Published>Mon, Sep 06 10 12:37 AM
Spain's David Lopez got a rare taste of individual glory on Sunday when his gamble to attack paid off with victory in the mountainous stage nine of the Tour of Spain.
Best known as a team worker for the Caisse D'Epargne squad, Lopez claimed only the second victory of his nine-year career after a lone break six kilometres from the finish line, while compatriot Igor Anton retained the overall lead.
"For me, as a team worker, whenever the squad wins, it feels like I win," said 29-year-old Lopez, who finished six seconds ahead of Czech Roman Kreuziger and 13 seconds ahead of third-placed Italian Giampaolo Caruso in the 187.7-km stage.
"But it's nice to have my own chance to raise my arms in the air."
Part of a breakaway group of 10 riders that took off midway through a gruelling mountain stage with seven classified climbs, Lopez told reporters he was "not the strongest guy in the move by a long chalk".
"But I played my cards right and gambled on making one all-out attack just at the moment when the other riders had tried and failed to get away," added the Spaniard, whose only other victory was in a stage of the Tour of Germany in 2007.
After an arduous five-hour stage through the sierras of Alicante in south-eastern Spain, Anton retained the overall lead ahead of compatriot Joaquim Rodriguez, with Italy's Vincenzo Nibali in third, two seconds back.
Rodriguez tried to shake off Anton on the final ascent into Alcoy with a series of prolonged accelerations that strung out the main pack but the Euskaltel-Euskadi rider easily matched his closest overall pursuer.
"I knew Joaquim would try something right at the end where the road kicked up to the finish, so I shadowed him as closely as I could," Anton told reporters.
"It was a very tough day, it was really hot and there wasn't a metre of flat but we kept my rivals under control."
Italian sprinter and stage seven winner Alessandro Petacchi pulled out midway through the stage after injuring his hip and elbow in a crash on Saturday.
The Tour of Spain ends on Sept. 19 in Madrid.
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