Botero wins stage 16

Colombian rider Santiago Botero (Kelme) compensated for his poor early performances to win stage 16 of the Vuelta a Espana on Tuesday. Despite crossing the finish line nearly nine minutes behind, Roberto Heras (US Postal) retained his leader's jersey.

RE-LIVE: Vuelta stage 16 as it happened!

Completing the podium in stage 16, a 154.7-kilometre ride from Aviles to Leon, were Spain's Luis Perez (Team Coast), who was just nipped at the line by the fast-sprinting Botero, and fellow Spaniard Jose Gutierrez (ibanesto.com), who arrived five seconds behind.

A winner of two stages of last year's Vuelta, Botero, who crossed the line in three hours, 32 minutes and seven seconds, attacked with Perez with just under 2km remaining after the duo had formed part of a five-man breakaway.

The lead group initially established itself at the 53km mark, when six riders attacked between the category three Alto de San Tirso and the category one Puerto de Pajares. Another group of six quickly joined the six riders, making it a 12-man lead pack.

However, once the confrontation was made on the steep an intimidating Puerto de Pajares climb, riders began to drop like flies and only five were left leading.

Back in the peloton, new Vuelta leader Heras found himself without any support from his US Postal team mates. Nevertheless, the experienced climber had no trouble holding his own and stuck in with the Kelme and ONCE teams.

With no threat to the overall standings in the lead group of five, the peloton was not in a hurry. Predictably, Deutsch Telekom swiftly dictated the pace with sprint classification leader Erik Zabel, who headed the pack into the finish and collected points for sixth place.

Needless to say, the determined Botero, who surprisingly lies back in 86th place at one hour and 41 minutes behind Heras, finally got his reward. "It's a good feeling to find yourself winning after such a hard time in the first fortnight of racing," the 29-year-old told reporters after the stage. "I almost thought I would abandon on the Angliru stage, but this is a great reward for persevering."

The overall standings remain the same, with Heras leading Spaniards Aitor Gonzalez by 35" and Oscar Sevilla by 1'08".

Wednesday's 17th stage features a 146-km-long course from Benavente to Salamanca.