Viva Valverde!

I am so NOT in touch with the Vuelta a Espana this year that I thought it ended today!
It has another week to go, of course.
Caisse d'Epargne's Alejandro Valverde (photo by Graham Watson), who many thought was going to win the Tour de France until he broke his collarbone, continues to lead the overall standings with a 48-second advantage over Astana's Andrey Kashechkin.
Gerolsteiner's Robert Förster won a mad scramble to the line of the 15th stage at Spain's giant Ford factory near Valencia.
Förster finished ahead of CSC's Stuart O'Grady and Lampre's Danilo Napolitano.
The sprint marked the first attempt at a win by Milram's Alessandro Petacchi since he broke his kneecap in an accident during the Giro d'Italia. Petacchi, the last rider to have won stages in all three grand tours in a single season, picked a poor line and found himself boxed in with about 50 meters to go.