Cycling-Valverde's Olympic hopes rise after victory in Spain

By Alasdair Fotheringham

SAN SEBASTIAN, Spain, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Spaniard Alejandro Valverde's hopes of winning an Olympic medal at this month's Beijing Games rose sharply after a resounding victory in the Clasica San Sebastian on Saturday.

Second behind the Caisse D'Epargne rider in Spain's biggest one-day race was Alexandr Kolobnev of Russia with Italian Davide Rebellin finishing third.

Valverde, who is set to co-lead a five-man Spanish squad in the road-race on Aug 9 at the Games in China, told reporters: "After winning here, I'm far more optimistic now about my chances in the Olympics."

"Beijing will be much more of a lottery, and I'll be much more of a marked man after winning here."

"But apart from (German) Stefan Schumacher, all my rivals for a medal in Beijing were here today -- and none of them could beat me. That's encouraging."

"I've had a long season, and I wasn't sure of my condition, but this result confirms I've come through the Tour de France well."

LEAD MOVE

Valverde won stage one of the Tour but his hopes of victory in cycling's elite event collapsed when he was injured in the opening week and lost time in the Pyrenees.

"But I bounced back towards the finish, I even had a go in the sprint on the final stage on the Champs Elysees." said Valverde, who finished ninth overall in Paris.

At San Sebastian, the Spaniard jumped across to a 45-strong lead move in the first hour with team mate Vladimir Karpets of Russia and Luxembourg's Andy Schleck.

When the lead group's margin rose to nearly 20 minutes, officials told the chasing bunch of some 90 riders to climb off their bikes and quit -- indirectly increasing Valverde's chances.

After testing the waters with four other riders, Valverde still had the strength to go three bike-lengths clear of Kolobnev and Rebellin at the finish. Olympic road-race champion, Paolo Bettini of Italy, took fourth.

"It was a tough sprint, but I followed the right wheel and then accelerated hard," Valverde said of his 10th victory this season.

(Editing by Ken Ferris)