American veteranChristopher Horner protected his overall lead Saturday in the decisive next-to-last stage of the 2013 Vuelta a Espana.
The 41-year-old RadioShack-Leopard rider was three seconds ahead of Italy‘s Vincenzo Nibali going into the 20th stage, a grueling mountainous ride. Horner unleashed a climbing burst to shake the Giro d’Italia winner on the final surge up the fogged-in peak.
The 88-mile stage was won by Kenny Elissonde in just under four hours.
The race ends with Sunday’s traditional arrival in Madrid.
Stage 20 Brief Results:
- Kenny Elissonde (France / FDJ.fr) 3:55:36″
- Chris Horner (U.S. / RadioShack) +26″
- Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +54″
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Astana)
- Andre Cardoso (Portugal / Caja Rural)
- Dominik Nerz (Germany / BMC Racing)
- Jose Mendes (Portugal / NetApp) +1:15″
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +1:45″
- Serge Pauwels (Belgium / Omega Pharma – Quick-Step) +1:52″
- Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ.fr) +1:59″
General Classification After Stage 20:
- Chris Horner (U.S. / RadioShack) 81:52:01″
- Vincenzo Nibali (Italy / Astana) +37″
- Alejandro Valverde (Spain / Movistar) +1:36″
- Joaquim Rodriguez (Spain / Katusha) +3:22″
- Nicolas Roche (Ireland / Saxo – Tinkoff) +7:11″
- Domenico Pozzovivo (Italy / AG2R) +8:00″
- Thibaut Pinot (France / FDJ.fr) +8:41″
- Samuel Sanchez (Spain / Euskaltel) +9:51″
- Leopold Koenig (Czech Republic / NetApp) +10:11″
- Daniel Moreno (Spain / Katusha) +13:11″
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