member Deignan attacked a 16-man breakaway to just barely beat Roman Kreuziger of Liquigas. Valverde (Caisse Epargne) maintained his 32-second lead over Robert Gesink of Rabobank.
Meanwhile, US cyclist Tom Danielson's Vuelta ended as he abandoned during the 116-mile stage to Avila.
The Garmin-Slipstream cyclist had climbed to 4th place overall at the end of Stage 8, the first mountain stage. He was just 13 seconds behind the race leader at the time, Cadel Evans.
He held that position until Stage 13, when a stomach flu took its toll and Danielson dropped back to 9th, nearly 7 minutes behind the leader.
CyclingNews speculates that Danielson dropped out because he's resting up to participate as a member of the US cycling team at the World Championships in Switzerland next week. The weather was cold (55 degrees F) and rainy, and he probably didn't want to risk getting sick.
Top 10 overall
1. Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne
2. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank — 32 seconds behind
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. Philip Deignan (Irl) Cervélo TestTeam — 7:49
10. Juan José Cobo (Spa) Fuji-Servetto — 10:46
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