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Marcel Wust writes
Stage ReportIt was the day that Cedric Vasseur, the last of the Credit Agricole riders quit. All his team had abandoned him on earlier days.As expected, the return to the mountains saw major moves come from the men most likely. Abraham Olano had to withstand a determined effort by Laurent Jalabert and Fernando Escartin in the mountains of the Burgos region and managed to keep an ever decreasing lead in the Vuelta. Until tomorrow maybe .... when the attacks will resume. Olano kept his lead - now only 22 seconds - but Jalabert's final assault in the last km was perfectly timed to take the biggest slice of time possible of him. Both Jalabert and Escartin (in tow) surged in the last moments of the stage, which was won again by Banesto's Jose Maria Jimenez (4th stage win for 1998 Vuelta). Jimenez won by 33 seconds alone, followed by Jalabert and Escartin with Olano back in 7th at 46 seconds. Earlier in the day, Banesto spent a lot of effort chasing down moves inspired mostly by Escartin's Kelme-Costa Blanca team. Roberto Heras is also threatening in that team. With only 3 kms to go, Jimenez, who has emerged from the shadow of Marco Pantani (absent from the Vuelta), attacked. The race blew wide open. Early breakaway rider Juan Carlos Dominguez went with Jimenez, who is now in 3rd place on GC and an ideal substitute for final honours for Banesto should Olano stumble in the next 2 hard days of racing in the mountains. If Olano cannot last until the time trial, Jimenez may be the rider to take the GC for Banesto which gives Olano the chance of regaining it in the ITT on Saturday. Olano told the press afterwards: "I could not respond to those last attacks but I was close enough to Jalabert and Jimenez. Jalabert tried hard but just could not get enough time on me. There are still two difficult stages to come and it is important to stay in the yellow jersey for Saturday's time trial, especially Jalabert realising he was up against the Banesto machine said: "Banesto were very strong. It is going to be hard to do anything now. There are few opportunities left." Jimenez said: "I knew I could win. My team director told me to wait until as late as possible before attacking. Now I believe that Olano has enough in hand to stay in the leader's jersey all the way to Madrid." Stage 16, Soria - Laguna Negra de Neila, 143.7 kms:1. José Maria Jiminez Sastre (Spa) Banesto 3.28.12 (41.412) 2. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 0.33 3. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.33 4. Alex Zülle (Swi) Festina-Lotus 0.39 5. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina-Lotus 0.39 6. Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Banesto 0.46 7. Abraham Olano Manzano (Spa) Banesto 0.46 8. José Joaquim Castelblanco (Col) Avianca-Telecom 0.58 9. Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.58 10. Daniel Clavero Sebastian (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 1.02 11. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal 1.22 12. Andrei Zintchenko (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 1.41 13. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 1.41 14. Alvaro Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.41 15. Pascal Hervé (Spa) Festina-Lotus 1.41 16. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) Polti 1.48 17. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1.49 18. David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 1.49 19. Felix M. Garcia Casas (Spa) Festina-Lotus 1.55 20. Santiago Blanco (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 1.55 21. Vitali Kokorin (Rus) Saeco 2.00 22. Niki Aebersold (Swi) Post Swiss Team 2.09 23. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) Mapei-Bricobi 2.09 24. David Plaza Romero (Spa) Cofidis 2.09 25. Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 2.09 26. Angel Castresana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.15 27. Mikel Zarrabeitia Uranga (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 2.15 28. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Casino 2.23 29. Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 2.31 30. Juan Carlos Vicario Barbera (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 2.37 31. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo 2.37 32. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 2.39 33. Iñigo Chaurreau Bernadez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.50 34. Inaki Aiarzaguena Urkidi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.50 35. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina-Lotus 2.50 36. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 2.50 37. Julio César Aguirre Cabrera (Col) Avianca-Telecom 2.58 38. Eleuterio Anguita Hinojosa (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 2.58 39. Federico Muñoz Fernandez (Col) Avianca-Telecom 3.07 40. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3.09 41. Ludo Dierickxsens (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 3.11 42. Javier Pascual Llorente (Col) Avianca-Telecom 3.21 43. Jon Odriozola Mugarza (Spa) Banesto 3.21 44. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino 3.29 45. Vincent Cali (Fra) Casino 3.29 46. Jonathan Vaughters (USA) US Postal 3.43 47. Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Casino 3.43 48. Nico Mattan (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 3.43 49. Marcos Serrano (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 4.02 50. Richard Chassot (Swi) Post Swiss Team 4.02 51. Arsenio Gonzalez Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 4.02 52. Mirko Gualdi (Ita) Polti 4.18 53. Rolf Huser (Swi) Post Swiss Team 4.34 54. Bert Dietz (Ger) Telekom 4.42 55. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 4.52 56. Michel Lafis (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites 4.52 57. Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Post Swiss Team 5.18 58. José Ramon Uriarte Zubero (Spa) Festina-Lotus 5.45 59. Unai Etxebarria Arana (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5.45 60. Alberto Leanizbarrutia (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 5.52 61. José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Banesto 6.19 62. Serguei Smetanine (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 6.25 63. Melcihor Mauri Prat (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 6.25 64. Aitor Osa Eizaguirre (Spa) Banesto 6.25 65. Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 6.25 66. Georg Totsching (Aut) Telekom 6.25 67. Franz Hotz (Swi) Post Swiss Team 6.40 68. José Jaime Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 7.01 69. Steve De Wolf (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 7.08 70. Daniel Paradis (Swi) Post Swiss Team 7.09 71. Victor Moratilla Solera (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 7.09 72. Rolf Sorensen (Den) Rabobank 7.35 73. Peter Meinert-Nielsen (Den) US Postal 8.45 74. Cristiano Frattini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 11.03 75. Ruslan Ivanov (Rus) Brescialat-Liquigas 11.03 76. Herminio Diaz Zabala (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 11.03 77. Michael Claus Moller (Den) TVM-Farm Frites 11.03 78. Roger Beuchat (Swi) Post Swiss Team 11.03 79. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 11.03 80. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 11.03 81. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo 11.03 82. Kai Hundertmark (Ger) Telekom 11.03 83. Marcus Zberg (Swi) Post Swiss Team 11.03 84. Philipp Buschor (Swi) Saeco 11.03 85. Matías Cagigas (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 11.03 86. Luis Maria Diaz De Otazu (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 11.03 87. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Banesto 11.03 88. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM-Farm Frites 11.03 89. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco 11.03 90. José Rodriguez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 11.40 91. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo 12.22 92. Francisco Leon Mane (Col) Avianca-Telecom 13.07 93. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) TVM-Farm Frites 14.56 94. Marcel Wust (Ger) Festina-Lotus 14.56 95. Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 14.56 96. Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 14.56 97. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 14.56 98. Cristian Salvato (Ita) Polti 14.56 99. Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom 14.56 100. Micheal Rich (Ger) Saeco 14.56 101. Gianni Bugno (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 14.56 102. Uwe Peschel (Ger) Estepona-Brepac 14.56 103. Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 14.56 104. Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Polti 14.56 105. Harald Morscher (Aut) Saeco 14.56 106. Serguei Gontchar (Rus) Cantina Tollo 14.56 107. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Cofidis 14.56 108. Mark Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 14.56 109. Francisco Cabello (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 14.56 110. Joona Laukka (Fin) Lotto-Mobistar 14.56 111. Chris Peers (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 14.56 112. Massimo Giunti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 14.56 113. Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal 14.56 114. Anthony Rokia (Fra) Polti 14.56 115. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank 14.56 116. Angel Edo Alsina (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 14.56 117. Maurizio Frizzo (Ita) Cantina Tollo 14.56 118. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 14.56 119. Sven Teutenberg (Ger) US Postal 14.56 120. German Nieto Fernandez (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 14.56 121. Davide Bramati (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 14.56 122. Daniele Contrini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 15.40 123. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Casino 15.42 124. Guido Trenti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 18.07 GC after Stage 16
1. Abraham Olano Manzano (Spa) Banesto 68.05.04 2. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 0.22 3. José Maria Jiminez Sastre (Spa) Banesto 0.31 4. Fernando Escartin (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.38 5. Alex Zülle (Swi) Festina-Lotus 2.12 6. Daniel Clavero Sebastian (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 2.17 7. Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2.36 8. Manuel Beltran Martinez (Spa) Banesto 2.52 9. Alvaro Gonzalez Galdeano (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.04 10. Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal 3.20 11. Oskar Camenzind (Swi) Mapei-Bricobi 4.10 12. José Joaquim Castelblanco (Col) Avianca-Telecom 4.24 13. Richard Virenque (Fra) Festina-Lotus 4.52 14. David Plaza Romero (Spa) Cofidis 6.01 15. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 6.52 16. Marcos Serrano (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 6.54 17. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 7.09 18. Felix M. Garcia Casas (Spa) Festina-Lotus 8.33 19. Jon Odriozola Mugarza (Spa) Banesto 9.03 20. Mikel Zarrabeitia Uranga (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 10.15 21. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) Polti 10.44 22. Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo 11.36 23. Fabrice Gougot (Fra) Casino 14.38 24. Angel Castresana (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 16.23 25. Julio César Aguirre Cabrera (Col) Avianca-Telecom 16.25 26. Aitor Osa Eizaguirre (Spa) Banesto 17.56 27. Andrei Zintchenko (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 18.16 28. Santiago Blanco (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 18.18 29. Mirko Gualdi (Ita) Polti 19.11 30. