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61st Vuelta a España - GT
Spain, August 26-September 17, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Live report Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 16 - September 12: Almería - Astronomical Observatory of Calar Alto, 145 km
First big win for Anton
Valverde bolsters lead as Kashechkin cracks
By Shane Stokes in Calar Alto with additional reporting from Hernan Alvarez
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Today's tough mountain stage to top of the Alto de Calar Alto was seen as a big showdown between the race favourites but it was Euskaltel rider Igor Anton who finally triumphed, taking advantage of the chess game being played out between race leader Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) and Carlos Sastre (CSC) on the final slopes.
The 26 year old Spaniard surged several times, being overhauled by a tussling Vinokourov and Valverde before trying again with 3.5 kilometres remaining and succeeding in getting a gap. Digging in deep on the tough gradient up to the observatory at the summit, he soloed to the line 23 seconds clear of Valverde, Vinokourov and his own teammate Samuel Sánchez, with Sastre conceding another five seconds.
Andrey Kashechkin (Astana), who started the day second overall, cracked early on on the final climb and finished 1'19 back, dropping to fourth.
Today's victory was the first significant win of Anton's career, and he was very pleased to achieve an important goal. "I have always dreamed about a victory like this, winning a stage in a Grand Tour in the mountains," he said. "Now I can be more tranquil. It is true that one of my objectives as a rider has been achieved.
"I didn't really imagine taking the victory, I was happy to be there with the favourites. Valverde, Vinokourov and the others were marking each other and I attacked simply to try. It was the first time I was in a situation like that and when I got a gap, I just went as hard as I could until the line, and was able to win the stage that way. To get the first big win is the most difficult and I am delighted to do so now, having being trying for a while."
The stage was marked by a big break which went clear early on, and on the final slopes Daniel Becke (Team Milram) and José Antonio Redondo (Astana Team) surged ahead in search of the win. Pressing on through a heavy rain shower, Redondo dropped his rival but was himself overhauled once the favourites started to attack each other, causing the pace to soar.
"When I went, I thought especially about my friend Roberto Laiseka, who also won a stage in the final week of this race," said Anton. "That is what I thought about when I attacked. I was also happy that Samuel Sanchez was in the group behind, putting the brakes on to disrupt a chase. That helped me a lot.
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"I started cycling at a very young age and was always strong in the mountains. I have made a lot of progress and it was my climbing ability which enabled me to take this win today. I will try to take more wins now but without putting myself under too much pressure."
Anton moved up from 20th to 16th overall as a result of his success, but said that he is satisfied enough with what he has achieved thus far rather than chasing a high GC result. "I don't really think about the general classification," he stated. "It is possible now that I am in the top twenty but I am not really worried about that objective now. It is something I will think about in the future."
He was asked if he could see himself heading the Euskaltel squad, particularly as riders such as Iban Mayo have an uncertain future. "It is a bit early to become the leader of the team. I think that there are other riders ahead of me [in that regard]. It is true that I want to become a better rider and we will see what happens then."
Valverde took second on the stage and nabbed another time bonus to bolster his lead. He is now 1'42 ahead of second placed Vinokourov and Sastre, and is looking ever more likely to win the race.
"Vinokourov did what he had promised by attacking me, and he did it more than once, but I felt very good. This enabled me to answer without difficulty the attacks of the Kazakh rider, even though they were very violent ones.
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"Today, like each day, I had the chance to can rely on the phenomenal work carried out by my teammates and I wish to congratulate them once more. I did not suffer at all from the drop in temperature nor from the rain, nor the possible consequences of a rest day. My performance today is a very important step ahead for me, psychologically, as this was the mountain stage I most feared of the three which remained.
"Taking into account how I spent today's stage, it goes without saying that I will approach the remaining ones with a little more confidence. As for my rivals, each day which passes gives them a little less time to try to outdistance me. But I do not doubt that they will continue to attack."
Team manager Eusebio Unzue was also very pleased with the day's result "The team continues to be very strong in backing Alejandro and today everything went perfectly once again," he said. "The bad weather conditions hampered more than one rider, due to the cold rain which fell for much of the stage. I believe that Kashechkin, a very thin young man, suffered as a result.
