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Big disappointment
of Isidro NOZAL yesterday in Abantos
Heras in Gold, he has won his Vuelta
Honors of Victory, after decisive stage at Abantos
Petacchi, victorious -- no surprise here.
His 5th victory in the Tour of Spain 2003.
Clear winner yesterday at Abantos, Heras takes satisfaction
after losing the gold jersey last year in the last stage
Nozal looking over his shoulder --.his gold jersey now in
the past! but he is still in the heart of the Spanish people.
He moves to second place
 Heras
on the podium yesterday
Heras marks his second victory in the Tour of Spain, after
that of Millenium.
Heras in ORO
Heras, loyal lieutenant of Lance Armstrong.
Alejandro Valverde, New young hope in Spanish cycling.
Born April 25th 1980 in Las Llumbreras ( Kelme, Costa Blanca)
Felix Cardenas, King of the mountains -- a true climber (2nd
to Heras, in mountain time trial)
Eric Zabel prevails over Petacchi for the sprinters' Polka
dot jersey, thanks to his expertise, intelligence and qualities
of endurance in the mountains that permits him to succeed
in intermediary sprints
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Commentaire:
After
the dramatic events yesterday in whicn Roberto Heras pullled
off the time trial victory of a lifetime to take the lead from
Isidro Nozal at the last possible hour, today's stage was without
tension until the final sprint.
There
remained the possibility that Once, with its reputation as a
well oiled riding machine, could in some way maneuver Nozal
into a position to pull off his own countercoup.
In
the actual event, Nozal appeared to have accepted his fate and
to have given up ambitions of producing a miracle to take back
the prize he had let slip through his fingers. Perhaps he was
just suffering f'rom fatigue--it was evident that he was extremely
tired during the final kilometers of yersterday's climb, and
in fact he'd been showing signs of increasing fatigue all week.
In
any case, the U.S. Postal team, sometimes in disarray in the
mountain stages of this tour, was back in form and controlling
the peloton through much of the race, and taking no chances
with Heras' 28" lead.
Aside
from the caution U.S. Postal was maintaining in bringing Heras
home to Madrid, the peloton for all intents and purposes was
on holiday. With no serious hills and little wind, the order
of the day was to relax and enjoy the ride. The first 2 hours
of the course saw an average speed of just over 30 km/h, the
slowest of this tour.
Petacchi
had decided, according to his Directeur Sportif, to forego the
points competion today (leaving that to Valverde & Zabel)
and concentrate instead on winning the stage.
Zabel,
a past master at arranging himself to be in the right place
at exactly the right time for the purpose of accumulating points,
was again the master of the situation. In the intermediary sprints
he gained 30 more points for a final count of 181 (to Valverde's
161).
Aside
from the contested sprints, the peloton rolled on unconcernedly,
entering the suburbs of Madrid with 70km or so remaining.
The
speed only picked up during the 5.2km long circuit through the
streets of Madrid, which was to be negotiated 8 times.
During
these passages a handful of escapes were attempted, but none
succeeded for long. About 200 meters was the maximum distance
allowed the escapees, all of them solitary or in groups of 2
or 3.
With
4 circuits left to go the speed had picked up another notch,
to average 55 to 60 km/h in these wide and entirely flat avenues.
Fassa Bortolo largely controlled things at this point, but Team
Telecom took its turn in front, with Kelme & CSC also present.
As
the bell sounded, signalling the last time around, places were
being staked out. Petacchi was in 4th position, Zabel in his
wheels; other sprinters had amassed, ready to profit from any
feebleness on the part of Zabel or Petacchi.
With
around 500 M to go, Fred Rodriguez surged into the lead, bypassing
the two favorites. Then, as if it were his birthright, Petacchi
simply propelled himself past his adversaries. There was simply
no question about who would take the race.
Petacchi
crossed the line 3 bike lengths in front of Zabel & Rodriguez,
for his 5th stage victory in this tour and one of the most prestigious
of the season.
In
the larger sense the essential drama was played out all week
long, as Heras chipped away at Nozal's lead. It seemed that
only Heras, with his acutely intelligent sense of the course,
could foresee exactly how it would end, having gauged early
in the week that the 3 mountain stages and the critical uphill
time trial would be enough to take him into gold.
