Stage 1, Calpe - Calpe, 183 kms1. ZABEL, Erik GER TELEKOM 4.07.20 2. WUST, Marcel GER LOTUS-FESTINA s.t. 3. TRAVERSONI, Mario ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 4. COLONNA, Federico ITA ASICS 5. BARBOSA, Candido POR BANESTO 6. PETITO, Roberto ITA SAECO 7. FAGNINI, Gian Matteo ITA SAECO 8. CHANTEUR, Pascal FRA CASINO 9. SIMON, Francois FRA GAN 10. GENTILI, Massimniliano ITA CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 11. IVANOV, Serguei RUS TVM-FARM FRITES 12. HINCAPIE, Georgo USA U.S. POSTAL 13. VERHEYEN, Geert BEL LOTTO-MOBISTAR 14. ANGUITA, Eleuterio SPA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 15. JALABERT, Nicolas FRA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 16. SMETANINE, Serguei RUS VITALICIO SEGUROS 17. MANCEBO, Francisco SPA BANESTO 18. SCHIAVINA, Samuele ITA ASICS 19. GONZALEZ, Santos SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 20. BOOGERD, Michael NED RABOBANK 21. HAMBURGER, Bo NED CASINO 22. GARCIA, Fco. Jose SPA O.N.C.E. 23. ARRIETA, Jose Luis SPA BANESTO 24. MADOUAS, Laurent FRA LOTTO-MOBISTAR 25. EKIMOV, Vjatceslav RUS U.S. POSTAL 26. GOUGOT, Fabrice FRA CASINO 27. TRENTI, Guido USA CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 28. RITTSEL, Martin SWE CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 29. MAURI, Melchor SPA O.N.C.E. 30. LUTTENBERGER, Peter AUT RABOBANK 31. CASAGRANDE, Francesco ITA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 32. MALBERTI, Fabio ITA ASICS 33. SALMERON, Gines SPA VITALICIO SEGUROS 34. JONKER, Patrick AUS RABOBANK 35. JULICH, Bobby USA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 36. DIAZ, Herminio SPA O.N.C.E. 37. ROUX, Laurent FRA TVM-FARM FRITES 38. ZBERG, Beat SWI RABOBANK 39. MEIER, Armin SWI LOTUS-FESTINA 40. CHIAPPUCCI, Claudio ITA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 41. MOERENHOUT, Koos NED RABOBANK 42. BELLI, Wladimir ITA LOTUS-FESTINA 43. DIAZ, Luis Maria SPA O.N.C.E. 44. AJURIA, Ibon SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 45. KONYSHEV, Dimitri RUS MERCATONE-BIANCHI 46. GUTIERREZ, Jose Enriqu SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 47. DOMINGUEZ, Juan Carlos SPA VITALICIO SEGUROS 48. GELFI, Luca ITA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 49. DEL OLMO, Txema SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 50. FERNANDEZ, Bingen SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 51. JEKER, Fabian SWI LOTUS-FESTINA 52. MOREAU, Christophe FRA LOTUS-FESTINA 53. LAUKKA, Joona FIN LOTTO-MOBISTAR 54. HERAS, Roberto SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 55. CHANTYR, Anton RUS LOKOSPHINX 56. MARKOV, Alexei RUS LOKOSPHINX 57. AIARZAGUENA, I¤aki SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 58. DE LOS ANGELES, Juan J SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 59. DELLA SANTA, Stefano ITA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 60. JAERMAN, Rolf SWI CASINO 61. INDURAIN, Prudencio SPA VITALICIO SEGUROS 62. JIMENEZ, Eladio SPA BANESTO 63. MAZZANTI, Luca ITA CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 64. LAISEKA, Roberto SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 65. SEIGNEUR, Eddy FRA GAN 66. PESCHEL, Uwe GER ESTEPONA-BREPAC 67. RUBIERA, Jose Luis SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 68. VICARIO, Juan Carlos SPA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 69. LELLI, Massimiliano ITA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 