SPAIN: CYCLING: Russia's Menchov triumphs again in Tour of Spain

Russian Denis Menchov claimed his second Tour of Spain title in three years after finishing safely in the main bunch on Sunday (September 23). Carlos Sastre was second overall three minutes 31 seconds behind with fellow Spaniard Samuel Sanchez third at 3:46. Rabobank rider Menchov had moved into the lead on the stage nine summit finish at Cerler in the Pyrenees where he finished second behind Italian Leonardo Piepoli. The Russian, who claimed his first Spanish title in 2005 when Spaniard Roberto Heras was stripped of the crown after testing positive for EPO (erythropoietin), then won stage 10's summit finish at Arcalis, reinforcing his overall domination. For the next 11 days, Menchov successfully saw off attacks by Sastre and Sanchez in the mountains near Granada and again in the final weekend in the sierras of Avila and Madrid. "Very Good, very important, very nice," said Menchov after the final stage. With Menchov reigning supreme, a ferocious fight for second and third place ensued which saw Australian Cadel Evans slide into fourth place overall as Sanchez and Sastre upped the pace. Back-to-back stage wins for Sanchez on Friday and Saturday (September 21-22) moved the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider on to the podium and makes him a strong outsider for the world championships road-race in Stuttgart next weekend. Local fans were disappointed that Menchov's resolve could not be broken although that was compensated for by a strong global performance from the Spanish. The home nation's riders won seven of the 21 stages and six of the top 10 places overall in Madrid while Menchov scooped the King of the Mountains classification. The points competition went to the race's last stage winner Italian Daniele Bennati. Second behind the Lampre rider in the bunch sprint on Sunday was fellow Italian Alessandro Petacchi with Belarussian Aliaksandr Usau finishing third on the stage. Also present in Madrid was newly crowned 2006 Tour de France winner Oscar Pereiro. The Spaniard became the winner after the American rider, Floyd Landis was found guilty of doping by a U.S. panel of judges on Thursday (September 20), following a positive test for the banned male sex hormone testosterone during his victorious ride on the French roads in July 2006. "I feel happy above all because the enquiry has ended, but you can't assimilate it so fast. Little by little it's easier to say I'm the winner of the Tour but like I say I have been repressed for so long that I'm not jumping for joy," said Pereiro. The Caisse d'Epargne rider had dropped out of the Tour of Spain in the ninth stage because of a gastro-related illness.

ITN Source | September 24, 2007

Tags:. .became. .australian. .broken. .panel. .oscar