Circuito Montanes, Cat 2.5

Spain, July 12-20, 1997

Stage 1, Santander-Muriedas, 160 km:

 1. Martin Hvastija (Slovakia) Catina Tollo		     3.40.24
 2. Jose Luis Herrera (Spain) Sauner Duval 			0.05
 3. Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spain) Porcelanatto (Spain)	s.t.
 4. Michael van de Wouwer (Belgium) Vlaanderen 2002 (Belgium)   0.08
 5. Kurt van der Wolf (Ned) Foreldorado-Golff			s.t.
..
60. Marcel Gono (Australia) ZVVZ Giant AIS                 	1.02

GC after Stage 1

 1. Martin Hvastija (Slovakia) Catina Tollo                  3.40.24
 2. Jose Luis Herrera (Spain) Sauner Duval                      0.05
 3. Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spain) Porcelanatto (Spain)       s.t.
 4. Michael van de Wouwer (Belgium) Vlaanderen 2002 (Belgium)   0.08
 5. Kurt van der Wolf (Ned) Foreldorado-Golff                   s.t.
..
60. Marcel Gono (Australia) ZVVZ Giant AIS                      1.02

Stage 1 Report from ZVVZ-Giant-AIS

First stage of this race was probably the easiest one. It's very mountainous from here on in. We lost 2 Czechs early who ended up not making the time cut. (riders have to finish within a % of the winners time to start the next day). The main group split in 2 with Marcel the only one to make the front group. A group of 10 escaped towards the end which won with 1'2". Don't want to keep going on about it but the race is that hard later on that today's minute won't meen jack. I'm really happy with Marcel (the next super rider from Australia) but worried about the lack of team support after a few days.

2 category 2 climbs tomorrow (the climbs go from easiest to hardest cat 4, cat 3, cat 2, cat 1 and special category. With a 3 being Mt Ainslie (for Canberra fans) and a special category not being available in Australia). If that doesn't shake the GC then the 3rd stage will.

Stage 2, Muriendas-Laredo, 160 km:

 1. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002	    	     3.50.19
 2. Anthony Morin (Fra) Big Mat				0.33
 3. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank				0.34
 4. Carlos Dacruz (Fra) Big Mat	          		0.36
 5. Christophe Cousine (Fra) Blagnac			s.t.

GC after Stage 2

 1. Jose Luis Herrera (Spa) Sauner Duval             7.31.24
 2. J. Luis Sanchez de la Roja (Spa) Porcelenatto	s.t.
 3. Kurt de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen 2002              	0.03
 4. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank                     	0.05
 5. Carlos Dacruz (Fra) Big Mat				0.07
..
46 Marcel Gono (Australia) ZVVZ Giant-AIS      		3.50

Stage 2 Report from ZVVZ-Giant-AIS

Todays stage was as hard as we thought. There were two cat. 3 climbs which split the field all over the road. The Tour Leader lost big time. We kept everyone in the race today. Andre Morgan was dropped on the 1st climb with a group of 30. Richard Faltus crashed in the feed zone but was OK and finished in a group of 20 with Tristian Priem who was dropped on the last climb. Marcel Gono finished in the 2nd group at 3'29". He is a little tired but we'll see what tomorrow brings. There is a cat 1 climb and a Special Catergory which everyone is talking about.

Stage 3, Colindres-Reinosa, 178 km:

  1. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo      4.35.36
  2. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen       + 0.02
  3. Francisco Tomas Garcma (Spa)                s.t.
  4. Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Vlaanderen          + 2.31
  5. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen                s.t.

 56. Richard Faltus (Czech) ZVVZ Giant AIS       7.48

Overall:

  1. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen     12.07.05
  2. Francisco Tomas Garcia (Spa)              + 0.55
  3. Jose Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)       + 2.26
  4. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen              + 2.45
  5. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo       + 3.13

 82 Richard Faltus (Czech) ZVVZ Giant AIS       40.08

ZVVZ-Giant-AIS Under 23 Report

Nothing but bad news today. We had a shocker. It was rainy and the roads were very rough. Tristain Preim crashed with several other riders in one of the many crashes in the early part of the race. Then he crashed again on a wet corner on a descent trying to regain the main group. He was OK but lost skin and a lot of time which effectively put him out of the race. Andre Morgan has been struggling for form with a chest cold all week and succumbed to it today and stopped at half way. Marcel Gono was in the front group but felt he was reaching the point of exhaustion which we didn't want to do. He stopped at 120km. That leaves us with Richard Faltus in the race and 6 days to go. Not very promising. I think that this race turned out to be too difficult for the young guys. It is more the standard for the Pro Team.

