Stage 10: Sabiñánigo - Zaragoza 173km
Vuelta 10: Sébastien Hinault wins sprint duel
Sebastien Hinault outsprinted the big boys to win Stage 10 of the 2008 Tour of Spain Tuesday. (JAIME REINA/AFP/Getty Images)
Frenchman Sébastien Hinault of Crédit Agricole outsprinted AG2R's Lloyd Mondory and Silence-Lotto's Greg Van Avermaet to win the 151.3km Stage 10 of the Tour of Spain from Sabiñánigo - Zaragoza Tuesday.
Spaniard Egoi Martínez of Euskaltel-Euskadi holds on to the leader's golden jersey.
"The team was very motivated because the sponsor is not continuing," said Hinault, 34, who is without a team for 2009.
"The last ten kilometres were not very fast. It didn't start to accelerate until Pozzato from Liquigas attacked," he continued as he described the finale that saw him get the jump on multiple World Champions. "Freire and Boonen? It really depends on the kind of sprint. I have beaten them both before."
Hinault's last win came in the Tour du Limousin. He took the win in stage three to Cublac over Australia's Allan Davis on his way to claiming the overall of the four-day race.
The appearance of Mondory in the top three surprised some Vuelta fans. The 26-year-old gunned for his third win of the season today. He fell short, but can look back on a year highlighted with wins in stage two of Paris-Corrèze and GP Kanton Aargau. Van Avermaet was easily recognisable in third. The Belgian won yesterday's stage and seems to be writing himself into the Belgian national team for Worlds with two spots up on the team's leader, Boonen.
For a complete report with results and photos, visit Cyclingnews.com.
