Vuelta 2007 Stage 20: Sanchez takes another

Nice to see Samuel Sanchez and his Euskaltel-Euskadi team do so well in this race, but still a shame to see Evans knocked back another peg, and off the podium. It was on the cards after yesterday's faltering stage but given his still-recent efforts in Le Tour probably not surprising to see him now off his peak. Good to see Menchov claim the title without relying upon a doping-disqual this time. He was probably motivated to prove he was worthy without relying upon the failings of others. Or he just like to win.

From CN: Samu' has taken a step onto the final Vuelta a España podium in style. 29 year-old Samuel Sánchez (Euskaltel-Euskadi) won the 20-kilometre time trial in Villalba by 12 seconds over Denis Menchov (Rabobank) and 14 over Stef Clement (Bouygues Telecom) in third. By winning his third stage of the 2007 Vuelta and gaining 19 seconds over Cadel Evans (Predictor-Lotto) he was able to move up onto the podium - a position he should keep when the three-week race concludes tomorrow in Madrid.

Vuelta a Espana 2007 Stage 19: Sanchez snatches it

2 stage wins now for Sanchez and he moves to within seconds of 3rd place overall. Tomorrow is a 20km TT and it hard to imagine Evans giving up any time to anyone at this stage, especially so since he lost time on this stage to a glued-on Menchov and an aggressive Sastre, dropping one place in the process. Still, Cadel obviously suffered today and may be at the edge...

General classification after stage 19 1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 77.59.17 2 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 3.02 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 3.49 4 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 3.58

Vuelta a Espana 2007 Stage 15: Sammy sparrow flies the coop

Samuel Sanchez took the prize today, out-sprinting Beltran and taking time from the leaders. Mind you, the leaders have plenty of time up their collective sleeves and are clearly just hanging in, keeping a close eye on each other and locking it down. So when does someone actually upset this apple cart?

Via Cyclingnews, the top 10:
1 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 62.32.27 2 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 2.01 3 Cadel Evans (Aus) Predictor - Lotto 2.27 4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 3.02 5 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 4.01 6 Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Karpin Galicia 4.35 7 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Liquigas 5.15 8 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne 6.17 9 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Quickstep - Innergetic 6.22 10 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi 7.41

Seriously, it's hard to imagine the winner overall not coming from the top 4. Barring total disaster of course.