 Petacchi was forced out of the Tour de France through injury |
Italian Alessandro Petacchi won a closely-fought sprint to take the second stage of the Tour of Spain. German Erik Zabel was second over the 207km stage from Leon to Burgos with Spaniard Oscar Freire finishing third.
It was the Fassa Bortolo rider's eighth Vuelta stage win after two wins in 2002 and five more in last year's race.
Dutchman Max Van Heeswijk has taken over from his US Postal team-mate Floyd Landis as race leader after picking up time bonuses during the stage.
Stage results
1. Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo, five hours, two minutes, four seconds
2. Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile, same time
3. Oscar Freire (Sp), Rabobank, same time
4. Stuart O'Grady (Aus), Cofidis, same time
5. Pedro Horrillo (Sp), Quick Step, same time
6. Giosue Bonomi (Ita), Saeco, same time
7. Antonio Cruz (US), U.S. Postal Service, same time
8. Marco Zanotti (Ita), Vini Caldirola, same time
9. Erki Putsep (Est), AG2R, same time
10. Inaki Isasi (Sp), Euskaltel, same time.
Overall standings:
1. Max Van Heeswijk (Neth), U.S. Postal Service, five hours 32 minutes 44 seconds
2. Benoit Joachim (Lux), U.S. Postal Service, two seconds behind
3. Floyd Landis (USA), U.S. Postal Service, six seconds behind
4. Michael Barry (Can), U.S. Postal Service, same time
5. Manuel Beltran (Sp), U.S. Postal Service, same time
6. Victor Hugo Pena (Col), U.S. Postal Service, same time
7. David Zabriskie (USA), U.S. Postal Service, same time.
8. Erik Zabel (Ger), T-Mobile, 25 seconds behind.
9. Tomas Konecny (Cze), T-Mobile, 37 seconds behind.
10. Santiago Botero (Col), T-Mobile, same time.
MMIX
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