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 20.43 31. Inaki Aiarzaguena Urkidi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 21.06 32. Melcihor Mauri Prat (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 21.35 33. Pascal Hervé (Spa) Festina-Lotus 22.29 34. Ludo Dierickxsens (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 25.16 35. Michael Claus Moller (Den) TVM-Farm Frites 25.43 36. Arsenio Gonzalez Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 30.22 37. Iñigo Chaurreau Bernadez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 30.25 38. David Etxebarria Alkorta (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 31.23 39. Vitali Kokorin (Rus) Saeco 31.35 40. Juan Carlos Vicario Barbera (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 31.57 41. Niki Aebersold (Swi) Post Swiss Team 33.33 42. Federico Muñoz Fernandez (Col) Avianca-Telecom 34.25 43. José Ramon Uriarte Zubero (Spa) Festina-Lotus 36.18 44. Mario Aerts (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 37.57 45. Unai Etxebarria Arana (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 40.22 46. Pascal Chanteur (Fra) Casino 43.33 47. Javier Pascual Llorente (Col) Avianca-Telecom 44.03 48. Laurent Brochard (Fra) Festina-Lotus 45.20 49. José Vicente Garcia Acosta (Spa) Banesto 49.12 50. Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 50.59 51. Vincent Cali (Fra) Casino 51.20 52. Eleuterio Anguita Hinojosa (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 52.01 53. Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Casino 52.32 54. Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 53.19 55. Alberto Leanizbarrutia (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 1.00.59 56. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo 1.02.49 57. Andrei Tchmil (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 1.07.06 58. Rolf Huser (Swi) Post Swiss Team 1.07.35 59. Philipp Buschor (Swi) Saeco 1.08.00 60. Pierre Bourquenoud (Swi) Post Swiss Team 1.09.09 61. Roberto Sierra (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 1.09.49 62. Marcus Zberg (Swi) Post Swiss Team 1.12.25 63. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 1.13.09 64. Rolf Sorensen (Den) Rabobank 1.14.28 65. Cristiano Frattini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 1.17.43 66. Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Polti 1.17.45 67. Manuel Fernandez Gines (Spa) Banesto 1.18.06 68. Nico Mattan (Bel) Mapei-Bricobi 1.18.49 69. Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Saeco 1.20.30 70. Georg Totsching (Aut) Telekom 1.20.31 71. Steve De Wolf (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 1.20.56 72. Franz Hotz (Swi) Post Swiss Team 1.21.12 73. Giuliano Figueras (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 1.22.24 74. Maurizio Frizzo (Ita) Cantina Tollo 1.24.04 75. Chris Peers (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 1.24.14 76. Herminio Diaz Zabala (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 1.27.15 77. Angel Edo Alsina (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.31.12 78. José Rodriguez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.32.56 79. Bert Dietz (Ger) Telekom 1.33.39 80. Serguei Smetanine (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 1.34.59 81. Massimo Giunti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 1.35.29 82. Peter Van Petegem (Bel) TVM-Farm Frites 1.36.46 83. Michel Lafis (Swe) TVM-Farm Frites 1.39.34 84. José Jaime Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.40.41 85. Luis Maria Diaz De Otazu (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 1.41.54 86. Kai Hundertmark (Ger) Telekom 1.43.00 87. Francisco Cabello (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.43.29 88. Joona Laukka (Fin) Lotto-Mobistar 1.43.54 89. Serguei Gontchar (Rus) Cantina Tollo 1.45.12 90. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 1.45.51 91. Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Cofidis 1.49.24 92. Peter Meinert-Nielsen (Den) US Postal 1.50.46 93. Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 1.51.18 94. Martin Rittsel (Swe) Cantina Tollo 1.51.38 95. Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Mobistar 1.53.57 96. Gianni Bugno (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 1.54.37 97. Matías Cagigas (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 1.56.47 98. Cristian Salvato (Ita) Polti 1.59.55 99. Richard Chassot (Swi) Post Swiss Team 2.00.00 100. Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Rabobank 2.00.22 101. Uwe Peschel (Ger) Estepona-Brepac 2.05.53 102. Micheal Rich (Ger) Saeco 2.06.02 103. Sven Teutenberg (Ger) US Postal 2.06.57 104. Daniel Paradis (Swi) Post Swiss Team 2.07.05 105. Ruslan Ivanov (Rus) Brescialat-Liquigas 2.07.55 106. Francisco Leon Mane (Col) Avianca-Telecom 2.08.01 107. Harald Morscher (Aut) Saeco 2.09.34 108. Tristan Hoffman (Ned) TVM-Farm Frites 2.11.33 109. Giancarlo Raimondi (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 2.13.17 110. Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal 2.13.47 111. Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom 2.17.22 112. Christophe Agnolutto (Fra) Casino 2.22.32 113. Victor Moratilla Solera (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 2.23.15 114. Roger Beuchat (Swi) Post Swiss Team 2.23.53 115. Mark Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 2.27.37 116. Serguei Outschakov (Ukr) TVM-Farm Frites 2.30.31 117. Marcel Wust (Ger) Festina-Lotus 2.34.21 118. Davide Bramati (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 2.36.35 119. Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Rabobank 2.36.40 120. Anthony Rokia (Fra) Polti 2.40.33 121. Guido Trenti (Ita) Cantina Tollo 2.41.59 122. Jonathan Vaughters (USA) US Postal 2.44.48 123. Daniele Contrini (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 2.51.31 124. German Nieto Fernandez (Spa) Estepona-Brepac 3.01.17 |