Thursday, September 10, 2009 CARAVACA DE LA CRUZ, Spain: American Tyler Farrar won the 11th stage of the Tour of Spain in a mass sprint finish on Wednesday, as controversial Spanish rider Alejandro Valverde retained the leader's golden jersey.The Garmin rider edged Belgian Philippe Gilbert and Italy's Marco Marcato to the line after a 200-kilometre ride from Murcia to Caravaca de la Cruz in southeastern Spain, which included a first category hill climb.All three were among a group of 49 riders, including Valverde, to record the same time.The stage was marked by a breakaway after around 65 kilometres by Frenchman David Moncoutie, Spain's Amets Txurruka and Dutch rider Johnny Hoogerland.The three built up a lead of more than eight minutes but were caught by the peleton around 50 kilometres before the finish.Frenchman Remy di Gregorio also launched a late and short-lived attack.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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