Bennati wins Vuelta 18th stage; Contador leads

VALLADOLID, Spain: Daniele Bennati of Italy won the 18th stage of the Spanish Vuelta yesterday as overall leader Alberto Contador moved closer to winning the race for a second time.
Bennati edged Ben Swift of Britain by a tire after more than four hours on the 205-kilometer (127-mile) leg from Aguilar de Campoo to Valladolid.
Allan Davis of Australia was third as the top nine riders finished the quick leg in the same time — 4 hours, 17 minutes, 17 seconds — with 10th-place Gregory Rast of Switzerland six seconds behind.
Bennati’s stage win was his seventh ever in the Vuelta.
Contador finished 10 seconds behind Bennati but in the same time as his closest challengers to maintain a 1:52 lead over Alejandro Valverde and 2:28 on Joaquin Rodriguez in third place.
“I just tried to stay attentive, to avoid any crashes and watch the direction of the wind as my team covered me very well to make it a day without worry,” said Contador, who picked up his first stage win on Wednesday since returning from a doping ban.
“One day less, every day that goes by is very important because just about anything can happen on any day at this Vuelta,” the two-time Tour de France champion said, admitting his legs were feeling the strain from his first major race since the 2011 Tour.
Contador’s dramatic victory a day earlier stunned Rodriguez, whose inability to respond to his fellow Spaniard’s attack cost him the overall lead he had held since the fourth leg of the 21-stage race. Contador leads with an overall time of 72:25:21.
“Sure, when I saw Alberto in today’s race I flashed back and thought more about yesterday’s leg than today’s,” Rodriguez said. “That’s life.” Friday’s 19th stage is expected to favor sprinters before Saturday’s next-to-last ride, a mountain climb outside Madrid that offers Contador’s pursuers one last opportunity to seize the red jersey from the 2008 winner.


The 67th edition of the Spanish race ends on Sunday in Madrid.