Mosquera triumphs on the Neila

Ezequiel Mosquera conquered the Laguna de Neila to win the final stage of the Vuelta a Burgos on Sunday afternoon. Behind the Xacobeo Galicia rider the battle for the general classification raged as Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) rode away from overnight leader Tom Danielson (Garmin-Slipstream) in the final kilometre to claim the overall title.

Mosquera took advantage of the fight for the overall, launching an attack with Columbian Maurizio Soler (Barloworld) five kilometres before the finish. The two quickly reeled Cervelo's Phillip Deignan, the last rider to survive from an early seven-man breakaway.

After trading counter attacks, Mosquera finally distanced Soler with one kilometre to go. The Spaniard was able hold off late charges from Xavier Tondo (Andalucía Cajasur) and Francesco Masciarelli (Acqua&Sapone) to take the stage win. Tondo and Masciarelli finished second and third, respectively.

The kilometre-to-go marker also proved to be the decisive point for the general classification. It was at the same point on the course that Valverde made his race winning move, riding away from Danielson to turn a five second deficit into a 12 second advantage by the stage end.

With the relatively insignificant time gaps on general classification Danielson had come under constant attack from a number of riders on the final climb. After losing teammate, Danny Pate with six kilometres remaining he chose to mark his nearest rival, Valverde. The Caisse d'Epargne duo of Joaquim Rodríguez and Valverde took turns attacking Danielson until Rodríguez fell off the pace, leaving Valverde to secure victory on his own.

Despite his efforts on the Neila, the American rider slipped to third place on the final podium as Xavier Tondo's second place on the stage was enough to move him into the same position on GC, two seconds ahead of Danielson and 0:10 behind Valverde.

Mosquera's stage win saw him finish the race in fourth place overall.