16th Classica del Almeria - 1.4

Spain, March 4, 2001

2000 Results    Results    Past winners

Braikia gains the Almería

Danish sprinter Tayeb Braikia (Lotto) has won the 16th edition of the Spanish Clásica de Almería, held between the localities of Vícar and Vera. Braikia won from a 12 man group, beating Swiss Marcus Zberg (Rabobank) and Alessio's Endrio Leoni. The best Spaniard was David Fernandez (Fuenlabrada) who managed 4th.

The early part of the race was marked by strong winds, resulting in several crashes and echelons being formed. By the 30 kilometre point, the attacks were continuous, with a three man group containing José Antonio Pecharromán (Jazztel-Costa Almería), Benjamín Nogal (Fuenlabrada) and Matthew White (US Postal, obviously benefitting from cross-training) getting clear.

They reach a 6 minute lead before the Italian Alessio squad began to chase them down, and they were eventually caught on the first category climb of Colado García at kilometre 130. The peloton approached the finish, led by Lotto who managed to place three riders in the final break, including sprinter Jeroen Blijlevens, racing for the first time since the Tour Down Under.

Lotto had enough firepower though to put Braikia in a winning position, and he made good use of it to take the win.

Marco Pantani (Mercatone) showed some form to finish in the second group (20th at 14 seconds), while Roberto Heras (US Postal) made his return to racing finishing in 35th position, 52 seconds behind.

Results

1 Tayeb Braikia (Den) Lotto-Adecco         4.33.12 
2 Markus Zberg (Swi) Rabobank
3 Endrio Leoni (Ita) Alessio
4 David Fernandez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
5 Jeroen Blijlevens (Ned) Lotto-Adecco
6 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Mercatone Uno
7 Saulius Sarkauskas (Ltu) LA Pecol
8 Martín Garrido (Arg) Relax-Fuenlabrada
9 Eleuterio Anguita (Spa) Jazztel
10 Gorik Gardeyn (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
11 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
12 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal
13 Pedro Diaz  Lobato(Spa) Jazztel
14 Bekim Christensen (Den) Coa)               0.14
15 Manolo Beltran (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step
16 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Palmans-Collstrop
17 Christian Werner (Ger) Nurnberger
18 Carlos Golbano (Spa) Jazztel
19 Candido Barbosa (Por) iBanesto.com
20 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno
21 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskadi-Euskaltel
22 Mikel Pradera (Spa) ONCE
23 Daniel Clavero (Spa) Mercatone Uno
24 Pablo Soler (Spa) Jazztel
25 Benjamín Noval (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
26 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank
27 Miguel J Cuenca (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
28 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) ONCE
29 Angel Castresana (Spa) Euskadi-Euskaltel
30 Geert Verheyen (Bel) Rabobank
31 Unai Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com
32 J. A. Pecharroman (Spa) Jazztel
33 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskadi-Euskaltel
34 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskadi-Euskaltel
35 David Arroyo (Spa) ONCE
36 Juan M. Mercado (Spa) iBanesto.com
37 Oscar Laguna (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
38 Youri Sourkov (Mda) LA Pecol
39 R. Diaz De Cerio (Spa) Euskadi-Euskaltel   0.29
40 José Rosa (Por) LA Pecol
41 Tyler Hamilton (USA) US Postal             0.35
42 Miguel Angel Peña (Spa) ONCE
43 Pablo Lastras (Spa) iBanesto.com
44 Gustavo Otero (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca
45 Iván Parra (Col) ONCE
46 Ricardo Valdes (Spa) Jazztel
47 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
48 Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank
49 Thomas Liese (Ger) Nurnberger
50 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank
51 Levy Leipheimer (USA) US Postal
52 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal
53 Philipe Fernandes (Fra) LA Pecol
54 Igor Flores (Spa) Euskadi-Euskaltel
55 Kurt Van De Wouwer (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
56 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
57 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio
58 Glenn D'Hollander(Bel) Lotto-Adecco
59 Ermanno Brignoli (Ita) Mercatone Uno
60 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank
61 Eddy Ratti (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
62 Andrea Noe (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step          0.50
63 Massimo Podenzana (Ita) Mercatone Uno
64 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
65 Alexander Shefer (Kaz) Alessio
66 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal
67 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Alessio         2.03
68 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal
69 Mauro Zanetti (Ita) Alessio                2.14
70 Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita) Mercatone Uno     3.14
71 Wesley Van Speybrock (Bel) Lotto-Adecco
72 Alberto Vinale (Ita) Alessio
73 Vincent Cali (Fra) Palmans-Collstrop

Courtesy of Fernando Ferrari/Meta2Mil

Past winners

2000 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Kelme Costa Blanca 176 kms in 4.36.51
1999 Jan Svorada (Cze) Lampre-Daikin 188 kms in 5.34.51
1998 Mario Traversoni (Ita) Mercatone Uno-Bianchi 188 kms in 4.48.07
1997 Massimo Strazzer (Ita
1996 Wilfried Nelissen (Bel)
1995 Jean-Pierre Heynderickx (Bel)
1994 Johan Capiot (Bel)
1993 Vjatcheslav Ekimov (Rus)