It took three stages, but cyclist Alessandro Petacchi has made his presence felt at the Vuelta a Espana.
With less than 3 miles to go in the 95-mile bicycle race from Cordoba to Puertollano, Petacchi's Fassa Bortolo teammates led out the sprinter to the finish line, according to the results at CyclingNews.
Sprinters Erik Zabel (T-Mobile), Tom Boonen (Quick Step) and Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) tried to hang onto his wheel, but Petacchi held it to the end. It was Petacchi's 13th stage win in the Vuelta.
Australian cyclist Bradley McGee (Francaise des Jeux) held onto the overall leader's jersey by a 32 second margin. (See an interview at CyclingNews.)
The temperature hovered between 98 and 91 degrees Fahrenheit in an otherwise uneventful race on the mainly flat course designed for sprinters. The three-week Grand Tour remains in southern Spain on Tuesday for another mostly flat, grueling 144-mile bicycle race between Ciudad Real and Argamasilla de Alba.
American Tom Danielson, riding for Discovery Channel, is the highest ranked US rider overall at 11th; Christian Vandevelde (CSC) is 17th; Floyd Landis (Phonak) is 34th; Guido Trenti (Quick Step) is 53rd. Another rider from this side of the pond, Michael Barry of Canada (Discovery) is 25th. They're all within 2 minutes of the leader.
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