In his first victory of 2012, Italian cyclist Daniele Bennati won the 18th stage of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain) by a narrow lead of just half a wheel.
For the first 170 kilometres of Thursday's 204.5-kilometre sprint between Aguilar de Campóo and Valladolid, a tight quintet of cyclists maintained a nearly five-minute lead until a dramatic crash largely cleared the field.
With only 200 metres remaining, Bennati powered through downtown Valladolid past Brit Ben Swift, who looked like the clear winner, to capture the title. The four-hour sprint was the longest section of this year's 21-stage Vuelta.
Bennati dedicated his win to former team mate Wouter Weylandt, a Belgian rider who died in an accident in the Giro d'Italia (Tour of Italy) in 2011. Weylandt was the last rider to win the Valladolid stage.
After crossing the finish line, Bennati said, "four years ago Wouter won on this finish line and for sure today he was with me. He was a good friend and good team mate and today I feel he gave me extra strength to win.".
Since Bennati began competing in the Vuelta in 2007, he has captured seven stage wins and the points jersey for most points in one tour. Bennati's win Thursday was the first stage win for his UCI ProTour team, Radioshack-Nissan, in this year's Vuelta.
On Sunday, Bennati arrived third at the finish line in Madrid of the 21st and final stage of the 2012 Vuelta. Compatriot Elia Viviani took second place for the Liquigas-Cannondale team.