"Despite that, Vinokourov carried out his promise to attack. However Alejandro perfectly controlled the situation. Now let's hope that things will continue the same way, day by day, with the stages tomorrow and the next being very demanding ones."
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Valverde gave a further reaction to Spain's Onda Cero radio. "I'm adding on some bonus seconds [to my race lead] and that is important. Vinokourov is the strongest of the others but I am getting there, little by little."
Another rider who is also making progress towards his goal is Discovery's Tom Danielson. The American came to the race hoping to fight it out with the GC contenders for a top result, but lost time early on. However he made several good digs today and will hope to step up another notch either tomorrow or on Thursday, with the hope of landing a stage win.
Meanwhile his team-mate Stijn Devolder finished tenth and dropped a place to eleventh. Like many of the riders, he was frozen and saturated at the finish. "It was very tough," he said, shivering. "The cold means it is difficult for the muscles to work properly."
How it unfolded
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This is the second time that the Vuelta has finished in Calar Alto. The first was in 2004 when Roberto Heras won a very interesting stage followed by Santiago Perez and Francisco Mancebo. The route that day was exactly the same as today’s.
Two notable riders didn't take the start in Almeria: Fabian Cancellara (CSC) and Alessandro Petacchi (Milram). Cancellara had pulled out in order to concentrate on the world championship time trial, while Petacchi had broken his hand after punching the Lampre team bus in frustration on Sunday. Another six good riders didn't sign on today: Michael Boogerd (Rabobank), Luca Paolini (Liquigas), Xavier Florencio (Bouygues Telecom), Cyril Dessel (AG2R), Bernhard Eisel (Française des Jeux) and Rene Haselbacher (Gerolsteiner). Therefore, there were 148 riders who started the third and decisive week of the Vuelta.
After many previous attacks before km 40, 14 riders created the breakaway of the day: Egoi Martinez (Discovery), Mauricio Ardila (Rabobank), Kurt-Asle Arvesen (CSC), Iñigo Chaurreau (AG2R), Pietro Caucchioli and Dmitriy Fofonov (Credit Agricole), Oscar Pereiro (Illes Balears), Sebastien Minard (Cofidis), Iñigo Landaluze (Euskaltel), Jeremy Roy and Sebastien Joly (Française des Jeux), Alessandro Spezialetti (Liquigas), Daniel Becke (Team Milram) and Jose Antonio Redondo (Astana). They had 3’52 on the bunch at km 50, but dropped Jeremy Roy there. At the summit of the first climb of the day in Velefique (km 56.3), Martinez was first followed by Caucchioli and Arvesen, meaning that Martinez started to close in on Caucchioli's mountains jersey.
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The leaders reached the summit of the second climb (Calar Alto – km 88) 5’21 ahead of the peloton. Martinez got the most bonus points with Caucchioli and Pereiro behind him. On the descent of Calar Alto (km 110), ten riders led by more than five minutes: Egoi Martinez, Chaurreau, Pietro Caucchioli, Becke, Minard, Fofonov, Pereiro, Landaluze, Arvesen and Redondo.
The final climb started and Redondo and Becke attacked the break at km 126 (with 19 km to go). They were able to get a gap while Jose Redondo changed the tempo and left Daniel Becke behind with 13 km to go. It was not warm and it started to rain hard, and that was another rival for Redondo. The Astana rider led by 2’16 over the peloton with 8 km to go.
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After Caisse d'Epargne had done much of the tempo making up until this point, Team CSC started to drive it in order to help Sastre on the last climb. Carlos Sastre made the first attack with 7 km to go. Further ahead, Alexandre Vinokourov counter-attacked but none of the two could leave Valverde behind. The attacks were constant while Redondo was slowing his pace. Landaluze and Igor Anton (Euskaltel) chased and caught Redondo with 5 km to go, capitalising on the hesitation within the bunch.
Anton followed a fast tempo and eventually got away on his own just after 4 km to go. Behind him were Redondo, Vino, Valverde, Sastre and Danielson. Igor Anton maintained a good pace and didn't look back, opening up a 39 second lead at one point. The Basque rider was very strong while behind him, no-one could get away of the rest. Anton celebrated with plenty to spare at the finish line and won the stage, while Valverde got second place and Vinokourov third. Valverde consolidated his overall lead, with Vino moving up to second overall ahead of Sastre, the two sharing the same time.
