Frigo seals Catalan victory

Frigo maintained his superb early-season form

Italy's Dario Frigo battled through the elements to hold on to his lead and claim victory in the Catalan Week cycle race on Friday.

The Fassa Bortolo rider, who won Thursday's prize mountain stage, finished safely among the bunch on the final rain-soaked stage from Baga to Vic.

German speed specialist Erik Zabel held off Swiss rider Beat Zberg and Italy's Salvatore Commesso to claim victory in the final sprint for the line.

Overall victory confirmed the impressive early-season form of the 29-year-old Frigo, who won this month's Tour of Valencia and led the recent Paris-Nice race until being forced to drop out with a stomach bug.

"I didn't expect to be in such good form after recovering from my stomach problems," Frigo said afterwards.

Local rider Josep Jufre finished second overall, nine seconds down on Frigo, with fellow Spaniard David Latasa third a further four seconds off the pace.

Armstrong finishes 23rd

Lance Armstrong, who is using the race as preparation for his bid to win a fifth successive Tour de France, finished 23rd overall, one minute 11 seconds behind the winner.

But Frigo was full of praise for the American, who looked in excellent shape throughout the five-day race.

"He (Armstrong) had a sensational race considering he has got so few days of competition under his belt," Frigo added.

Frigo's lead had come under threat from a seven-man breakaway early in the final stage.

But despite the treacherous road conditions, the Italian's Fassa team reeled in the group just under 20km from the finish.

After a number of sporadic attacks over the final 10km, the race boiled down to a mass sprint with Zabel claiming his second stage victory of the week.

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Final stage results:

1. Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 4 hours 30 minutes 53 seconds
2. Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank
3. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco
4. Isaac Galvez (Spa) Kelme
5. Angel Castresana (Spa) ONCE
6. Gonzalo Bayarri (Spa) Phonak
7. Jordi Riera (Spa) Kelme
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE
9. David Latasa (Spa) Kelme
10. Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) US Postal all same time

Final overall standings:

1. Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 20 hours 15 minutes 51 seconds
2. Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax 9 seconds behind
3. David Latasa (Spa) Kelme 13
4. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com same time
5. Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel 23
6. Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak 25
7. Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank same time
8. Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE 27
9. Marcos Serrano (Spa) ONCE 31
10. Jose Azevedo (Portugal) ONCE same time