Vuelta a España 2008/7. stage

Result of the 7th stage
First		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	6:15:51 h
Second		Ezequiel Mosquera	XAG	+ 2:42 min
Third		Alberto Contador	AST	+ 2:45 min
Fourth		Joaquim Rodríguez	GCE	+ 2:50 min
fifth		Levi Leipheimer	AST	equal time
Sixth		Igor Antón	EUS	equal time
seventh		Carlos Sastre	CSC	equal time
Eighth		Daniel Moreno	GCE	+ 3:03 min
Ninth		Marzio Bruseghin	LAM	+ 3:11 min
Tenth		Davide rebel	GST	equal time
Intermediate results after the 7th stage
Overall rating		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	23:53:26 h
Second		Levi Leipheimer	AST	+ 1:00 min
Third		Sylvain Chavanel	COF	+ 1:21 min
Scoring		Daniele Bennati	LIQ	63 P.
Second		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	56 P.
Third		Alejandro Valverde	GCE	54 P.
Mountain scoring		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	51 P.
Second		Marc de Maar	RAB	27 P.
Third		Ezequiel Mosquera	XAG	25 p.
Combination scoring		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	4 p.
Second		Levi Leipheimer	AST	16 p.
Third		Alberto Contador	AST	20 p.
Team evaluation		Astana	AST	71:29:56 h
Second		Team CSC-Saxo Bank	CSC	+ 0:38 min
Third		Caisse d'Epargne	GCE	+ 2:08 min

The 7th stage of the Vuelta a España 2008 on September 6th led over 223.2 kilometers from Barbastro to Andorra (Naturlandia-La Rabassa). There were two sprint classifications and one mountain class each in the 3rd, 2nd, 1st and special categories on the program.

With today's first mountain stage, the Vuelta reached the Pyrenees . Altogether, in adverse weather conditions with cold and rain, there was a total of 4,150 meters of altitude to be mastered. The stage was shaped by a quintet: Iñigo Landaluze , Xabier Zandio , Gianni Meersman , Marc de Maar and Alessandro Ballan . This was surprising as the Ballan finished 13th in the overall standings and was just over two minutes behind. Nevertheless, the field let the group have their way. So the outliers were able to get a maximum lead of over 10 minutes. They won both intermediate sprints and the first three mountain classifications. On the penultimate climb, the leading group began to disintegrate. In the final ascent, Ballan separated from his last companions Meersman and de Maar and started a solo ride to the summit. This ended with a lead of 2:42 minutes on the favorites. Thus, the escape was extremely successful for Ballan: In addition to winning the day, he was also able to secure the gold, orange and white jerseys. There were no big gaps in the tour favorites. Only Alejandro Valverde lost almost a minute.

tasks

• 042 Stef Clement
• 142 Carlos Barredo
• 172 Volodymyr Djudja
• 189 Nikolai Trusov

Sprint ratings

• 1st intermediate sprint in Benabarre (32.5 km) (770 m above sea level)

First		Xabier Zandio	GCE	4 p.
Second		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	2 p.
Third		Marc de Maar	RAB	1 P.

• 2nd intermediate sprint in Sant Julia de Loria (180.5 km) (930 m above sea level)

First		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	4 p.
Second		Xabier Zandio	GCE	2 p.
Third		Iñigo Landaluze	EUS	1 P.

• Arrival in Andorra (2,050 m above sea level)

First		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	25 p.
Second		Ezequiel Mosquera	XAG	20 p.
Third		Alberto Contador	AST	16 p.
Fourth		Joaquim Rodríguez	GCE	14 p.
fifth		Levi Leipheimer	AST	12 p.
Sixth		Igor Antón	EUS	10 p.
seventh		Carlos Sastre	CSC	9 p.
Eighth		Daniel Moreno	GCE	8 p.
Ninth		Marzio Bruseghin	LAM	7 p.
Tenth		Davide rebel	GST	6 p.
11.		Robert Gesink	RAB	5 p.
12.		Jurgen van Goolen	CSC	4 p.
13.		Oliver Zaugg	GST	3 p.
14th		Mauricio Ardila	RAB	2 p.
15th		Sylvain Chavanel	COF	1 P.

Mountain ratings

• Puerto de Montllobar, 2nd category (kilometer 64.4) (1,080 m above sea level)

First		Iñigo Landaluze	EUS	10 p.
Second		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	7 p.
Third		Marc de Maar	RAB	5 p.
Fourth		Gianni Meersman	FDJ	3 p.
fifth		Xabier Zandio	GCE	2 p.
Sixth		Leonardo Duque	COF	1 P.

• Collado de Faidella, 3rd category (kilometer 111.2) (1,230 m above sea level)

First		Marc de Maar	RAB	6 p.
Second		Iñigo Landaluze	EUS	4 p.
Third		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	2 p.
Fourth		Xabier Zandio	GCE	1 P.

• Alto de la Rabassa, 1st category (km 193.4) ​​(1,830 m above sea level)

First		Marc de Maar	RAB	16 p.
Second		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	12 p.
Third		Gianni Meersman	FDJ	10 p.
Fourth		Iñigo Landaluze	EUS	8 p.
fifth		Xabier Zandio	GCE	6 p.
Sixth		Sérgio Paulinho	AST	4 p.
seventh		José Luis Rubiera	AST	3 p.
Eighth		Andreas Klöden	AST	2 p.
Ninth		Levi Leipheimer	AST	1 P.

• Andorra (Naturlandia-La Rabassa), category Especial (km 223.2) (2,050 m above sea level)

First		Alessandro Ballan	LAM	30 p.
Second		Ezequiel Mosquera	XAG	25 p.
Third		Alberto Contador	AST	20 p.
Fourth		Joaquim Rodríguez	GCE	16 p.
fifth		Levi Leipheimer	AST	12 p.
Sixth		Igor Antón	EUS	10 p.
seventh		Carlos Sastre	CSC	8 p.
Eighth		Daniel Moreno	GCE	6 p.
Ninth		Marzio Bruseghin	LAM	4 p.
Tenth		Davide rebel	GST	3 p.
11.		Robert Gesink	RAB	2 p.
12.		Jurgen van Goolen	CSC	1 P.