Lion King roars to third stage win

Super Mario Cipollini (Acqua e Sapone) outsprinted Erik Zabel (Telekom) for his third stage victory at the Tour of Spain on Friday. The overall standings were unaffected and Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) retained his golden leader's jersey.

STANDINGS: Overall after stage seven

Cipollini covered the 196.8-kilometre-long stage, from Jaen to Malaga, in four hours 33 minutes and 47 seconds, crossing the line an entire bike-length ahead of Germans Zabel and Sven Teutenberg (Phonak). Despite his second place-finish, Zabel holds on to his sprinter's jersey with a slim one-point lead over Cipollini.

One week ago, Cipollini had never captured a single stage at the Vuelta since turning professional in 1989. However, in just five days, the Italian rider has turned his lousy Vuelta luck around, claiming his third stage of the 2002 event and the 180th win of his career. How's that for good fortune on Friday the 13th?

"I have the perfect team to take stage wins, and today the long descent into Malaga was favourable for me," Cipollini told reporters following his victory.

The race was definitely not the most exciting stage of this year's Vuelta, with riders roaming about southern Spain's flat, empty roads. A five-man breakaway group tried to establish itself fairly early, and after peaking with a five-minute plus advantage, the peloton, headed by Acqua e Sapone, Fassa Bortolo and Telekom, reeled in the riders.

Nevertheless, a bunch sprint is always a thrill to watch and it was evident that Friday's stage would head in such a direction.

Sevilla continues his reign in gold with the leader's jersey safely on his shoulders. His 14-second advantage over Alexandre Vinokourov (Telekom) remains unchanged, with Roberto Heras (US Postal) still in third at 39 seconds.

It's back to the mountains for Saturday's eighth stage, with riders taking on a 173.6-km-long challenge from Málaga to Ubrique and confronting three major climbs along the way.