16.09.2007/ Euskatel's Samuel Sanchez won stage 15 of the Vuelta Espana. Sanchez outsprinted his fellow escapee Manuel Beltran (Liquigas). Denis Menchov defended his overall lead.

The 15th stage from Villacarrillo - Granada over 201 kilometer was a mountaín stage were the race favourites were involved in a great battle. It was a stage that was marked by the ascent and descent of the Monachil, a climb that once again served to establish differences between the racers. The day had its breakaway of the day, a breakaway that included such major racers as Damiano Cunego. Nevertheless, Manuel Beltrán was the strongest racer going up Monachil and managed to catch and move ahead of the Italian rider. Samuel Sánchez would do so as well on the downhill slope. The lead wound up in the hands of a pair of racers who understood each other perfectly: Samuel Sánchez and Manuel Beltran collaborated until the finale when the Euskatel-Euskadi racer's burst of speed proved decisive. Behind them, Carlos Barredo and Igor Anton earned a 20 second advantage over the favourites group, where Denis Menchov and the other major contenders in the overall standings were riding. Sastre gave it his best shot on the mountain and managed to leave behind all his rivals...expect Menchov, which meant almost all the main contenders regrouped in a single bunch once again. The big winner of the day was Samuel Sánchez, now in fifth place in the overall standings.

Samuel Sanchez said: "I didn’t use up all my energy going up Monachil. I could have climbed it faster, but we already saw in 2006 that the downhill slope is highly technical at the beginning but above all demands a lot of power during the final kilometers. And if you get there without having anything left in reserve, there’s not a thing you can do." Samuel Sánchez passed by Cunego and caught up to Beltrán during that descent: "Maybe it was due to that decision of mine. I caught Cunego, I saw it was going well, and I took off. I managed to get a few metres advantage on him and then it was just a question of chasing Beltrán. The two of us understood each other and I was able to gamble on the sprint with him, but if I hadn't saved that little extra climbing the mountain, everything would have come out differently."

Denis Menchov was able to defend his lead: "We all know the Vuelta isn't as hard in 2007 as it has been other years, but we knew above all else that it was going to be tough in its early stages. You had to be in top shape right from the very start. The key was to be very strong in that first week. Right now I’m able to control the Vuelta without too much trouble, but there' still a week to go and you have to be sensible”."Menchov has no doubt about what will be the decisive stage: "I’m sure the most complicated day of racing left is the day of Abantos. There will be a lot of attacks during that stage and I'll have to respond to all of them."

Carlos Sastre (CSC) was on the attack again today: "Carlos made his move, but the attack probably came a tiny bit too late to have any major effect. The climb was really tough, but riders like Evans managed to fight themselves back and after that there were no challenges left on the route to attempt again. The team backed Carlos up nicely and hopefully they'll get the opportunity to do so again soon. But unlucky for us there aren't that many tough stages left in this race," explained CSC sports director Kim Andersen after the stage.

Discovery Channel's Jurgen Van Goolen is the main newcomer to the top spots of the Vuelta standings. The Discovery Channel rider has become leader in the mountain classification, although he only holds a three point lead over Denis Menchov, who also continues on top of the combined and, logically, the general classification. Nothing new to report among the top four places in the battle for the golden jersey: Menchov, Efimkin, Evans and Sastre. But there is a change after that: Samuel Sánchez has moved into fifth place ahead of Ezequiel Mosquera. The points classification is turning into more of a duel among Italian riders every day: Paolo Bettini, Daniele Bennati and Alessandro Petacchi hold the top three spots although it's sure to be Bennati and Petacchi fighting it out in the final week to be on the awards platform in Madrid. As for the teams, it’s become clear that Euskatel is the only formation on the same level as Caisse d’Epargne. The riders managed by Madariaga were the best on the 15th stage, but Caisse d’Epargne holds on to a lead of over 15 minutes.