What the riders say about the Vuelta:
Abraham Olano (team - undecided): "It will be a very tough Vuelta, with many mountain finishes, where the climbers will have a lot to say, even though the time triallist will also have terrain to defend ourselves. The second half of the race will be excessively hard, after a balanced first half. The final stages are going to be very tough with mountain finished and where the final selection can be made. My objective will be to get to them in good condition and well situated in the overall, with possibilities for the final win.
José María Jiménez (Banesto): "It's a very positive Vuelta. I'm very satisfied with the route that has been presented. There are five mountain finishes and that benefits the climbers. The fact that there is a Prologue time trial is good, so that there will be an established leader during the first stages and that way the typical nervousness of the first stages might be prevented. The Alto de Angliru is very tough, the toughest that I have climbed in all my career, that's why I think that the eight stage will be a great stage for cycling and where the first big differences will be created in the overall. I would like Marco Pantani to ride this Vuelta because we could have a beautiful duel. It would be great for the fans. I have a lot of hopes for this Vuelta. It is made more for the climbers than for the time triallists".
Laurent Jalabert (ONCE): "It's a tough and mountainous Vuelta, so the great beneficiaries will be the climbers. For them it will be a pretty good Vuelta and the rest of us will have to defend ourselves however we can to reach the end with any chances. I don't know the climb of Gamonal, but they tell me that it is one of the toughest stages that a cyclist can ride. But we will have to wait and experience it to see how tough it is. I don't know yet if next season I'll be teammate of Abraham Olano. I would really like it, even though I know that things have been twisted lately".
Some other details:
New Logo for the race - La Vuelta a España continues to modernize and on the next edition they will debut a new logo. It will be sort of a V, which inside will have an E that has the shape of a cyclist. Until now the mascot was a sort of snake called Iris in the shape of a V.
Jean Marie Leblanc attended the presentation - The General Director of the Tour de France was one of the many personalities that attended the presentation of the 54th edition of la Vuelta a España. Leblanc commented that the Vuelta route was "fantastic" and that his presence was not due to any special motive. "My relationship with the organizers of La Vuelta are excellent, just like with Spanish cycling in general".
Fernando Escartin was absent - Escartín, who finished second at the last edition was not able to come to the presentation. The fog was to blame for his absence according to his sport director, Alvaro Pino.
Major Mountain difficulties:
Altitude kms Stage 5, Murcia-Benidorm 175 kms Mogarraz (Cat 2) 950 10.0 Portillo (Cat 1) 1,240 13.0 Francia (Cat 1) 1,500 7.0 Monsagro (Cat 3) 1,130 4.0 Stage 8, León-Alto Anglirú 176 kms Ventana (Cat 2) 1,590 9.0 Cobertoría (Cat 1) 1,170 9.2 Cordal (Cat 1) 780 8.8 Anglirú (Cat HC) 1,580 12.5 Stage 11, Huesca-Val Doaran 201 kms San Roque (Cat 3) 670 6.0 Bonansa (Cat 2) 1,260 10.0 Vielna (Cat 2) 1,420 12.0 Beret (Cat HC) 1,920 18.0 Stage 12, Sort-Andorra 147 kms Cantó (Cat 1) 1,730 19.0 Rabassa (Cat 1) 1,800 13.0 Montaup (Cat 1) 1,990 18.0 Arcalís (Cat HC) 2,230 13.0 Stage 13, Andorra-Castellar Riu 139 km C. Clará (Cat 3) 880 0.6 R. Peguera (Cat HC) 1,890 17.0 Stage 14 Barcelona-Barcelona 144 kms Montjuic (Cat 2) 174 1.7 Stage 18, Guadalajara-Abantos 166 kms Morcuera (Cat 1) 1,800 9.2 Cotos (Cat 2) 1,830 9.8 Abantos (Cat 1) 1,680 12.0 Stage 19, El Escorial-Avila 190 kms P. Bernardo (Cat 1) 1,230 18.7 Serranillos (Cat 1) 1,570 9.2 Navalmoral (Cat 2) 1,620 8.8
The chronology of events as published by the Austin American-Statesman on December 15. They carry a photo of the guy too. Yikes!
October 17, 1996 - Carl Michael Carter II, 37, is charged with injury to a child for allegedly punching his daughter in the face. He is released on a $25,000 personal bond secured by a 10 percent cash deposit.
May 26, 1997 - While out on bond, Carter is charged with sexually assaulting his estranged wife. He is released on a $15,000 bond.
March 31, 1998 - While free on bond for both offences, he is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon for allegedly running off the road three cyclists, including former world cycling champion Lance Armstrong.
June 16, 1998 - A grand jury indicts Carter on three counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the cycling case. Based on his two pending felony charges, a grand jury recommends $300,000 bond, which is approved by District Judge Mike Lynch.
September 25, 1998 - A jury convicts Carter on the charge of aggravated sexual assault against his estranged wife and sentences him to 10 years in jail. District Judge Jon Wisser approves an $80,000 appeals bond, so that Carter might go free while awaiting his appeal.
December 11, 1998 - At the request of Carter's attorney, Wisser lowers the bond imposed on Carter for the counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon from $300,000 to $30,000.
December 14, 1998 - Carter pays both bonds and is released from jail.
Marty writes that Kristian Wegman, an unknown German from the 2nd division Die Continentale professional cycling team upset the best Australia had to offer at the 80 kilometre Brisbane International Criterium. With a field that included the likes of Scott Sunderland, Stuart O'Grady, Henk Vogels, Robby McEwen, Pat Jonker, Jay Sweet and Jan Koerts the 22 year German now has some notable early season scalps on his belt.
