34th Tirreno Adriatico - H.C.

Italy, March 8-15, 2000

Stage 5 - March 12: Ascoli Piceno, ITT 26.5 km

Olano bests teammate

Spaniard Abraham Olano (ONCE) continued his good form in the early season stage races by taking today's 5th stage time trial in the Tirreno-Adriatico. The 26.5 kilometer event was conducted on a flat, fast course around Ascoli Piceno and Olano averaged 50.31 km/h to win the stage. In doing so, he took over the leaders jersey from teammate, Laurent Jalabert who finished in seventh, 54 seconds behind.

The rider in second place was a surprise - Jan Hruska, of the Czech Republic (Vitalicio Seguros). He finished only 9 seconds down on Olano, beating a number of other top riders. Olano was very happy with his win, and doesn't seem to be suffering from the "Michelin Man" problem.

"I dedicate this win to my sport director Manolo Saiz who did not stop making fun of me for my excess weight. I eliminated the 6 or 7 kilos which I carried for a long time that decreased my power output. I'm starting to think a little more of the great stage races," he said at the end.

For Laurent Jalabert, his time trial meant that he dropped into fourth position on GC, and he said that he will now ride for Olano until the tour finishes on Wednesday. "What matters, is a final victory for ONCE," said the World number one.

On Monday, the sixth stage will take the peloton on 148 kilometer journey between Montegranaro and Monte San Giusto.

Results

1. Abraham Olano (Spa) Once                      31.36 (50.306 kph)
2. Jan Hruska (Cze) Vitalicio Seguros             0.09
3. J. Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros    0.28
4. Victor Peña (Col) Vitalicio Seguros            0.30
5. Romans Vainsteins (Let) Vini Caldirola         0.48
6. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank                    0.49
7. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Once                    0.54
8. Segei Gonchar (Ukr) Liquigas-Pata              1.07
9. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre-Daikin           1.09
10. David Romero Plaza (Spa) Festina              1.11

General classification:
1. Abraham Olano (Spa) Once                   19.26.29
2. Jan Hruska (Cze) Vitalicio Seguros             0.09
3. J. Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros    0.18
4. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) Once                    0.37
5. David Romero Plaza (Spa) Festina               1.01
6. Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Cantina Tollo           1.03
7. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank                    1.04
8. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre-Daikin           1.09
9. Jens Voigt (Ger) Crédit Agricole               1.11
10 Iñigo Cuesta Lopez (Spa) Once                  1.18