Russian cyclist Menchov wins second Tour of Spain title
Russia`s Denis Menchov put the smiles back on the faces of his Rabobank team when he claimed the Tour of Spain crown here Sunday following the 21st and final stage.
It is the second Vuelta crown for 29-year-old who lives in the northern Spanish town of Pamplona, after he took the 2005 title when Spaniard Roberto Heras was disqualified for doping.
"It`s the most important victory of my life," said the Russian cyclist. "It`s nothing like the win in 2005."
Spaniards Carlos Sastre and Samuel Sanchez completed the podium.
Italian Daniele Bennati of the Lampre team won a sprint finish ahead of Italian sprint king Alessandro Petacchi to claim the victory in the final stage.
With last year`s top three finishers out of the race, former runner-up Sastre was a big favourite along with Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia.
Kazakhstan`s Alexandre Vinokourov and Andriy Kashechkin are serving bans for for doping and Spaniard Alejandro Valverde decided not to race the Vuelta to save himself for the world road race championships in Stuttgart this week.
But Menchov, who was forced to abandon last year`s race due to stomach cramps, killed all the suspense in what proved to be an insipid race in a matter of three stages.
He moved into second place after the eighth stage, a 52km time-trial in which he finished fourth.
The Russian then opened up a two-minute lead over the favourites at the end of the 167km ninth stage, the first mountain stage of the race between Huesca and the ski station of Cerler, when he finished second.
The next day Menchov won the 10th stage, his only stage win of this year`s race and another mountain run of 214 km between Benasque and Ordino-Arcalis in Andorra.
"I have the Vuelta half won, a little bit more than half if we consider that we have done the most difficult part," Menchov said after the 10th stage win.
Menchov then rode a perfect race for the remainder of the tour and fought off without difficulty the attacks of Sastre.
"I was more consistent and the strongest in the Pyrenees," he said on Saturday, the day before his victory.
Menchov said his main focus for the 2008 season would be the Tour de France.
In the Tour de France of 2006 the Russian took sixth place overall but retired on the 17th stage of this year`s event shortly after the expulsion of his team-mate, Dane Michael Rasmussen.
Rasmussen was evicted from the race, then sacked by Rabobank, after it emerged that he had lied over his whereabouts in June when drugs testers were trying to locate him for random tests.
It is CSC rider Sastre`s second runner-up place, following his second place finish in 2005 - also behind Menchov.
Sanchez meanwhile became the first Euskaltel rider to step on to the Vuelta podium, thanks mainly to his victory in the penultimate stage time trial which pushed Evans down into fourth place.
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