Ballan takes Vuelta lead after lone victory

(CNN) -- Italian Alessandro Ballan assumed leadership of the Tour of Spain with a brave lone victory on the seventh stage to Andorra on Saturday.

The Lampre star was part of a five-man breakaway group on the 232.2 kilometer stage from Barbastro to a summit finish of La Rabassa.

Ballan attacked at the foot of the final climb to take the stage by two minutes and 42 seconds from Ezequiel Mosquera with Alberto Contador of Spain making a decisive move to claim third.

"I still can't believe it," Ballan said. "I was pretty scared they would catch us, but the final climb favored me because it wasn't so tough, it was more a matter of physical strength."

Contador's late burst enabled him to gain five seconds on compatriot and rival Carlos Sastre, the Tour de France winner, and almost a minute on another would-be winner Alejandro Valverde.

But Frenchman Sylvain Chavanel, leader going into the stage, struggled and finished up more than three minutes 21 seconds behind Ballan.

Riders had to negotiate cope not just with a tough stage but also appalling weather conditions with persistent rain and fog at the top of the climbs.

Ballan leads the overall classification from American Levi Leipheimer in second place and Chavanel in third. Contador is one minute 34 seconds back and well placed to add to his Giro d'Italia victory earlier this year.

The Tour of Spain finishes on September 21 in Madrid.

In other cycling action on Saturday, home hope Linus Gerdemann clinched the Tour of Germany after the eighth and final stage in Bremen as Columbia teammate and compatriot Tony Martin won the 34km time-trial.

Gerdemann, 25, who impressed in the 2007 Tour de France, wore the yellow jersey from day one and finished fourth in the time trial to wrap up a comfortable overall victory.

He was 52 seconds ahead of second-placed teammate Thomas Lovkvist from Sweden. Third overall was Slovenia's Janez Brajkovic, who rides for Astana.