50th GP Llodio, Cat 1.4

1998 Results     Past Winners Report: Marco Velo (Mercatone Uno) won the 50th edition of the Grand Prix Llodio which was raced over 204 kms around the northern Basque village of Llodio. He won in a sprint after he escaped with 9 other rider on the descent of the Col de Garate less than 6 kms from the end. The race was marked however by the 80 kms solo break by Lithuanian rider Arnoldas Saprykinas (Riso-Scotti), who at one stage had a lead of nearly 8 minutes. Velo from Brescia was one 9 riders that broke on the second climb of the Alto de Gárate. Over the top and with just 4.5 kms to go before the finish Velo and Shefer (Riso Scotti) put time into the other 7 riders. But with just 400 metres to go they were joined by Roberto Heras (Kelme) and Roberto Sgambelluri (Cantina Tollo). Sgambelluri led the sprint out with 200 metres to go but Velo was too powerful and won clearly. Sgambelluri said later: "It has been very warm and the 200 kilometers have been very selective. In the final circuit strongest survived." Heras, who fought it out to the end with Velo agreed with Sgambelluri that it was the final ascent to Gárate, as well as the distance that made the race very selective. He said: "I am now in very good form for the Vuelta a España although I would have been happier to have won today." The began in the port of Barrerilla and quickly the pace was on. 22 riders went away and all the major riders were in that group. Only Costa Almeria, Lotto and Fuenlabrada did not have a rider in the break. But the break did not last because the riders would not work together. After the descent of Altube, a virtual unknown, Lithuanian rider Amoldas Saprykinas (Riso Scotti), went for broke. He attacked between Lezama and Berganza - at km 120 and before long had accumulated a huge time gap. By Orozko he had 5.47. With 65 kms to go he had around 7.35. But after the bold Lithuanian had been away for over 75 kms alone, the strong team riding of Vitalicio, ONCE, Banesto and Kelme saw him absorbed with less than 10 kms to go. He was finally caught near to Gárate. It was at that point that Marco Velo and the others made the final attacking move. Llodio - Llodio, 204 kms: AVS: 41.590 km/h 1. Marco Velo (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 4.54.18 2. Roberto Heras Hernandez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3. Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia 4. Alexandre Sheffer (Kaz) Riso Scotti-Vinavil 5. Miguel A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank 0.05 6. Serguei Smetanine (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 0.05 7. Candido Barbosa (Por) Banesto 0.05 8. Marco Gili (Ita) Amica Chips-Costa Almeria 0.05 9. Marcello Siboni (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 0.09 10. Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Cantina Tollo-Alexia 0.17 First Basque riders: 17. Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 0.17 24. David García (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros 0.17 26. Alberto Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.17 Past Winners 1988 Carlos Hernandez (Spa) 1989 Manuel-Jorge Dominguez (Spa) 1990 Aitor Garmendia (Spa) 1991 Juan-Carlos Martin (Spa) 1992 Angel Edo (Spa) 1993 Miguel-A. Martinez-Torres (Spa) 1994 Asiat Saitov (Rus) 1995 Marino Alonso (Spa) 1996 David Etxebarria (Spa) 1997 José Rodriguez-Garcia (Spa) 1998 Serguei Smetanine (Rus) Vitalicio Seguros 1999 Marco Velo (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi Past winners are from Mario Stiehl, Berlin