Bettini Wins Tour of Spain Sixth Stage, Chavanel Takes Golden Jersey
TOLEDO, Spain, Sept 4, 2008 (AFP) - Italian rider Paolo Bettini of Quick
Step won the sixth stage of the Tour of Spain on Thursday, a 150.1 kilometer
course from Ciudad Real to Toledo, while France’s Sylvain Chavanel of Cofidis
took the overall lead.
Bettini came in ahead of Belgium’s Philippe Gilbert of Francaise des Jeux
in while Spain’s Alejandro Valverde of Caisse d’Epargne was third in the
sprint.
It was the fourth Vuelta stage triumph of Bettini’s career. The 34-year-old
said was an encouraging sing for his bid for a third successive won at the
world championships in Italy between September 23 and 28.
“Everyone who wants to compete at the world championship passes through the
Vuelta. And every time I win at the Vuleta I win at the world championship,” he
said, adding he hopes to win another stage before quitting the race.
Chavanel, who climbed to second place in the overall standings after
Wednesday’s individual time trial, collected 12 bonus seconds for winning both
intermediate sprints which allowed him take the leader’s golden jersey from
American rider Levi Leipheimer.
Leipheimer is now 10 seconds behind Chavanel in the overall standings while
Valverde is third at 26 seconds.
Chavanel, who has won 19 stages of the Tour de France, said he was the
first French rider to lead the Tour of Spain since Laurent Jalabert in 1995.
“This is a real honour for me to succeed him. I came here looking for stage
wins but taking the race lead is an unexpected bonus,” he told reporters.
“My grandfather is Spanish, from Barcelona,and wearing this leader’s jersey
in a Spanish family, is really amazing,” he added.
As the race heads into its first rest day on Friday, Spain’s Alberto
Contador, the winner of the Tour de France in 2007, stands fourth on the
overall standings, 57 seconds behind the leader.
His compatriot Carlos Sastre of CSC Saxo Bank, the winner of this year’s
Tour de France, is fifth at one minute and 37 seconds.
Last year’s champion, Russia’s Denis Menchov, is not participating. The
3,133 kilometer-long Tour of Spain finishes in Madrid on September 21.
Stage 6 Crash
Bettini On The Podium
Photo’s by: Corvos Pro
Categories: Features, Races, Team QuickStep, tour of spain
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