Stage 17 – September 13: Adra-Granada, 159.2 km
Wednesday’s stage will be the second of three important mountain stages. There are three climbs and a finale in the city of Granada. The mountains are: Alto de Albondon (Cat. 1 – 1,300 m. above sea level – km 37), Alto de Lanjaron (Cat. 3 – 660 m. – km 79) and Alto de Monachil (Cat. 1 – 1,510 m. – km 139.4). There is a final 20-kilometre descent to Granada. Monachil and the downhill seem to be the crucial parts of the stage.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Fotoreporter Sirotti
- Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) in search of mountain points
- Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) passing the observatory
- The peloton comes up to the observatory on the Calar Alto
- Passing the observatory at the summit of the Calar Alto climb
- The peloton at the top of the climb
- The peloton ascends the Alto de Calar Alto
- Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) waits for an opportunity
- Jose Redondo (Astana) on his own on the final climb
- Carlos Sastre (CSC) on Valverde's wheel
- Tom Danielson (Discovery) had better legs today
- Sastre follows Valverde
- Manuel Beltran (Discovery) suffering
- Luis Pérez (Cofidis) finished eighth
- Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) in the hurt box
- Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) was 15th at 1'28
- Pietro Caucchioli (Credit Agricole) with Piepoli
- Jose Angel Gomez Marchante (Saunier) lost time today
- Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) was in the early break all day
- Sergio Paulinho (Astana) did not have the greatest of days
- Igor Anton (Euskaltel) fighting for the summit
- Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) controlling things behind Anton
- Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) on the front of Valverde's group
- Igor Anton (Euskaltel) wins the 16th stage
- Igor Anton (Euskaltel) celebrates at the finish
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) beats Vinokourov for second
- Van Goolen and Brajkovic came in nearly six minutes down
- Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) rides to the summit
- Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) towards the end
- Gusev and Gustov come up to the finish
- Damp supporters on the Calar Alto
- A small group comes to the end
- Some are on their way up while others are coming down after the finish
- Suffer time in the bunch
- Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) after finishing third
- Carlos Sastre (CSC) comes in ahead of Danielson
- Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas) finished 12th
- Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) is tired
- Piepoli and Marchante after the finish
- Igor Anton (Euskaltel) salutes from the podium
- Igor Anton (Euskaltel) on the podium
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) on the podium
Images by AFP Photo
- Andrey Kashechkin (Astana) ponders the situation at hand
- The peloton in the sunshine during stage 16
- Caisse d'Epargne leading the bunch during stage 16
- Jesus Hernandez (Relax) on the ground after crashing during stage 16
- Jesus Hernandez (Relax) after his crash
- Inigo Cuesta (CSC) leads a soaked GC group
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) is thirsty, despite the weather
Results
1 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4.29.42 (32.26 km/h) 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.23 3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 4 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.28 6 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.30 7 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.42 8 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.10 9 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 1.13 10 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.15 11 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 1.19 13 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 14 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 15 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 1.28 16 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Gam 2.11 17 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 18 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 19 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 20 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 21 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 22 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 23 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 24 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 3.09 25 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 3.24 26 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 3.38 27 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4.30 28 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 29 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 4.53 30 Daniel Becke (Ger) Team Milram 5.31 31 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 5.44 32 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.56 33 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 34 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 35 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 36 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 37 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 38 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 39 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 40 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 41 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 42 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC 43 Raúl García De Mateo (Spa) Relax-Gam 6.33 44 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 6.34 45 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 7.17 46 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 7.57 47 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak Hearing Systems 8.07 48 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 9.18 49 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 9.47 50 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 10.25 51 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana Team 10.39 52 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 11.05 53 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 54 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 11.40 55 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 56 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 12.16 57 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 12.20 58 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 14.23 59 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 60 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 61 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux 62 David George (RSA) Relax-Gam 63 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 64 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 65 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 66 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 67 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 14.41 68 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 15.05 69 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 70 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 71 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 72 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-Gam 73 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 74 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 75 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 76 Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 77 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 78 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile Team 79 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 80 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 81 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 82 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 16.31 83 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 16.51 84 David Navas (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 19.06 85 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 86 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 87 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 88 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 89 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 90 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 91 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana Team 92 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 93 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 94 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française des Jeux 95 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astana Team 96 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 97 Luis Fernández Oliveira (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 98 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Rabobank 99 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 100 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 101 José Vicent Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 102 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 20.21 103 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 20.34 104 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 105 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 106 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 107 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Team Milram 21.00 108 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 109 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française des Jeux 110 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 111 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 112 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 113 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank 114 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 115 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 116 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 117 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 118 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 119 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 120 