Clasica a los Puertos de Guadarrama, Cat 1.4

1997 Results     Brief: This is a climbing race in the mountains of Madrid and Segovia. It was last held in 1997 and did not attract UCI points. A decision is usually reached on the climb of the Navacerrada. Today, Spanish cyclist Miguel Angel Martín Perdiguero, of the ONCE-Deutsche Bank team was the winner in a sprint finish into the Madrilenian town of Guadarrama. The race also started in Guadarrama. Martín Perdiguero is in fine form at present having won the Vuelta a Burgos recently. The race through the mountains was fast from the start. At km 40, there was a bad crash and two riders - Eladio Jiménez (Banesto) and Juan Carlos Domínguez (Vitalicio Seguros) were taken to the hospital of San Lorenzo de El Escorial by ambulance. Luckily, the fall, although certainly spectacular was not as serious as was first feared. Eladio Jiménez suffered several wounds to his body and Juan Carlos Domínguez damaged his eye as well as sustaining multiple abrasians. The doctors confirmed they were in a satisfactory condition. Over the top of the Alto de Los Leonesa, it was Spaniard Jose Manuel Uría leading the way from Russian Yuri Sourkov with the rest of the peloton strung right out. Earlier, two Spaniards - Jose Angel Vidal and Jesús Manzano had attacked in the first few kms and built a gap of around a minute. The real action, however, came on the Los Leonesa. After that a group of around 20 formed at the front. On the Alto de Navacerrada, Kelme and ONCE riders were well represented in that group and the attacks were continuous. The climb of the Alto de Navacerrada was 15 kms long and it is always selective. Over the top if was Inigo Cuesta first followed by his compatriots Manuel Beltrán (1997 winner) and Roberto Heras. They had a lead on 15 riders with Abraham Olano, Mikel Zarrabeitia, Angel Luis Casero and Blanco in that bunch. Zarrabeitia and Santiago went over a minute down. The finish was 15 kms past the top. Kelme, who had been active all day, set about launching the chase but gave up with about 12 kms to go. In the final sections of the race, a group of 23 riders had formed from the fractured groups that went over the last climb. Martín Perdiguero was in that group. There was a lot of attacking and in the end with the help of some great team riding from ONCE, Perdiguero was the quickest. Guadarrama, 152.5 kms: 1. Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 3.35.04 2. Igor Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3. Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 4. Roberto Heras (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5. Luis Pérez (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 6. Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 7. Aitor Osa (Spa) Banesto 8. Juan Carlos Vicario (Spa) Fuenlabrada 9. Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Banesto 10. Félix García (Spa) Festina 11. David García (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 12. Youri Sourkov (Rus) LA Pecol 13. Iván Ramiro Parra (Col) Vitalicio Seguros 14. Txema del Olmo (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 15. Imanol Ayestarán (Spa) Spanish Selection 16. Iñigo Ceaurreau (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 17. Michele Laddomada (Ita) LA Pecol 18. Alberto López (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 19. Santiago Blanco (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 20. Peter Luttenberger (Aut) ONCE-Deutsche Bank s.t.