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Casero stays No. 1 Italian Petacchi wins his second Tour of Spain stage
ZARAGOZA, Spain (AP) -- Italian cyclist Alessandro Petacchi raced ahead of his competitors in the final sprint Thursday to take the 12th stage of Spain's la Vuelta cycling tour, while Spaniard Angle Casero held onto the leader's gold jersey in the overall standings. Petacchi, riding for the Fassa Bortolo team, raced the windy 131-kilometer (81-mile) stage around the northeastern city of Zaragoza in two hours, 44 minutes, 36 seconds. It was his second stage victory so far in the 21-stage tour. Italian riders took the top three finishing positions with Giovanni Lombardi in second place and Stefano Casagranda in third. Much attention was centered on defending champion Jan Ullrich, with rumors abounding he may quit the race to participate in the Sydney Olympics later this month. Ullrich, however, looked as serious as ever during the stage, finishing 12 seconds behind Petacchi to stay fourth overall, 2:33 behind Casero. Caseras remains 1:15 ahead of No. 2 Roberto Heras while No. 3 Igor Gonzalez Galdeano lost six seconds and is now 1:48 behind. The Vuelta takes another rest Friday before the 13th stage on Saturday, a 146-kilometer (90-mile) route starting and finishing in the northern coastal city of Santander.
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