70. JARQUE, Jose Francisco SPA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 71. BIANCHI, Carlo Marino ITA ASICS 72. CHAURREAU, I¤igo SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 73. LAFIS, Michael SWE TVM-FARM FRITES 74. CA¥ADA, David SPA O.N.C.E. 75. FERRARI, Diego ITA ASICS 76. JONASSON, Danny DEN RABOBANK 77. ZARRABEITIA, Mikel SPA O.N.C.E. 78. FORNACIARI, Paolo ITA SAECO 79. STEPHEN, Neil AUS LOTUS-FESTINA 80. PRETOT, Arnaud FRA GAN 81. GARCIA, David SPA VITALICIO SEGUROS 82. MOLINARI, Maurizio ITA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 83. LIVINGSTON, Kevin USA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 84. CEREZO, Fco. Javier SPA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 85. FORCONI, Riccardo ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 86. ROUS, Didier FRA LOTUS-FESTINA 87. BARANOWSKI, Dariusz POL U.S. POSTAL 88. CUESTA, I¤igo SPA O.N.C.E. 89. MOLLER, Claus Michael DEN TVM-FARM FRITES 90. HVASTIJA, Martin SLO CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 91. GRITSOUN, Edouard RUS LOKOSPHINX 92. VOIGT, Jens GER GAN 93. BOARDMAN, Christopher GBR GAN 94. ULRICH, Jan GER TELEKOM 95. HEPPNER, Jens GER TELEKOM 96. FRATTINI, Francesco ITA TELEKOM 97. DE WOLF, Steve EL LOTTO-MOBISTAR 98. ARAZZI, Francesco ITA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 99. GAMITO, Victor Manuel POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 100. LATASA, David SPA BANESTO 101. SOUSA, Rui POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 102. CASERO, Angel Luis SPA VITALICIO SEGUROS 103. ZUELLE, Alex SWI LOTUS-FESTINA 104. VALLS, Tomas SPA TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 105. FINCATO, Marco ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 106. PADRNOS, Pavel CZE SAECO 107. BOS, Cyril FRA GAN 108. ROSCIOLI, Fabio ITA ASICS 109. SOLAUN, Cesar SPA BANESTO 110. BOLTS, Udo GER TELEKOM 111. POLI, Eros ITA GAN 112. CIPOLLINI, Mario ITA SAECO 113. PETILLEAU, Stephane FRA GAN 114. MARTINEZ, Alberto SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 115. BORISSOV, Vladisslav RUS LOKOSPHINX 116. OUTSCHAKOV, Serguei UKR TVM-FARM FRITES 117. ARTUNGHI, Marco ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 118. VERBRUGGHE, Rik BEL LOTTO-MOBISTAR 119. LAVARINHAS, Rui POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 120. SALVODELLI, Paolo ITA SAECO 121. ESCARTIN, Fernando SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 122. PEREZ, Luis SPA O.N.C.E. 123. STRAZZER, Massimo ITA CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 124. VAN DE WOUWER, Kurt BEL LOTTO-MOBISTAR 125. LOTZ, Marc NED RABOBANK 126. LOPEZ, Alberto SPA EUSKALTEL-EUSKADI 127. ROBIN, Jean-Cyril FRA U.S. POSTAL 128. PANTANI, Marco ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 129. MEIER, Roland SWI COFIDIS-LE CREDIT all s.t. 130. FONDRIEST, Maurizio ITA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 0.32 131. BERTOLINI, Alessandro ITA COFIDIS-LE CREDIT 0.32 132. FONTANELLI, Fabiano ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 0.32 133. HENN, Christian GER TELEKOM 0.39 134. TEUTENBERG, Sven GER U.S. POSTAL 0.42 135. LOMBARDI, Giovanni ITA TELEKOM 0.44 136. CALCATERRA, Guiseppe ITA SAECO 0.47 137. VOSKAMP, Bart NED TVM-FARM FRITES 0.47 138. ANDREU, Frankie USA U.S. POSTAL 0.59 139. SCIREA, Mario ITA SAECO 0.59 140. URIA, Jose Manuel SPA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 