Yaroslav Popovych and a depleted Discovery Channel cycling team fended off their rivals in today's final stage of the Tour of Catalunya, giving Popovych the overall victory, his first with his new team.

Popovych gained the overall race lead Thursday and increased it to his final 20 second winning margin on Friday following a mountain time trial.  Saunier Duval's Leonardo Piepoli placed second with Cofidis' David Moncoutie finishing third, at 59 seconds.

In today's stage - a hilly 113.1 km race from Palleja to Barcelona (Sants) - Popovych finished 35th in the 112 rider group that came to the line together.  The stage was won by Credit Agricole's Thor Hushovd in 2:32:57.  Piepoli placed 78th and Moncoutie 64th.

Despite the victory, it was a rough ride for the Discovery Channel team, losing Leif Hoste midway through Monday's opening stage, a team time trial.  Then yesterday, three other riders - Roger Hammond, Fumy Beppu and Stijn Devolder - finished outside of the time cut, leaving Popovych with three teammates - Benjamin Noval, who finished 14th overall, along with Jurgen Van den Broeck and Max van Heeswijk.

Tour of Catalunya Results ? Stage 7:
1.  Thor Hushovd, Credit Agricole; 113.1 kms in 2:32:57
2.  Fred Rodriguez, Davitamon-Lotto; s.t.
3.  Miguel Perdiguero, Phonak; s.t.
4.  Sebastian Lang, Gerolsteiner; s.t.
5.  Claudio Corioni, Fassa Bortolo; s.t.
***
35. Yaroslav Popovych, Discovery Channel; s.t.
86. Benjamin Noval, Discovery Channel; s.t.
122. Max van Heeswijk, Discovery Channel; at 8:25
123. Jurgen Van den Broeck, Discovery Channel; s.t.

Final overall rankings:

1.  Popovych; 22:36:56
2.  Leonardo Piepoli, Saunier Duval; at :20
3.  David Moncoutie, Cofidis; at :59
4.  Michael Rogers, Quickstep; at 1:18
5.  Aitor Osa, Illes Balears; at 1:23
***
14. Noval; at 3:16
71. Van den Broeck; at 16:57
121. van Heeswijk; at 39:00