PONFERRADA, Spain, Sept 15, 2008 (AFP) - Alberto Contador continued his march towards claiming his third major Tour within 14 months after the Tour of Spain’s 15th stage won by fellow Spaniard David Garcia on Monday.

Garcia broke free of a group of 17 riders that had escaped from the main peloton including most of the gold jersey contenders to claim solo victory after 202km of racing between Cudillero and Ponferrada.

He finished the stage 5hr 2min and 27sec, followed by Belgium’s Nick Nuyens of Cofidis at 17 sec and Spain’s Juan Miguel Garate of Quick Step who came in third also at 17 sec.

“Its a great pleasure to win. Its the coronation of my sports career,” said Garcia.

Contador, who won the 2007 Tour de France and the 2008 Giro d’Italia, retained the race leader’s gold jersey with his cushion over all of his rivals despite suffering a crash that required medical attention.

“I’m bruised but it is only superficial. The worst part will be at night because of my shoulder. I will have to sleep on my right side,” he said.

Contador is looking to make history by becoming first rider to win all three major Tours since Frenchman Bernard Hinault three decades ago.

The 25-year-old and the main peloton strolled over the finish line over 14 minutes in arrears of the front runners.

Spanish rider Carlos Sastre of CSC Saxo Bank, the reigning Tour de France champion, finished in 34th place, 14min 23sec behind the leader.

“At a personal level I did not have problems today but it was an excessively hard stage,” he said.

The Vuelta continues on Tuesday with a 186.3 kilometer ride from Ponferrada to Zamora. The race finishes on September 21 in Madrid.