|
1996 Results
Race distance - 160 km:1. Beat Zberg (Sch) Mercatone, 160,6 km in 2. José María Jiménez (Spa) Banesto 0.19 3. Jon Odriozola (Spa) Batik 0.20 4. Roberto Conti (Ita) Mercatone 0.24 5. Simone Borgheresi (Ita) Mercatone 0.44 6. Paolo Valoti (Ita) Polti 0.46 7. Mikel Zarrebeitia (Spa) Once 1.00 8. David Etxebarría (Spa) Once 1.15 Race ReportSwiss rider Beat Zberg (Mercatone Uno) was able to take advantage of the fall by Jose Maria Jimenez (Banesto) to become the winner of la XXII Subida a Urkiola, disputed today between Durango & el Santuario de Urkiola, over 160.6km. Zberg won in an exciting finish, after Jimenez had the bad luck of falling with 1-1/2km to the finish, when he was taking off to attempt his third victory at this race. Even though Jimenez fell in a curve when he slipped a little after it started to rain, he still was able to beat Roberto Conti (Mercatone Uno) & Jon Odriozola (Batik) and to go after Zberg, but was 19 seconds to late to reach him. This were the players of the second and final climb of Urkiola. When Conti attacked on the first slopes, Jimenez was very attentive and didn't take much time to answer, along with Zberg. A little behind, David Etxebarria and Mikel Zarrabeitia, jumped with a great effort and Odriozola & Gianluca Valoti (Polti) grabbed their wheel.Three kilometers from the finish, due to the hard work done, Zarrabeitia was dropped, while Odriozola turned out to be the big surprise, since not only did he held on, but he went for the front trio. On this trio, it was Roberto Conti who was marking the rhythm, with Jimenez riding in the middle of the two Mercatone Uno riders, until Zberg decided to attack at 2km from the finish. Jimenez didn't take long to respond and if he hadn't fallen, the Swiss rider would have had a hard time, like it was shown by Banesto's rider when he still grabbed second place, even after fallen. |