Used with permission of Team Astana

Vuelta a España Stage 16: Ponderrada to Zamora, 186.4km/116mi

- by Cathy Mehl

After working hard for Team Astana for more than two weeks, Tomas Vaitkus still found the strength on Tuesday’s stage 16 to contest the sprint. Going head-to-head with a group driving to the line, Vaitkus took 5th place behind winner Tom Boonen. Claiming second on the line was Filippo Pozzato (Liquigas) and Heinrich Haussler (Gerolsteiner) took 3rd.

Post-race Alberto Contador commented on the speed of the stage that finally ended at 6:45PM: "Maybe it’s not so bad to have a quiet stage sometimes. It’s good to take back some energy. At the end it was a bit dangerous again, many corners, etc. but we survived.” Asked about his crash on Monday, he replied, “I feel good. It was a bit more difficult to sleep only on my right side, but during the race, I did not feel anything wrong. Again, we’re a day closer to Madrid."

Tuesday’s stage to Zamora wasn’t a schedule rest day, but the tired legs in the peloton of 141 riders decided to take it easy as they make their way toward Madrid on Sunday. A break of two riders went away after 30km of racing for the break of the day, developing a time-advantage of almost nine minutes. The slow-moving peloton left Jesus Rosendo (Andalucia-Cajasur) and Walter Pedraza (Tinkoff) off the front until 15km to go when Quick Step put the hammer down to bring the race back together. Catching the duo with 7km still to race, Juan Antonio Flecha (Rabobank) took the opportunity to try a solo move to the line, but was brought back by the high speeds of the teams of the sprinters.

A round-about, at 3km to go, wasn’t marked clearly enough and some riders at the front found themselves on a separate part of the road that wasn’t exactly the course. Soon enough those riders were able to rejoin the peloton, but the mistake caused a disruption in the group annd knocked some contenders off their game. Quick-Step was clearly on their game, however, as rider after rider took their turn at the front, hoping to deliver Boonen at just the right time. And today they did, as the former world champion took his 15th victory of the season.

There were no changes overall and Contador remains in the leader’s gold jersey, followed by teammate Levi Leipheimer in 2nd at 1.17 back. More transitional stages await the riders in the next few days before the uphill time trial on Saturday.

Top twenty-five Stage 16 finishers:

1. Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step -- 5.21.16 (34.812km/h)
2. Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Liquigas                                               
3. Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner                                         
4. Mickael Delage (Fra) Française des Jeux                                      
5. Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Astana                                                   
6. Koldo Fernandez De Larrea (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                          
7. Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2R La Mondiale                                        
8. Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Lampre                                              
9. Oscar Gatto (Ita) Gerolsteiner                                                
10. Sébastien Hinault (Fra) Crédit Agricole                                     
11. Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram                                                
12. Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone                      
13. Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Spa) Rabobank                                         
14. Gabriel Rasch (Nor) Crédit Agricole                                         
15. José Antonio Carrasco Ramirez (Spa) Andalucía - Cajasur                     
16. Pavel Brutt (Rus) Tinkoff Credit Systems                                    
17. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne                          
18. Greg Van Avermaet (Bel) Silence - Lotto                                     
19. Fabio Sabatini (Ita) Team Milram                                             
20. Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                          
21. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Liquigas                                              
22. Wouter Weylandt (Bel) Quick Step                                            
23. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana                                                 
24. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Silence - Lotto                                     
25. Karsten Kroon (Ned) Team CSC - Saxo Bank                                    

General classification after stage 16:

1. Alberto Contador Velasco (Spa) Astana -- 66.35.04
2. Levi Leipheimer (USA) Astana -- 1.17
3. Carlos Sastre Candil (Spa) Team CSC - Saxo Bank -- 3.41
4. Ezequiel Mosquera Miguez (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia4.35
5. Robert Gesink (Ned) Rabobank -- 5.49
6. Alejandro Valverde Belmonte (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne -- 6.00
7. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne -- 6.11
8. Egoi Martinez De Esteban (Spa) Euskaltel – Euskadi -- 8.56
9. David Moncoutié (Fra) Cofidis - Le Crédit par Téléphone9.32
10. Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Gerolsteiner -- 10.01
11. Daniel Moreno Fernandez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne -- 10.52
12. Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Lampre -- 10.56
13. David Garcia Dapena (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia -- 11.47
14. Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Quick Step -- 15.02
15. Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Team CSC - Saxo Bank -- 16.08
16. David Arroyo Duran (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne -- 19.24
17. Nicolas Roche (Irl) Crédit Agricole -- 19.31
18. John Gadret (Fra) AG2R La Mondiale -- 20.08
19. Javier Moreno Bazan (Spa) Andalucía – Cajasur -- 22.41
20. Sandy Casar (Fra) Française des Jeux -- 23.17
21. Alberto Losada Alguacil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne -- 23.21
22. Andreas Klöden (Ger) Astana -- 23.47
23. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) AG2R La Mondiale -- 24.02
24. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Astana -- 24.03
25. Gustavo Cesar Veloso (Spa) Xacobeo Galicia --  24.57