Boonen wins 16th stage of Vuelta

ZAMORA, Spain (AP) — Tom Boonen of Belgium won his second stage at the Spanish Vuelta on Tuesday, while Alberto Contador maintained his overall lead with five stages left.

Boonen was set up by QuickStep teammate Wouter Weylandt for the final sprint of the 115.8-mile 16th stage, winning in 5 hours, 21 minutes, 16 seconds.

Boonen, who also won the third stage, was already celebrating when he edged across the line ahead of Filippo Pozzato of Liquigas of Italy.

Germany's Heinrich Haussler of Gerolsteiner finished third ahead of France's Mickael Delage of Francaise des Jeux. Lithuania's Tomas Vaitkus of Astana rounded out the top five, which all finished in the same time as Boonen.

Contador moved closer to completing a sweep of cycling's three major events after the Spaniard finished 32nd in the same time.

Contador, the Giro d'Italia champion who won the 2007 Tour de France but was unable to defend his title after Astana was not allowed to compete, is 1 minute, 17 seconds ahead of teammate Levi Leipheimer.

The 17th stage of the Spanish classic continues Wednesday with a 92.1-mile ride from Zamora to Valladolid. The race ends in Madrid on Sunday.