It
must be all the sweeter a victory for Heras in light of last
year's Vuelta, during which he lost the Gold Jersey on the last
day to Aitor Gonzalez in a finishing time trial event.
Nozal,
still young at 25, says he's learned a lot in these 3 weeks
and that he'll be back to dispute next year's Vuelta. We can
also expect a healed and hungry Joseba Beloki for the rendez-vous.
Of
special interest in this tour have been the "discoveries"--heretofore
relatively unknown racers who have shown brightly these past
weeks.
Of
course there's Isidro Nozal, who's received plenty of attention
already.
Michael Rasmussen, a Danish rider with Rabobank, has been a
constant presence and a daring competitor, winning one stage
in the Pyrénées and placing 7th overall (and he
would have placed higher except for his poor time trials).
Felix
Cardenas (Labarca), who has only recently chosen to join the
European tour in favor of his native Columbia, has shown himself
to be a world class climber, winning a stage and dominating
the competition for the King of the Mountains Orange Jersey,
and placing 8th overall.
Probably
the biggest relevation has been Alejandro Valverde, a young
Spanish rider with the Kelme team. In finishing 3rd overall,
less than 2 minutes behind Nozal, Valverde was everywhere in
this tour, winning 2 stage victories and taking the combined
Blue Jersey, which he wore for over 2 weeks.
Final
stage classification in Madrid
1
PETACCHI, Alessandro ITA
FAS 3:51:19
2÷
201 ZABEL, Erik GER TEL m.t.
3÷ 219 RODRIGUEZ, Fred USA VIN m.t.
4÷ 149 USOV, Alexandre BLR PHO m.t.
5÷ 126 EDO, Angel ESP MIL m.t.
6÷ 64 MARTIN PERDIGUERO, Miguel ESP DVE m.t.
7÷ 213 CALCAGNI, Patrick SUI VIN m.t.
8÷ 98 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP KEL m.t.
9÷ 138 TORRENT, Carlos ESP ALM m.t.
10÷ 35 FURLAN, Angelo ITA ALS m.t.
11÷ 152 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSD m.t.
12÷ 76 ISASI, I?aki ESP EUS m.t.
Final
overall classification
3 Spanish riders on podium
1
HERAS, Roberto ESP USP
69:31:52
2
NOZAL, Isidro ESP
ONE a 28
3
VALVERDE,
Alejandro ESP KEL a 2:25
4÷ 21 GLEZ. GALDEANO, Igor ESP ONE a 3:27
5÷ 85 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP BAN a 4:47
6÷ 13 BELTRAN, Manuel ESP USP a 5:51
7÷ 167 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB a 5:56
8÷ 102 CARDENAS, Felix COL L2C a 6:33
9÷ 87 OSA, Unai ESP BAN a 6:51
10÷ 48 PEREZ, Luis ESP COF a 7:56
11÷ 62 GONZALEZ, Santos ESP DVE a 9:08
12÷ 91 SEVILLA, Oscar ESP KEL a 9:52
13÷ 67 SCARPONI, Michele ITA DVE a 10:13
14÷ 23 SERRANO, Marcos ESP ONE a 12:51
15÷ 182 GARCIA CASAS, F?lix ESP TBI a 14:18
16÷ 125 DEL OLMO, Txema ESP MIL a 14:38
17÷ 147 PEREIRO, Oscar ESP PHO a 17:05
18÷ 74 FLORES, Iker ESP EUS a 18:31
19÷ 49 TRENTIN, Guido ITA COF a 29:34
20÷ 53 JUFRE, José ESP CRF a 33:30
21÷ 3 FRIGO, Dario ITA FAS a 40:19
22÷ 44 CUESTA, I?igo ESP COF a 41:18
