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Ardila error hands Sanchez victory
 Sanchez crosses the line ahead of Pereiro to win the 13th stage SANTUARIO DE LA BIEN APARECIDA, Spain -- Spaniard Samuel Sanchez took advantage of another rider's error to scoop the first win of his professional career in the 13th stage of the Tour of Spain. Sanchez landed the 193km stage from Burgos after Colombian Mauricio Ardila failed to identify the finish line. Mistaking a banner for the King of the Mountains competition with the finish, Ardila raised his arms to celebrate what he thought was a victory. Sanchez then overtook the Colombian to cross the line for the win while Ardila ended up in third place behind the Euskaltel rider and Spaniard Oscar Pereiro. "I took full advantage of his error but I'm not to blame for wanting to win," said the 27-year-old Sanchez. "Once I saw he'd made a mistake, I charged past. The only thing that matters in cycling is winning. Nobody remembers who comes second." "I can only congratulate him," said Ardila. "I made a real junior's mistake." Russian Denis Menchov retained his overall advantage for a fifth successive day ahead of Spaniards Roberto Heras at 47 seconds and Francisco Mancebo at one minute, 53 seconds. Sanchez, relegated to second in a stage of the 2003 Tour of Asturias because of an irregular sprint, had only ever won a non-classified event as a professional -- the Subida a Montjuic race. But on an exceptionally fast stage, Sanchez bridged across in the final kilometers to a seven-man move containing Ardila and Pereiro. The two Spaniards and the Colombian then moved ahead in the last segment of the minor climb that concluded the stage. Meanwhile, Heras said that the knee injury he suffered from a pile-up on stage 12 had continued to trouble him. "It wasn't my best day, and as our team didn't control the race it was a mad stage with attacks going all the time. But I got through." Referring to Saturday's crucial ascent to the Lagos de Covadonga, Heras said he would be watching Mancebo. "Menchov will just try to follow my wheel, as usual," he added. While Heras battled through, two of his former team mates in the Discovery Channel squad did not start and one had to abandon the race. Portugal's Jose Azevedo, Benoit Joachim of Luxembourg and Spain's Manuel Beltran all quit because of injuries from the stage 12 crash. "Three riders hit the deck, three riders have gone home." said team director Johan Bruyneel. 
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