In front of an estimated three thousand spectators the race was started under the threat of rain. The Davies Park circuit certainly does not lend itself to wet conditions with a very tight final corner and a hairy sprint. With a field of 102 starters, a nervous air of anticipation was present before the start that you could cut with a knife. Race favourite and previous two time winner, Robby McEwen, was primed for a big day but all of the pro's were in Brisbane to show form even though they were only very early into their training for the coming European season.
Stuart O'Grady was certainly confident of a victory and after his win at the Bay Village Criterium at Noosa in early November, who could blame him. He had the support of Henk Vogels, Magnus Backstedt and Marcel Gono.... not a bad team to have behind you by any stretch of the imagination. But there were others there to win including Matt White (Amore Vita), Peter Rogers (Amore Vita), Scott Sunderland (Palmans), Marcelino Garcia (Once) sprint specialist Jan Koerts and the number one mountain biker in the world Cadel Evans.
The race was started at 9 am in quite hot conditions even though there was dark skies and an imminent threat of rain. The traditional first lap attack by local attention grabbing riders took place but the pro's were onto everything and controlling the race dragging every attack back and then riding a very high tempo at the front leading up to the first of 15 primes which had the race completely strung out. A local rider, Derek Crumpler took out the Valley Car Clinic Prime and the race had started proper with the first serious break containing Marcel Gono, Peter Rogers, Craig Saunders, Tony Stanley, Jason Phillips and Luke Stockwell. This group was hanging at 50 metres and several local riders tried to get across but were not successful and the race was soon back together with Gono still on the front driving at a solid tempo.
With primes now every three laps, the race started to really develop with a lot of attacks as the pro's started to weed out the weaker riders so as they could work towards a selection. As the half way mark approached a very dangerous group of fourteen formed just ahead of the main bunch that included Kristian Wegman, Pat Jonker (Rabobank), Cadel Evans, Jay Sweet (Big Mat-Auber 93), Patrick Blannin (Ffast), Scott Davis, Matt White, Robbie McEwen (Rabobank), Craig Saunders (Astra), Henk Vogels (Credit Agricole), Stuart O'Grady (Credit Agricole), Cameron McDonald, Warren Jennings and Stuart Cowan.
This group worked to establish a handy 30 second gap by the $200 halfway prime that was taken by Robbie McEwen. The effort that was being put in and the humid conditions were taking its toll and the lead group was now only 13 with Cadel Evans dropping back to the main group. Credit Agricole were now controlling things at the front of the main group and the break away lead was growing all the time and reached 60 seconds. So.... it was a done deal and the race would be decided between the front group as the main bunch would not be able to bring them back in the remaining time. The majority of riders now did not want to work together and only a few tried to escape and bridge the gap to the lead group.
With 16 kilometres remaining the race started to really hot up at the front as Henk Vogels tried to escape with Wegman on his wheel. But Wegman could not stay there for long and Henk was by himself with Stuart O'Grady blocking at the front of the lead group as Henk built an 8-second gap. Realising the danger Patrick Jonker started the chase back and quickly brought the group back together but the very next lap Henk was not done and went again taking teammate O'Grady with him. This bought a very quick reaction from Jonker, Matt White and Pat Blannin.
It was now lap 48 and the selection seemed to had been made and a group of Sweet, White, Cowan and Davis held a 7 second gap to the rest of the main group. Lap 49 saw Jonker and Wegman rejoin and then escape and gain a 5-second advantage. The front group was now split into three with Stuart O'Grady seemingly out of contention. Jonker and Wegman took the one to go sign and blasted their way around the course to set up excellent final sprint. Kristian Wegman had too much speed for Jonker who is not a renowned criterium specialist and took the opportunity in both hands when he forced Jonker to lead it out. Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist Jay Sweet brought the rest of the riders home to take third place as the lead group was completed split apart by the intensity of the final laps.
1. Kristian Wegman (Ger) Die Continentale 2. Pat Jonker (Aus) Rabobank 3. Jay Sweet (Aus) Big Mat-Auber 93 4. Patrick Blannin 5. Scott Davis 6. Matt White 7. Robbie McEwen (Aus) Rabobank 8. Craig Saunders 9. Henk Vogels (Aus) Credit Agricole 10. Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Credit Agricole 11. Hamish Guy 12. Stuart Cowin 13. Ashley Hutchinson 14. Jan Koerts (Ned) 15. Joshua Watts 16. Jason Phillips 17. Nathan O'Neill 18. Ben Hitchens 19. Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Credit Agricole 20. Luke Stockwell 21. Brad Nightingale 22. Sean Hoskins 23. Peter Bartley 24. Marcel Gono (Aus) Credit Agricole 25. Allan Davis 26. Warren Jennings 27. Cameron Jennings 28. Kris Tully 29. Anthony Kellen 30. Braden Jones
Mark Chadwick writes that after three consecutive days over 37C then rain all day Sunday the Tuesday night criteriums were run in strong SE winds with a brief period of rain at 17.30 causing some reduction in the C grade and D grade fields. All the results except for the D grade race came from small breakaway groups.
A Grade, I hour plus 3 laps: 1. Matthew Goold 2. Herbert Donovan 3. Hilton Clarke Jnr. 4. Robert Tighello Started: 26 B Grade, I hour plus 3 laps: 1. M. Barnes 2. D. Hollingworth 3. M. Krouse 4. R. Nelson Started: 41 C Grade, 45 minutes plus 3 laps: 1. P. Kelly 2. R. Adams 3. A. Read 4. R. Love Started: 32 D Grade, 45 minutes plus 3 laps: 1. M. Young 2. B. Corbett 3. D. Meffert 4. K. Love Started: 24