With seconds on the line, Cadel Evans (Silence-Lotto) capped off a spectacular stage with an even more dramatic finish head butting Dutchman Robert Gesink (Rabobank) in the final sprint for third place in stage nine of the Vuelta A Espana. Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) won the sprint taking the bonus seconds and the golden leader’s jersey from Evans.
“In the final, a ‘racing incident’ with another rider in the last 200m stopped me trying to defend the leader’s jersey. Very frustrating on my part. I did let my competitor know about it, probably with a bit too much of my racing spirit and frustration. No hard feelings towards my colleague there, apologies will be in order,” wrote the Australian on his website.