Astana Cycling Team

German rider Paul Voss of Team Milram became the first leader of the Volta a Catalunya after a short race against the clock today.

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One hundred and seventy-one riders took the start for an exhibition-length time trial on pavements that were wet after a solid morning of rain. Voss, the 143rd man to leave the gate, completed the course in just under 5 minutes. He managed to keep the top spot in spite of an intimidating list of specialists and general threats on his heels that included Kreuziger, Leipheimer, Menchov, Zabriskie, Voigt and Luis León Sánchez.

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Levi Leipheimer and Andreas Klöden followed at 1 and 2 seconds. Voss has the leader jersey as a souvenir, but with a week of racing to come, today's ride will have little to no effect on the overall hopes of most contenders.

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The best-placed riders for Astana after today are Pereiro at 10 seconds, Jufré at 13, and Tiralongo at 16.

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Volta a Catalunya, Stage One Results

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Top three:
1. Paul Voss (MILRAM) 0:04:57
2. Levi Leipheimer (RS) 0:01
3 Andreas Klöden (RS) 0:02

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Astana riders:
27. Óscar Pereiro 0:10
35. Josep Jufré 0:13
60. Paolo Tiralongo 0:16
110. Alexsandr Dyanchenko 0:23
122. Sergey Renev 0:25
152. Andrey Zeits 0:33
163. Jesús Hernández 0:39
166. Gorazd Stangelj 0:39

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Highlights:

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See Josep Jufré at 6:47

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See Óscar Pereiro at 5:09