MADRID: Dutch rider Bauke Mollema of the Belkin team won the 17th stage of the Tour of Spain in Burgos yesterday as Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali retained the overall race leader’s red jersey.
Mollema, 26, attacked at the end of the 189-km ride from Calahorra to take the stage win ahead of Sky’s Norwegian rider Edvald Boasson Hagen and Argentina’s Maximiliano Richeze, of Lampre, who were second and third respectively.
The Dutchman’s move completely took by surprise the peloton, containing the leading riders in the general classification, to recover some pride from a race in which he had been left trailing in the overall standings.
“I knew that this was my only chance to win a stage,” Mollema told Spanish television. AFP
