Team RadioShack’s Markel Irizar is the overall winner of the Vuelta a Andalucía (Ruta Ciclista del Sol). In the fifth and last stage to Antequera, the Basque rider kept his one second advantage over Belgian rider Jurgen Van den Broeck. Levi Leipheimer finished 3rd, 2 seconds behind. Team RadioShack finished with four riders in the Top ten and is winner of the Teams Classification in the Spanish stage race.

“This is unbelievable,” said an emotional Markel Irizar after the finish. “I am so happy with this victory, but even more with the way my teammates worked for me. Jani Brajkovic, Levi Leipheimer, Robbie Hunter, Haimar Zubeldia, Dmitriy Muravyev and Ivan Rovny, they all worked for me four long days. It is a huge pleasure to be part of this team. It is hard to describe the feelings that I have now.”

Team RadioShack controlled the final stage. A breakaway of four riders never held more than two minutes advantage. “At 25 K from the finish we started to chase harder,” explained Team Director Viatcheslav Ekimov. “With 4 K to go, the last guy was caught. A mass sprint was a perfect scenario for us, but there was still a tricky, very steep hill and dangerous descent in the last K. Markel was able to keep the wheel of Van den Broeck. Oscar Freire won the stage, but the overall victory is for Team RadioShack. It will not be the last of the season. We are so proud of the team spirit we saw the entire week. Markel deserves this victory. Without a doubt, he is the happiest man in Spain right now.”

Irizar (31) bases his victory on his second place in the opening time trial. “Last Sunday I was really disappointed. Now I don’t regret any more that I lost that stage with some hundreds of a second.”

Like Lance Armstrong, Markel Irizar is a testicular cancer survivor (2002). This is his third victory in seven years of professional cycling. He started winning last year when he joined Team RadioShack. “I was always not bad in TT’s but last year I won the 22K time trial in the Tour du Poitou-Charentes and finished 5th in the Grand Prix des Nations. My mind has changed since I came on the Team. This Team feels like a family. I hope to stay for many more years in this environment.”

Sports Team Manager Johan Bruyneel was also delighted with Irizar’s victory. “Some people thought we took Markel in the Team just because he had the same disease as Lance. We took Markel because he was a good rider. Haimar Zubeldia advised us to take him in the team. Markel is good in the time trials and he is just a perfect teammate, always ready to work for the others. He never complains and is always smiling. It was perfectly logical that his teammates liked to work for him this week.”

“From Paris-Nice on, I will do my normal job again,” concluded Irizar. “I will try to ride a good prologue, but then I will start pulling and working for Levi Leipheimer, Andreas Klöden and Jani Brajkovic. With pleasure!”

Standings Stage 5:
1. Oscar Freire (ESP / Rabobank), the 162 km in 3 h 46:12.
2. Samuel Sánchez (ESP) st
3. Jonathan Hively (FRA) mt
4. Appollonio Davide (ITA) st
5. Rigoberto Uran (COL) st

Overall Ranking:
1. Markel Irizar (ESP / RadioShack) 16 h 27:21.
2. Jurgen Van den Broeck (BEL) 01.
3. Levi Leipheimer (USA) 02.
4. Jerome Coppel (FRA) 03.
5. Luis Pasamontes (ESP) 08.