Alexandre Vinokourov (Photo: Astana)

GRANADA, Sep 13 (CP) - Kazakh Alexandre Vinokourov is the new leader in the Vuelta a España, finishing just behind stage seventeen winner Tom Danielson while Alejandro Valverde came in at 1'39". A group of six spent a large part of the day ahead of the peloton, surprisingly with American Tom Danielson of Discovery Channel. The others were Sergio Paulinho, Eric Leblacher, Lars Bak, Dmitriy Fofonov and Stéphane Goubert. On the most important climb of the day, the first-category Monachil, Danielson took responsibility in the lead group but a newly formed group of favorites soon closed in. In that group, it was Andrey Kashechkin to try an attack in order to make up for Tuesday's disappointing performance. The Kazakh was then joined by José Gomez Marchante. Valverde tried to make a jump as well but the race leader failed, and instead it was Alexandre Vinokourov to attack. 'Vino' soon joined Kashechkin and Marchante, and another Astaná rider, Sergio Paulinho joined that group from the front. But in the descent, Valvarde impressed and the Spaniard soon caught the Kazakhs to neutralize the attack and leave Carlos Sastre behind. Paulinho had been dropped at this point, but Vinokourov tried a new attack in one last attempt to threaten Valverde's top position. With nine kilometers left to ride, Vinokourov's advantage over Valverde stood at no less than 44 seconds. The Kazakh joined Danielson while the gap continued to grow to 55 seconds at five kilometers from Granada. And at three kilometers, it became clear that Vinokourov aimed to end the day in Gold as the advantage had now grown to a minute and seventeen seconds. Vinokourov and Danielson stormed through the streets of Granada while Valverde's group, with Kashechkin and Gomez Marchante, had been joined by several men from behind. There was no real sprint for victory as Vinokourov allowed Danielson to take the stage win. Samuel Sanchez had taken some distance from Valverde and finished at 1'10" seconds to take the last bonification seconds. The group with Valverde came in at 1'39" with Kashechkin winning the sprint for fourth place. The twelve bonification seconds earned by Vinokourov meant that the Astaná rider has an eight-seconds lead over Valverde in the general classification. Stage results: 1. Thomas Danielson (USA-DSC) 4h09'55" 2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz-ASW) s.t. 3. Samuel Sánchez (Esp-EUS) 1'10" 4. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz-ASW) 1'39" 5. Carlos Sastre (Esp-CSC) s.t. 6. Stéphane Goubert (Fra-A2R) s.t. 7. Luis Pérez (Esp-COF) s.t. 8. Alejandro Valverde (Esp-IBC) s.t. 9. José Angel Gomez Marchante (Esp-SDV) s.t. 10. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita-SDV) s.t. General classification: 1. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz-ASW) 67h29'41" 2. Alejandro Valverde (Esp-IBC) 0'09" 3. Carlos Sastre (Esp-CSC) 1'51" 4. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz-ASW) 2'14" 5. José Angel Gomez Marchante (Esp-SDV) 4'32" 6. Thomas Danielson (USA-DSC) 6'07" 7. Manuel Beltran (Esp-DSC) 6'33" 8. Samuel Sánchez (Esp-EUS) 7'25" 9. Vladimir Karpets (Rus-IBC) 7'49" 10. Luis Pérez (Esp-COF) 9'04" Points classification: 1. Thor Hushovd (Nor-C.A) 169pts 2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz-ASW) 118 3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp-IBC) 117 4. Francisco José Ventoso (Esp-SDV) 89 5. Stuart O'Grady (Aus-CSC) 82 Mountains classification: 1. Egoi Martinez (Esp-DSC) 117pts 2. Pietro Caucchioli (Ita-C.A) 117 3. Alejandro Valverde (Esp-IBC) 81 4. José Miguel Elias (Esp-REG) 70 5. Carlos Sastre (Esp-CSC) 60 Combination classification: 1. Alejandro Valverde (Esp-IBC) 8pts 2. Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz-ASW) 10 3. Carlos Sastre (Esp-CSC) 15 4. Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz-ASW) 22 5. José Angel Gomez Marchante (Esp-SDV) 28 Teams classification: 1. Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team (USA) 201h59'16" 2. Caisse D'Epargne - Illes Balears (Esp) 15'27" 3. Astaná (Esp) 15'56" 4. Euskaltel - Euskadi (Esp) 28'37" 5. Team CSC (Den) 51'43" Results by Jeroen Michiels

© Jonathan Roorda