Big guns firing in Tour of Andalucia (Ruta Ciclista Del Sol) as Valverde wins the stage from Menchov and takes over the overall lead
Alejandro Valverde (Movistar) has won the queen stage of the Tour of Andalucia. The stage saw Frenchman Mickael Buffaz attack and build up a lead of over 6 minutes before the final climb saw his race run with 5k to go and the GC contenders take over the running.
The final climb, one of four on the stage, was a 1st category mountain with parts of the climb 18%. More attacks on the final slopes were launched as riders tried to win this prestigious stage but it was Valverde who trumped them all with an attack a mile from the finish. He held off Denis Menchov while Franck Schleck was fourth in the same time as Menchov.
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Stage 3
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte Movistar Team 4:02:37
2 Denis Menchov Team Katusha 0:10
3 Rein Taaramäe Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne @ same time
4 Frank Schleck RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
5 Sergey Lagutin Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:13
6 Igor Anton Hernandez Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:15
7 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:21
8 Adrian Palomares Villa Plana Andalucia – Caja Granada @ same time
9 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:23
10 Jerome Coppel Saur – Sojasun 0:24
11 Bauke Mollema Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
12 Eduard Vorganov Team Katusha @ same time
13 Tom Dumoulin 1t4i 0:26
14 Robert Gesink Rabobank Cycling Team 0:32
15 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel – Euskadi @ same time
OVERALL
1 Alejandro Valverde Belmonte Movistar Team 9:11:58
2 Rein Taaramäe Cofidis – Le Credit En Ligne 0:03
3 Jerome Coppel Saur – Sojasun 0:08
4 Denis Menchov Team Katusha 0:14
5 Sergey Lagutin Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:15
6 Tom Dumoulin 1t4i 0:18
7 Samuel Sanchez Gonzalez Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:21
8 Frank Schleck RadioShack – Nissan 0:22
9 Matthias Brändle Team NetApp 0:23
10 Haimar Zubeldia Agirre RadioShack – Nissan 0:26
11 Mikel Astarloza Euskaltel – Euskadi 0:27
12 Maxime Monfort RadioShack – Nissan @ same time
13 Wilco Kelderman Rabobank Cycling Team 0:28
14 Robert Gesink Rabobank Cycling Team @ same time
15 Matteo Carrara Vacansoleil – DCM Pro Cycling Team 0:29
