Volta a Catalunya

Stage 7:  Circuit de Catalunya, 117.8km

By Cathy Mehl

After leading the race since last Wednesday, Spaniard Joaquin Rodriquez kept his leader’s jersey all the way to the end and won the general classification on Sunday.  A sprint finish on the last stage put Argentina’s JJ Haedo (Saxo Bank) on the top step of the podium after a stellar lead out from his trusted brother Lucas.  Rounding out the stage winners were Robert Forster (Milram) and Nicolas Roche (AG2R). 

Second place overall went to Xavier Tondo (Cervelo) and third to Rein Taaramae of Cofidis after a solid week of racing. 

In the early stages Team RadioShack lost team rider Daryl Impey over a bridge and into a ditch, but the remaining riders rallied and made the best of the situation.  Jani Brajkovic showed consistency throughout the week and was the best placed rider in ninth place overall.

Regarding today’s stage, Team Director Viatcheslav Ekimov said, “We had a good day until we got to the last km in the race when Tomas Vaitkus crashed and he was our only hope on the stage. Prior to that we had Haimar in a two guy break which was terminated at 10km to go.  In general we had a lot of back luck and troubles in this race and I’m disappointed because of that.  But I can say this with all conviction:  all of The Shack’s riders have shown great motivation and gave it their all in the race.  I hope our bad luck is all gone now and we’ll pick up some wins.”

Top Ten Results

1              Juan José Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank                 2:32:21                   

2              Robert Forster (Ger) Team Milram                            

3              Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale                       

4              Davide Vigano (Ita) Sky Professional Cycling Team                             

5              Lucas Sebastian Haedo (Arg) Team Saxo Bank                      

6              Aitor Galdos (Spa) Euskaltel - Euskadi                      

7              Manuel Antonio Leal Cardoso (Por) Footon-Servetto                       

8              Paul Voss (Ger) Team Milram                      

9              Andreas Stauff (Ger) Quick Step                                

10            David Loosli (Ita) Lampre-Farnese Vini

Team RadioShack Results

18           Jani Brajkovic (Slo)

47           Bj ørn Selander (USA)

104         Levi Leipheimer (USA)

113         Andreas Klöden (Ger)

124         Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)

155         Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) 0:00:30

Final General Classification

1              Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Team Katusha                  25:16:03                

2              Xavier Tondo (Spa) Cervelo Test Team   0:00:10  

3              Rein Taaramae (Est) Cofidis, le Credit en Ligne    0:00:43  

4              Luis Leon Sanchez Gil (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne       0:00:45  

5              Nicolas Roche (Irl) AG2R La Mondiale      0:01:20  

6              Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Garmin - Transitions                             

7              Michel Kreder (Ned) Garmin - Transitions             0:01:21  

8              Roman Kreuziger (Cze) Liquigas-Doimo 0:01:22  

9              Jani Brajkovic (Slo) Team Radioshack       0:01:25  

10            Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux           0:01:26

Team RadioShack on Final General Classification

21           Levi Leipheimer (USA) Team Radioshack               0:02:00                 

23           Andreas Klöden (Ger) Team Radioshack                0:02:16                 

60           Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Team Radioshack                0:20:05                 

139         Tomas Vaitkus (Ltu) Team Radioshack    0:59:42                 

147         Bj ørn Selander (USA) Team Radioshack                 1:05:58