Alejandro Valverde wins the eighth stage of the Vuelta a Espana 2012
Alejandro Valverde of Team Movistar bagged his third stage victory of the Vuelta a Espana 2012 after his splendid performance during the stage 8 of the race.
The cyclist completed the 174.7 kilometre pursuit to Andorra in a total time of 4 hours, 6 minutes and 39 seconds and restricted the race favourites.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha rode brilliantly throughout the race and was right behind the wheel of his Spaniard compatriot but had to settle for the second position.
Alberto Contador of Team Saxo Bank-Tinkoff Bank finished almost at the same time and occupied the third position with Christopher Froome of Team Sky and Daniel Moreno Fernandez of Team Katusha securing the fourth and the fifth positions respectively.
Valverde is having a terrific season and made full use of his tremendous form after opening his winning account with an overall victory at the Vuelta a Andalucia.
His first victory at the Vuelta a Espana 2012 came with a team’s time trial stage 1 of the race and he also succeeded during the third stage of the race.
The Spaniard also bagged stages at the Tour de France, Santos Tour Down Under and the Paris-Nice 2012.
Mickael Buffaz of Team Cofidis succeeded during the first and the second sprints of the race with Javier Ramirez and Alejandro Valverde winning the first and the second mountain of the event.
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver of Team Katusha currently leads stage 8 overall classifications with a healthy lead of 33 seconds over Christopher Froome.
Top ten fifteen cyclists after the stage 8 classifications are as under,
1
Joaquim Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Katusha Team
29:59:35
2
Christopher Froome (GBr) Sky Procycling
0:00:33
3
Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Saxo Bank - Tinkoff Bank
0:00:40
4
Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Movistar Team
0:00:50
5
Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
0:01:41
6
Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Katusha Team
0:01:48
7
Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale
0:02:14
8
Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi
0:02:47
9
Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
0:02:58
10
Bauke Mollema (Ned) Rabobank Cycling Team
0:03:07
11
Przemyslaw Niemiec (Pol) Lampre - ISD
0:03:20
12
Eros Capecchi (Ita) Liquigas-Cannondale
13
Tomasz Marczynski (Pol) Vacansoleil-Dcm Pro Cycling Team
0:03:26
14
Sergio Luis Henao Montoya (Col) Sky Procycling
0:03:34
15
Winner Anacona Gomez (Col) Lampre - ISD
0:03:38
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