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Valverde extends Vuelta advantage

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CUENCA, Spain -- Leader Alejandro Valverde pulled further ahead of his rivals after placing third on Friday in stage 13 of the Vuelta, won by compatriot Samuel Sanchez.

After Sanchez finished just ahead of a bunch of 28 riders led in by Norwegian Thor Hushovd, Valverde picked up an eight second time bonus for third place.

On the eve of a crucial 33km time-trial, Valverde now leads by 35 seconds overall from Kazakh Andrey Kashechkin with Carlos Sastre third at 52 seconds.

"Every little counts." said Valverde. "If I am still in the lead tomorrow, I'll be satisfied."

Sanchez's narrow victory came after the 28-year-old Euskaltel rider attacked 8km from the line on a dangerous descent to Cuenca.

"If you don't take risks, you don't win and today I took those risks," said Sanchez, whose only other big win was an uphill stage in the Tour of Spain in 2005.

He added: "This victory eases the pressure on our team. We had started as one of the big favorites, but after all our leaders lost time, stage wins were the only real option."

In Saturday's hilly time trial, Kazakh challengers Kashechkin and team-mate Alexandre Vinokourov are favorites.

"I expect to gain a minute on Valverde," Vinokourov, currently fifth at 1:46, predicted.

The Tour of Spain finishes on September 17 in Madrid.

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