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 121 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 122 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Team 123 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 124 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 125 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 126 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 127 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole 128 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 129 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 130 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 131 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 132 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram 133 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 134 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram 135 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram 136 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2R Prevoyance 137 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 138 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 139 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 140 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 23.37 141 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 142 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 25.27 Outside time limit TC Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française des Jeux DNF Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom DNF Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole DNF Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital DNF Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-Gam DNF Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax-Gam DNS Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank DNS Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC DNS Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance DNS Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom DNS Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française des Jeux DNS René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner DNS Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas DNS Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram Points 1 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 25 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 20 3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 16 4 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14 5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 12 6 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 10 7 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 9 8 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 8 9 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 7 10 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 6 11 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5 12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 4 13 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 3 14 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 15 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 1 16 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank -5 17 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto -5 18 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto -5 19 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux -5 20 Luis Fernández Oliveira (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems -5 Mountains Alto de Velefique - Cat. 1, km 56 1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 16 pts 2 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 12 3 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 10 4 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 8 5 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 6 6 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 4 7 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 3 8 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Rabobank 2 9 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 1 Alto de Calar Alto km - Cat. 1, km 88 1 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 16 pts 2 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 12 3 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 10 4 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 8 5 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 6 6 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 4 7 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 3 8 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 2 9 Daniel Becke (Ger) Team Milram 1 Observatorio de Calar Alto - Cat. E, km 145 1 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 30 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 25 3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 20 4 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 16 5 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 12 6 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 10 7 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 8 8 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 6 9 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 4 10 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 3 11 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2 12 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 1 Sprints Tabernas, km 25,8 1 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 4 pts 2 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 2 3 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 1 Bacares, km 70,3 1 Daniel Becke (Ger) Team Milram 4 pts 2 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 2 3 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 1 Teams 1 Euskaltel - Euskadi 13.30.48 2 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.45 3 Astana 1.22 4 Caisse D'Epargne - Illes Balears 3.03 5 Team CSC 4.21 6 Saunier Duval - Prodir 8.36 7 Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone 15.11 8 Relax - GAM 16.20 9 Credit Agricole 18.01 10 Ag2r Prevoyance 18.45 11 Lampre - Fondital 24.39 12 Liquigas 13 Davitamon - Lotto 32.16 14 Quick Step - Innergetic 35.03 15 Phonak Hearing Systems 38.01 16 Rabobank 38.25 17 Team Milram 39.54 18 T- Mobile Team 49.28 19 Française des Jeux 52.57 20 Bouygues Telecom 54.57 21 Gerolsteiner 55.57 General classification after stage 16 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 63.18.16 2 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 1.42 3 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 4 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 2.05 5 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4.23 6 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5.34 7 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 5.56 8 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 6.29 9 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7.53 10 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 8.05 11 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 8.19 12 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 8.55 13 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 9.34 14 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 10.34 15 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 10.50 16 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 12.07 17 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 13.15 18 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 13.54 19 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 14.52 20 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 15.48 21 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak Hearing Systems 17.26 22 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 19.16 23 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 21.00 24 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 24.05 25 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25.19 26 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana Team 26.13 27 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 29.58 28 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 30.45 29 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 31.35 30 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 33.11 31 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC 33.18 32 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 34.01 33 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Gam 34.17 34 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 35.27 35 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 35.41 36 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 35.53 37 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 37.26 38 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 38.05 39 Daniel Becke (Ger) Team Milram 40.59 40 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astana Team 41.22 41 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 43.32 42 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 44.16 43 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 46.19 44 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux 46.23 45 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 50.14 46 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 53.49 47 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 54.08 48 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 55.03 49 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 56.17 50 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 57.04 51 Raúl García De Mateo (Spa) Relax-Gam 1.00.25 52 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 1.01.02 53 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.01.18 54 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile Team 1.03.19 55 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 1.04.09 56 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 1.05.57 57 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.06.03 58 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 1.06.51 59 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Rabobank 1.06.59 60 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.07.12 61 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.08.12 62 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.10.11 63 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 1.10.49 64 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 