Samuel Sanchez wins Vuelta a Burgos
Samuel Sanchez, fourth place overall at the 2010 Tour de France, won the overall classification at the Vuelta a Burgos after winning the fifth and final stage. The Spaniard finished the stage in 21 seconds shy of four hours, in a sprint ahead of Ezequiel Mosquera of Xacobeo-Galicia. Vincenzo Nibali finished third overall, and the previous overall leader, Gianpaulo Caruso, fell to seventh place in stage five.
Sanchez, for Euskaltel Euskadi, took over the Vuelta a Burgos after the163km second stage, finished ahead of Jose Ivan Gutierrez at the category-three summit finish. It was the third win of the season for Sanchez, after stages in the Klasika Primavera and the Tour of the Basque Country.
“It is our second stage and second race lead in the Tour, and I think we've achieved a major objective,” said Sanchez. “We already achieved the main goal of winning a stage, so we're very satisfied.”
Sanchez’s teammate Koldo Fernandez won the opening stage of the Vuelta, also after an escape with Gutierrez. Euskaltel-Euskadi was off to a good start in this short but difficult stage race, but they didn’t want to put too much weight on their shoulders.
“Let's enjoy the two wins, doubles rarely come in this style and you have to value it and enjoy it."
Gutierrez remained a contender after the 21.3km team time-trial which was won by Caruso and his team Katusha, seven seconds ahead of Liquigas and 11 ahead of Rabobank. Euskaltel-Euskadi finished seventh, and Caruso took over the race lead from Sanchez, who fell to eighth overall. Gutierrez climbed to second place overall, nine seconds behind Caruso and 13 ahead of Sanchez.
"I want to thank the whole team, above all Pozzato and Karpets today. They went really strong." said Caruso. "After I recovered from the mononucleosis that kept me out for a month, this result gives me a lot of confidence for the season's finale and the Vuelta a España.”
Caruso retained the lead in the 173km stage four, won by Romain Feillu of Vacansoleil.
"I trained hard in July and feel sharp and in shape," said Feillu. "The team did a great job getting me in a good position and I was capable of taking the win."
Sanchez won the final stage and the overall race. The two-time Vuelta a Espana podium finisher stood on the podium in first place, one second ahead of Mosquera and 21 ahead of Nibali. Gutierrez finished in sixth and Caruso in seventh, 44 and 45 seconds behind respectively.
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