Stage 4, ITT in Santander, 1 km:

  1. Anthony Morin (Fra) Big Mat-Auber
  2. Sebastien Hatton (Fra) Big Mat-Auber

Stage 5, Santander - El Astillero, 93 km:

  1. Wim Van de Meulenhof (Ned) Foreldorado   2.06.15
  2. Alessandro Pozzi (Ita) Cantina Tollo)       s.t.
  3. Eligio Requejo (Spa)                      + 0.05
  4. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen              + 0.14
  5. Carlos Golbano (Spa)                      + 0.15

Overall:

  1. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen     14.15.45
  2. Francisco Tomas Garcia (Spa)              + 0.50
  3. Jose Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)       + 2.31
  4. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen              + 2.45

Stage 6, Torrelavega-Gijsn, 189 km:

  1. Francisco Jarque (Spa)                   4.32.11
  2. Lucien de Low (Ned) Foreldorado           + 0.16
  3. Josi Luis Herrera (Spa) 
  4. Danny Stam (Ned) Rabobank
  5. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo     all s.t.

Overall:

  1. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen     18.48.12
  2. Francisco Tomas Garcia (Spa)              + 0.50
  3. Jose Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)       + 2.31.
  4. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen              + 2.47
  5. Anthony Morin (Fra) Big Mat-Auber         + 3.07

Stage 7, Gijsn-Potes, 180 km:

  1. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina-Tollo      4.27.19
  2. Matmas Cagigas (Spa)
  3. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank
  4. Josi Luis Rebollo (Spa)
  5. Juan V. Navarro (Spa)                   all s.t.

Overall:

  1. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen    23.15.58
  2. Francisco Tomas Garcia (Spa)             + 0.53
  3. Josi Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)      + 2.08

Stage 8, Potes-Palencia, 173 km:

  1. Michael Van der Wolf (Ned) Foreldorado 4.18.37
  2. Unai Uriarte (Spa)
  3. Mario Aerts (Bel) Vlaanderen
  4. Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Rabobank
  5. Carlos Dacruz (Fra) Bigmat-Auber      all s.t.

Overall:

1. Kurt Van der Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen 27.32.33 2. Francisco Garcma Tomas (Spa) + 0.53 3. Josi Luis Sanchez (Spa) + 2.08 ... 8 Eddy Bouwmans (Ned)

Stage 9, Palencia-Torrelavega, 175 km:

  1. Michael Van der Wolf (Ned) Foreldorado  4.02.24
  2. Oscar Freire (Spa)
  3. Bert Hiemstra (Ned) Rabobank
  4. Carlos Dacruz (Fra) Big Mat-Auber
  5. Josi Luis Herrera (Spa)                all s.t.

Overall:

  1. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen    31.35.09
  2. Francisco Tomas Garcia (Spa)             + 0.53
  3. Jose Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)      + 2.06
  4. Martin Hvastija (Slo) Cantina Tollo      + 2.46
  5. Juan V. Navarro (Spa)                    + 2.53

Stage 10, Solares-Santander, 159 km:

  1. Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank                3.57.22
  2. Win Van de Meulenhof (Ned) Foreldorado     s.t.
  3. Erwin Thijs (Bel) Vlaanderen             + 0.07
  4. Jose Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)
  5. Adolfo Garcma (Spa)                   both s.t.

Final overall:

  1. Kurt Van de Wouwer (Bel) Vlaanderen   35.32.38
  2. Francisco Tomas Garcia (Spa)            + 0.53
  3. Jose Luis Sanchez de la Rocha (Spa)     + 2.06