1.10.59 65 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.11.29 66 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.12.07 67 David George (RSA) Relax-Gam 1.12.49 68 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 1.14.17 69 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 1.15.22 70 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1.15.26 71 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 1.15.34 72 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 1.18.02 73 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 1.19.29 74 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.19.38 75 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.20.26 76 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.23.55 77 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.25.17 78 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.25.24 79 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 1.26.00 80 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.26.03 81 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.26.47 82 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.26.49 83 Luis Fernández Oliveira (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.27.25 84 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 1.28.35 85 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.28.53 86 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.29.11 87 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.29.27 88 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.30.13 89 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.30.41 90 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 1.31.20 91 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.32.54 92 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2R Prevoyance 1.33.47 93 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.34.41 94 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-Gam 1.34.56 95 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.35.13 96 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.35.43 97 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.35.50 98 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.36.25 99 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.37.28 100 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.38.12 101 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 1.39.04 102 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.39.54 103 Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.40.26 104 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.42.22 105 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Team 1.43.51 106 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Team Milram 1.46.16 107 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 1.46.50 108 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 1.47.31 109 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française des Jeux 1.47.55 110 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1.47.57 111 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.48.01 112 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.49.03 113 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 1.50.03 114 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.51.03 115 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.52.16 116 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank 1.52.18 117 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 1.52.22 118 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 1.54.26 119 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.54.35 120 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 1.54.42 121 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 1.54.45 122 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 1.55.03 123 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.56.13 124 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana Team 1.56.21 125 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 1.57.00 126 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 1.57.33 127 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 1.57.45 128 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 1.59.21 129 José Vicent Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 2.00.31 130 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram 2.00.41 131 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.01.28 132 David Navas (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 2.02.29 133 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.02.44 134 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française des Jeux 2.08.07 135 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.08.10 136 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram 2.09.21 137 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 2.09.40 138 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 2.10.16 139 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram 2.13.19 140 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 2.20.49 141 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 2.29.25 142 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole 2.30.55 Points classification 1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 169 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 109 3 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 98 4 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 89 5 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 82 6 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 79 7 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 77 8 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 66 9 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 58 10 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 53 11 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 51 12 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 45 13 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 44 14 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 37 15 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 37 16 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 32 17 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 30 18 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 29 19 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 29 20 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 27 21 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 26 22 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 26 23 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 26 24 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 25 25 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 24 Mountains classification 1 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 105 pts 2 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 101 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 75 4 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 70 5 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 57 6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 56 7 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 53 8 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 47 9 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 41 10 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 36 11 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 33 12 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 32 13 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32 14 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 28 15 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 26 16 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 23 17 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 23 18 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2R Prevoyance 23 19 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 21 20 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 19 21 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 18 22 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 18 23 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 16 24 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 16 25 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux 14 Combination classification 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 6 pts 2 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 13 3 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 17 4 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 26 5 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 29 6 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 30 7 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 32 8 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 35 9 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 36 10 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 39 11 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 41 12 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 56 13 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 58 14 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 61 15 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 62 16 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 63 17 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 68 18 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 79 19 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 83 20 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 84 21 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 102 22 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 108 23 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 109 24 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 117 25 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 119 Teams classification 1 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 189.24.00 2 Caisse D'Epargne - Illes Balears 13.16 3 Astana 17.36 4 Euskaltel - Euskadi 22.59 5 Team CSC 47.39 6 Lampre - Fondital 58.37 7 Saunier Duval - Prodir 1.02.06 8 Relax - GAM 1.25.15 9 Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone 1.42.10 10 Ag2r Prevoyance 1.42.48 11 Credit Agricole 1.49.47 12 Rabobank 1.51.12 13 Liquigas 2.09.17 14 Davitamon - Lotto 2.27.14 15 Phonak Hearing Systems 3.01.25 16 T- Mobile Team 3.15.04 17 Gerolsteiner 3.17.35 18 Française des Jeux 3.18.17 19 Quick Step - Innergetic 3.24.01 20 Team Milram 3.54.06 21 Bouygues Telecom 3.59.20
