PUERTOLLANO, Spain -- Colombian Leonardo Duque has won the 161km 16th stage of the Tour of Spain as Denis Menchov of Russia retained his overall race lead.

Duque pips his breakaway rivals to claim victory on stage 16 of the Tour of Spain.
Duque, riding for the Cofidis team, pulled clear of a 17-strong breakaway group with around 15km to go to prevail in a sprint from Alexandr Kolobnev and Joan Horrach in a time of in four hours, 39 seconds.
"This win is very important for me. The Vuelta is very popular in Colombia." said Duque.
The stage produced no changes in the top 10 of the overall standings with Menchov finishing safely in the peloton, nearly eight minutes behind the winner, to maintain a 2:01 lead over compatriot Vladimir Efimkin.
Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans of Australia is in third, 2:27 behind Menchov.
Wednesday's 17th stage takes the peloton on a 180km ride from Ciudad Real to Talavera de la Reina, just south of Madrid.
The race finishes in the Spanish capital on Sunday. E-mail to a friend ![]()

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