Italy's Bennati wins Vuelta stage, Contador leads

Italian rider Daniele Bennati from team RadioShack won the 18th stage of the Tour of Spain on Thursday, a 204km race from Aguilard de Campoo to Valladolid. Spain's Alberto Contador, back in the saddle after a two-year doping ban, held on to the overall leader's red jersey. Bennati, who had been unable to get to the front of the pack in earlier crowded finishes, managed to cross the line ahead of Briton Ben Swift, of Sky team, and Australian Allan Davis of Orica-Greenedge. Following a tough year, in which he occasionally struggled with fitness, the 31-year-old Italian finally got back to winning ways, making a final spurt to get just ahead of Swift. After Contador's dramatic victory on Wednesday there were no major shake-ups to the overall standings. The Saxo-Bank rider keeps the overall lead, one minute 52 seconds ahead of fellow Spaniard Alejandro Valverde and two minutes 28 seconds ahead of Joaquim Rodriguez. On Friday, the riders face a hilly, 178.4 km 19th stage from Penafiel to La Lastrilla. The 21-stage Tour of Spain wraps up Sunday in Madrid.