In the final stage of the Vuelta Espana Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) once again was outpaced by Daniele Bennati
of Team Lampre - Fondital. After 100 kilometers, which mostly led over a circuit in Madrid, Bennati outsprinted the rest of
the pack. Petacchi came in second, Alexandre Usov (AG2R) came in third.
The sprinters' teams dominated the last stage of the Vuelta and caught up all escapees early. In the finale the
Milram train prepared the sprint for Alessandro Petacchi. “My team did a good job once again, like they always
do,” Alessandro Petacchi said. “I was at Bennati's wheel and tried to pass him. But he reacted fast and won with
a few centimetres. Compliments to him” Petacchi continued.
For Bennati it wasn't just a stage win, the Italian rider also grapped the leading position in the points
calssification because of his victory on the final stage.
In the past three weeks, the most distinctive image of Denis Menchov, who won his second Vuelta Espana on
Sunday, was his seemingly stoic and calm manner of climbing. While his competitors had to or wanted to stand on their pedals
to signal an attack, the Rabo captain remained seated, calm and with his hands on the handlebars. And body language almost
always tells the truth; as it did in this Vuelta. But the Russian's supremacy is also clearly shown in the classifications.
The general classification has never been really tense as far as the leading position is concerned; the early-won gap only
widened in the final stages of the Vuelta.
Denis Menchov focused on the Vuelta immediately after the Tour de France. He first went to Russia for two
weeks to clear his head. After that he trained very hard in his home base of Pamplona in order to be optimally prepared for
the tour that is so special to him. One reason is that he has already won it once; the other reason is that he feels he has
become half Spanish. Therefore, Rabobank sports director Erik Breukink had much faith in Menchov before the start of the Spanish
tour. “He feels good and he also has a lot of confidence.” It was soon proven that that was not misplaced
because he reigned supreme.
Menchov's teammate Koos Moerenhout phrased it in this way: "Denis is always a little reserved but surely he
must have quickly figured out that he was clearly the best man in the tour. We as his teammates certainly did; he was sharp,
alert and on the lookout for attacks, and he did not worry." On the second rest day, Rabobank sports director Adri van
Houwelingen was confident it was over already. "Only an illness or a crash can keep him from winning this tour. I cannot see
how this could still go wrong." His colleague Breukink was not that explicit but he felt the same way.
Menchov also won two years ago, even though it was less satisfactory because it was only awarded to him months
after the race ended because Roberto Heras was disqualified after the Spanish rider tested positive. Another difference with
the 2005 Vuelta was the support he received from the team. At the time, the Rabobank squad was not as well-balanced and geared
towards winning the tour as it was now. The 2007 team was a team that did much work for Menchov and stood by him on important
moments. "We are getting experienced in defending the leader's jersey," said Breukink. That was clearly visible; every rider
proved his worth.
Carlos Sastre (CSC) was very happy with his second spot in the overall: “I'm extremely happy to be on the podium here in Madrid. I was fourth three times in a Grand Tour before, so I was pretty
determined to make the podium this time. Of course the goal was to win the race, but Menchov was stronger and I couldn't knock
him off course. But I'm satisfied with the outcome of this Vuelta both for me and the team. I've been surrounded by fantastic
teammates the whole time and they have a huge share in this victory,” said Carlos Sastre after the celebrations in Madrid.
”Again Carlos has shown that he's among the very best stage race specialists in the world and he definitely
deserves his second place. We were the ones to attack and we more or less made the second half of the race, which we should
be proud of for sure. We managed to get Carlos on the podium and since an overall win wasn't possible we have every reason
to be satisfied with this result. We've fought our way here, which is what counts. The team has backed him up perfectly from
beginning to end. We've had a great bunch of guys in this race and it's been very inspiring to be a part of. The team spirit
and motivation have been high all along and even though we didn't get any stage wins we've definitely made our mark. At the
same time Chris Anker had his major international break-through in this race and he's underlined the fact that he has a great
future in the Grand Tours,” said CSC sports director Kim Andersen after the final stage.
Saunier Duval's sports director Joxean Fernández Matxin looked back with mixed feelings: "Our Vuelta a España
2007 can be divided into two distinct parts. The first half was brilliant -maybe I wouldn´t say outstanding, but remarkable,
yes. We were protagonists in most breakaways, stayed focused, and scored our win in Cerler, marking the end of one of this
tour´s most important stages. The second half can be described as a failure. Saunier Duval -Prodir are a team that should
always be fighting for victory, and we haven´t even come close to that. We haven´t been able to rise to the occasion and this
could clearly be seen in the last week. I´m optimistic, though, because there were many things against us: Juanjo Cobo and
Koldo Gil weren´t with us, Gómez Marchante hadn´t been active and this affected his performance, Arkaitz Durán and Alberto
Fernández de la Puebla fell down and were in great pain, and, to cap it off, there was Piepoli´s sad family situation. I tend
to see my glass half full, so I prefer to focus on the triumph we added to the other 26 in this excellent season.”