1.32 141. CAGIGAS, Matias SPA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 1.32 142. AMARAL, alberto POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 2.59 143. GALVA¤, Ruben SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 2.59 144. BONGIONI, Alessio ITA ASICS 2.59 145. TIETERIOUK, Andrei KAZ LOTTO-MOBISTAR 2.59 146. DE LAS CUEVAS, Armand FRA BANESTO 2.59 147. BARONTI, Alessandro ITA CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 4.45 148. FERRIGATO, Andrea ITA VITALICIO SEGUROS 5.05 149. CERIOLI, Ivan ITA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 5.05 150. CHECCHIN, Stefano ITA MERCATONE-BIANCHI 5.05 151. STREEL, Marc BEL CASINO 5.05 152. RICHARD, Pascal SWI CASINO 5.05 153. SMYSLOV, Denis RUS LOKOSPHINX 8.42 154. KOUZNETSOV, Nikolai RUS LOKOSPHINX 8.42 155. TAULER, Toni SPA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 8.42 156. MATIAS, Raul POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 8.42 157. OCHOA, Javier SPA KELME-COSTA BLANCA 8.42 158. SANTOS, Luis POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 10.55 159. LIBERATO, Manuel POR TROIAMARISCO-P.RAVES 10.55 160. KARPETS, Vladimir RUS LOKOSPHINX 10.55 161. APARICIO, Vicente SPA VITALICIO SEGUROS 10.55 162. BIANCHINI, Cristian ITA ASICS 13.36 163. DI RENZO, Marco Antoni ITA CANTINA-ALEXIA ALLUM 13.41 164. BLIJLEVENS, Jeroen NED TVM-FARM FRITES 15.28 165. NAVAS, David SPA BANESTO 15.28 166. MEINERT, Peter DEN U.S. POSTAL 15.28 167. ZATTI, Andrea ITA ROSMARY-AMICA CHIPS 15.28 168. BESSY, Frederic FRA CASINO 15.28 169. SALMON, Benoit FRA CASINO 15.28 170. DEKKER, Erik NED RABOBANK 15.36 171. NIETO, German SPA ESTEPONA-BREPAC 17.35 172. KOUDRIAVTSEV, Dmkitri RUS LOKOSPHINX 17.38 Brief Report German Erik Zabel (Team Telekom) became the first leader of the 56th edition of la Vuelta a la Comunidad Valenciana, when he won the sprint in the first stage which started and finished in Calpe. Zabel covered the 162kms in 4:07:20, at an average speed of 39.2 km/h. His compatriot Marcel Wust came in second and Italian Mario Traversoni came in third. Even though the stage resulted in a sprint finish, it turned out to be a pretty active race in the early stages. This was due to the apprehension that the Cat 2 climb of the Alto de Rates presented to the riders. It came early in the stage. Once the peloton had realised that it was not that tough, the more lesser lights in the peloton tried for their moments of glory. Featuring here was the Spaniard Germán Nieto (Estepona Brepac), who made a solo break on the field as they passed the climb of Alto de Rates, at around the 50 kms mark and stay away for another 50 kms. He had a 2.5 minute gap on the field at one stage. He was supported for a while by the Italian Fabio Roscioli, German Jens Voigt and compatriot Javier Ochoa. They were unable to stay away and were caught by a trio composed of Italians Casagrande and Belli and Dane Bo Hamburger. But this break didn't work either because the two big teams of Rabobank and Telekom joined forces upped the tempo to prevent further escapes. This set their riders up for the sprint. Erik Zabel took over the responsibility in the last kilometers, since the terrain was difficult to work in group, due to the change in rhythm and a slight incline just before the finish. And even though the German sprinter attacked from far out, he had sufficient strength to easily beat his compatriot Wust and achieve his second win of the season. |