Vuelta a Espana - Millar wins ITT, Valverde on brink

Eurosport - Mon, 21 Sep 08:01:00 2009

Britain's David Millar won stage 20 of the Vuelta a Espana, a 28-kilometre time-trial around Toledo, while Alejandro Valverde virtually assured himself of taking his first Grand Tour win by finishing in seventh position.

CYCLING 2009 Tour de France 18e étape SLIDE David Millar - 0

Euskaltel's Samuel Sanchez rode strongly to take second place, just five seconds behind Millar's time, though at no stage did he look like making back the time needed to take the gold jersey from Valverde.

Caisse d'Epargne's Valverde can look forward to the largely processional 21st and final stage into Madrid, after which he should have claimed his long-awaited first Grand Tour success.

"I feel like I have been liberated because I have won this race without having the single bad day most riders get in a big Tour," Valverde said.

"It's been a very tough Tour of Spain to win with more than 5,000 metres of climbing in one single stage and up to 10 days of continuous racing with no rest days.

"So I've played a defensive game, not doing any major attacks, and that's been the key to my success."

Cadel Evans produced a fine ride to roll in just nine seconds back and snatch third position away from Liquigas' Ivan Basso, who was over a minute off the pace.

While Vacansoleil's Lieuwe Westra set the early pace, covering the testing, undulating course in 36 minutes 36 seconds, Millar increased his pace over the second half of the course to slice a massive 43 seconds off the Dutchman's time.

Millar said: "For the team it's not so important because we've already had two stage victories in the Tour of Spain, one of them in the toughest mountain stage.

"But I'm very proud of this win. I've been on the hunt for it all year."

Evans' Silence-Lotto team-mate Philippe Gilbert looked set to blow everybody out of the water with a lightning-quick first 10km, in which he was a full 30 seconds clear of the rest of the field, though he flagged badly over the final section of the course, crawling across the line in an eventual sixth position.

Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Xacobeo-Galicia) and Roman Kreuziger (Liquigas) were fourth and fifth on the stage respectively

Ireland's Philip Deignan (Cervelo) showed good courage to hold off the challenge of Juan Jose Cobo (Fuji-Servetto) and cling onto ninth place, thus becoming the first Irishman to occupy such a high position on the general classification of a Grand Tour since Stephen Roche finished in the same position in the Giro d'Italia in 1993.

Only as the top four on the general classification hit the second time-check after 19.5 kilometres did a win for Millar seem in doubt, though none could equal his time, and the Garmin rider will approach the World Championships in Mendrisio next week high on confidence.

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  1. David Millar has proved that HONESTY IS THE BEST­ POLICY!

    From zipterry, on Sun 20 Sep 12:46PM

  2. Good win from Miller it took him quit time before he­ did it but its normal after his doiping sanction
    Well­ for the rest we only want to know from Valverde how­ much does it cost all dat doping product's with the­ montoring to be as clean Doper, please some tips Mister­ the Vaverde as Mister the Contador
    Thanks, Vai Valverde­ I mean Vamos..

    From Ra, on Sun 20 Sep 2:09AM

  3. Well I am not really sure what exactly is going on but­ I can assure you that they willnot take the victory­ from him because of doubts that he may have used drugs­ 3 4 years ago. The thing is that he is clean now so I­ say that he races until there is clear evidence that he­ is doped. Then ofc he will deserve his ban

    From Jordan, on Sun 20 Sep 12:09AM

  4. As I understand it the Italian federation obtained­ samples of the blood code named Valv Pitti and­ successfully DNA tested it and found it matched that of­ Valverde. The only reason that this was not done by the­ Spanish federation is because of some obscure aspects­ of Spanish law that have persistently stymied any­ attempts to actually bring into the public domain the­ names of those who were working with Fuentes. I think­ it was the frustration at this that prompted the­ Italian federation's actions. Afterall they­ suspended one of thier own riders (Basso) because his­ blood was identified as amongst Fuentes' stock. One­ cannot help feeling that Valverde has been evading­ justice for some time, protected by laws the purpose of­ which is hard to fathom. Whatever the rights and­ wrongs, having someone who is suspended by one­ federation winning a grand tour is not exactly good for­ the sport's tarnished image. As to the question why­ don't the Itlaians publsh it? They cannot do that­ whilst it is subject to an appeal, which it is by­ Valverde and a counter appeal on the part of the UCI­ and WADA to have the ban ratified and extended to all­ competition. If successful there is no doubt that the­ UCI will ask that it be applied retrospectively from­ the time the Italian federation applied its ban;­ effectively making a mockery of three weeks of racing­ in which other riders have been forced to base their­ tactics around a rider who effectively wasn't­ actually there. What a total mess.

    From DAVID, on Sat 19 Sep 11:35PM

  5. There is no clear evidence that Valverde is guilty. If­ the evidence the italians have was so certain why dont­ they publish it and end all speculations?

    From Jordan, on Sat 19 Sep 11:12PM

  6. Good win for Millar. he makes a habit of winning TTs in­ the Vuelta. The shame for the sport though is that­ Valverde is going to 'win'. Yet another in the­ catalogue of dodgy Vuelta winners; to join Vino,­ Roberto Heras and Aitor Gonzalez. If the UCI case with­ CAS goes agasint him (an it almost certainly should) we­ will likely see him stripped of the title and the­ Italian federation's ban imposed worldwide. Lets­ face it, he was only in the race becuase some arcane­ Spaniah laws have prevented him from facing the­ accusations that the Italian's independently­ managed to make stick. heven forbid that he wins the­ Worlds. The sport is maing great strides to clean up­ its act and Valverde's win makes a mockery of it.­ 'Valv Pitti' Pitty indeed.

    From DAVID, on Sat 19 Sep 10:10PM

  7. I honestly believe Miller stood up to be counted when­ he fessed up to his drug abuse. I am usually the­ harshest critic of drug cheats but David came clean,­ didn't whine about his punishment and seems to have­ been honest about his past. In that, he has displayed­ the qualities of a real man. However, when we talk of­ his 'past troubles', we must never forget he­ brought them upon himself.

    From terrytrudgian, on Sat 19 Sep 8:21PM

  8. Some justice for Evans then with his podium spot, he­ deserves it. Even without the time he lost because of­ the puncture I don't think he would have beat­ Valverde in his home tour, second place maybe.

    From jbandbetsymac, on Sat 19 Sep 7:55PM

  9. A sword for winning it. Nice.

    That's one way to­ stop Cancellara when the two next meet.

    From CR, on Sat 19 Sep 5:21PM

  10. I am not really a MIllar fan but frankly I am glad to­ see him have a good win after all of his past troubles.­ Something about his win is satisfying although I cannot­ put my finger on it.

    From istoleyourbicycle, on Sat 19 Sep 5:15PM
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