Today is the final stage of the Vuelta a Pais Vasco, including a handful of Tour contenders like Valverde and Cadel Evans in the top spots, separated by only seconds. So far Alejandro Valverde has taken over the GC lead as of the intermediate check, and Yevgeni Petrov of Lampre is the stage leader in the hilly 25KM time trial. But Evans and Sammy Sanchez, the race leader are still on course.
[Update] Evans has dropped a full minute to Valverde! Adios top ten. Sanchez is taking time out of Alberto Contador, currently second overall, but he needs to stay within ten seconds of Valverde's time to hang on to the yellow/orange jersey.
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[Update] Valverde slowed over the latter portion of the course, so he hasn't won squat yet. Gomez Marchante just bested Petrov on the leaderboard.
[Update] Gomez Marchante's first on the GC! And Sammy's dropped 45 seconds at the midway check.
[Update] What's with the cones on the road? Is the course open to traffic? Is this a club race? Evans rolls in a bit tardy. Nobody's said much about Davide Rebellin, who started just a few seconds off on GC...
[Update] Jose Angel Gomez Marchante has salted this one away. Rebellin is two minutes down, Contador has already missed the time, and Sammy Sanchez is in equally dire straits, he'll have to be happy with his two stage wins. Great win for Saunier Duval!