23÷ 88 PIEPOLI, Leonardo ITA BAN a 46:45
24÷ 193 CALVENTE, Manuel ESP CSC a 47:54
25÷ 86 OSA, Aitor ESP BAN a 49:39
Sprinters
Points
1
ZABEL, Erik GER TEL 181
2÷
98 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP KEL 161
3÷ 6 PETACCHI, Alessandro ITA FAS 160
4÷ 102 CARDENAS, Felix COL L2C 123
5÷ 167 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 99
6÷ 26 NOZAL, Isidro ESP ONE 92
7÷ 11 HERAS, Roberto ESP USP 83
8÷ 126 EDO, Angel ESP MIL 82
9÷ 87 OSA, Unai ESP BAN 81
10÷ 219 RODRIGUEZ, Fred USA VIN 80
11÷ 152 BOONEN, Tom BEL QSD 73
12÷
41 MILLAR, David GBR COF 69
King
of the mountains
1
CARDENAS, Felix COL L2C 204
2÷
86 OSA, Aitor ESP BAN 112
3÷ 127 HORRACH, Joan ESP MIL 101
4÷ 98 VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP KEL 100
5÷ 48 PEREZ, Luis ESP COF 72
6÷ 11 HERAS, Roberto ESP USP 64
7÷ 99 ZABALLA, Constantino ESP KEL 58
8÷ 53 JUFRE, José ESP CRF 57
9÷ 167 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 56
10÷ 87 OSA, Unai ESP BAN 52
11÷ 91 SEVILLA, Oscar ESP KEL 50
12÷ 28 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP ONE 49
Combined
classification
1
VALVERDE, Alejandro ESP KEL
9
2÷
102 CARDENAS, Felix COL L2C 13
3÷ 11 HERAS, Roberto ESP USP 14
4÷ 167 RASMUSSEN, Michael DEN RAB 21
5÷ 26 NOZAL, Isidro ESP ONE 27
6÷ 87 OSA, Unai ESP BAN 28
7÷ 48 PEREZ, Luis ESP COF 29
8÷ 91 SEVILLA, Oscar ESP KEL 38
9÷ 85 MANCEBO, Francisco ESP BAN 47
10÷ 99 ZABALLA, Constantino ESP KEL 53
11÷ 53 JUFRE, José ESP CRF 54
12÷ 13 BELTRAN, Manuel ESP USP 57
13÷ 28 RODRIGUEZ, Joaquin ESP ONE 57
14÷ 3 FRIGO, Dario ITA FAS 60
15÷ 127 HORRACH, Joan ESP MIL 62
Team
classifications
1
IBanesto.com BAN 208:43:05
2÷
Once - Eroski ONE a 1:03
3÷ Kelme - Costa Blanca KEL a 17:07
4÷ Cofidis, le credit par telephone COF a 30:22
5÷ Milaneza - MSS MIL a 37:38
6÷ Euskaltel - Euskadi EUS a 38:11
7÷ Domina Vacanze-Elitron-RDZ DVE a 56:54
8÷ US Postal Service Berry Floor USP a 1:31:45
9÷ Fassa Bortolo FAS a 2:02:51
10÷ Colchon Relax - Fuenlabrada CRF a 2:36:14
11÷ Team CSC CSC a 2:58:46
12÷ Rabobank RAB a 3:09:00
13÷ Labarca-2 Cafe Baque L2C a 3:21:30
14÷ Paternina - Costa de Almeria ALM a 3:21:33
15÷ Quick Step - Davitamon QSD a 3:27:23
16÷ Team Bianchi TBI a 3:35:58
17÷ Phonak Hearing Systems PHO a 4:12:41
18÷ Team Telekom TEL a 4:13:45
19÷ Lampre LAM a 5:22:57
20÷ Alessio ALS a 6:12:37
21÷ Saunier Duval - Vini Caldirola VIN a 7:47:15
22÷ Saeco - Longoni Sport SAE a 8:51:34
Roberto HERAS
Born : 02 / 21/ 1974 in Bejar,
Nationality : Spanish
Height : 1.72 m, weight : 59 kg
Pro since : 1995
Team : US POSTAL - BERRY FLOOR
UCI : 19
Career... in 2003 :
Circuit de la Sarthe (Pos:44 - Time:13'34"),
Tour of Catalogne (Pos:2 - Time:43"),
Tour de France (Pos:34 - Time:1h14'17''),
Tour of Spain (Pos:1 - Time:69h31'19")
2002 : Tour of Cataluña
2000 : Tour of Spain
1999 : GP Primavera
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Finish 