Top sprinter Alessandro Petacchi, of the Fassa Bortolo team, won the fourth stage of the Tour of Spain yesterday.
Luxembourg's Benoit Joachim, of US Postal, maintained his overall lead.
Italy's Petacchi, who also won the second stage, prevailed in a mass sprint ahead of Germany's Erik Zabel and Oscar Freire of Spain.
The wet conditions from an overnight storm, plus strong winds, hampered the riders, many of whom finished in a much slower time than expected.
Four riders - Spaniards Xavier Florencio, David Fernandez and Inaki Isasi as well as France's Julien Laidoun - broke away from the main pack but were caught with 30km to go.
Petacchi was recording his 19th victory of the season, which included nine in the Tour of Italy, and with two stage wins already in the bank he is on target to challenge his five victories in last year's race.
Filed by Barry McEneaney
