Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
Euskal Bizikleta - 2.1
Spain, June 2-6, 2004
Main Page Results Previous Stage
Stage 5 - June 6: Abadiño - Arrate (Eibar), 132.2 km
Laiseka comes good as Heras takes GC
By Martin Hardie in Eibar
|
The sun really shone today in Euskadi and there was an expectation that something might give during today's stage as the teams lined up for the start in Abadiño. With Liberty's stranglehold on G.C. assured, there was a feeling that maybe some of the other teams might be given some room to come out and play. But it was always going to be a long and hot day.
After Friday's incident involving Roberto Laiseka and Angel Vicioso, Euskaltel's head honcho Miguel Madariaga ordered the Euskaltel Tour de France stage winner to take a radio with him today - it was the first time Laiseka had ever done this. What channel it was tuned to wasn't known, but whichever it was it seemed to have pleased the pock-marked rider from Gernika. The feeling was that Laiseka would go out and prove something over the continuous ramps that populated the stage's 132.2 km. Short, but three Cat.1's. two Cat. 2's and three Cat. 3's don't leave much room for a rest.
How it unfolded
|
As the early attacks started on the climb to Ixua-Arrate, the crowd was settling in for the day. The upper slopes were tightly packed and as the cars passed there was just enough room. The cliffs on either side didn't leave anywhere for the crowd to go. The locals sought what shade there was and set up camp for the peloton's three crossings of the steep ramps that would decide the day. Further down the course, the open, wide asphalt of the Cat. 3 Trabuka was a furnace that took its toll in decimating the break that had come over the Ixua with 3'20 on the Liberty led peloton.
By the time the route headed back over Areito for the second crossing of Ixua, Kelme's Eladio Jimenez maintained an advantage that grew up to four and a half minutes. Between him and the peloton where some of the remains of the early break. Liberty appeared much less relaxed than they had been all week as they sought to control the head of the group. Although the early break had included third place overall Koldo Gil (he was still somewhere between the peloton and Jimenez) this period of the race was the first time all week a little desperation could be sensed in the Liberty camp. Things were under control, but they had to work to keep them that way.
As the peloton started the ascent of Ixua for the second time with 33 km to go before the finish (which included two Cat. 1's and a Cat.3) Roberto Laiseka and Txema del Olmo made their move. The pair rapidly distanced the peloton and swept up the stronger riders caught between them and Jimenez. Perdi surged across to them and into middle slopes of the climb a distinct group formed - Gorka Gonzalez and Laiseka (Euskaltel), Peio Arreitunandia (Cafe Baque), Ion del Rio (Paternina), Luis Perez (Cofidis) and Txema del Olmo.
Laiseka ripped the group apart near the top of the ascent and as he passed the screaming crowd on the summit, he was 1'16 behind Jimenez, and only del Olmo and Perdi remained near his wheel. The peloton was over two minutes behind the Kelme rider with race leader Angel Vicioso starting to look in trouble. On the descent, the Laiseka group reformed and the gap remained similar as they started the Cat. 3 San Miguel.
At the top of San Miguel, Jimenez still had 49 seconds and the peloton was 47 seconds behind the Laiseka group. By this point, Jimenez was clearly going to take the overall in the mountains classification. The descent into Elgiobar is steep and extremely technical with a number of very sharp corners as the road sweeps in and out of forest along the cliff face. Arreitunandia punctured there, but got a quick wheel change.
At the bottom with 15 kilometres to go, the gap to Jimenez was 44 seconds - the peloton still with four Libertys ahead was 33 seconds behind the Laiseka group. The wily old Euskaltel rider, known for his serious, dry style, was starting to appear to be running out of steam as the road commenced a drag along the national highway back to Eibar and the final climb up to the top of Arrate. This time instead of taking the turn to the left, as they had done on three previous occasions, the climb goes up another two kilometres before plunging to the Sanctuary atop the mountain. Into Eibar, Perez and Perdiguero attacked. Gorka Gonzalez, who had been given a bottle by Laiseka went after them.
Before the start of the climb, Laiseka and co. were absorbed into the ranks of a small peloton. Ahead, Gorka Gonzalez and Perez left Perdi behind on the early slopes of the Arrate. With six kilometres to go Gorka attacked Perez and set off on his own. Meanwhile behind the peloton swept up Perdi.
Then the action started all over again. Heras attacked the peloton. Piepoli followed him. They were quickly up to Perez and past him. At times Piepoli seemed to be having trouble keeping the wheel of the Liberty leader. Ahead Gorka was looking to be failing. And way, way back, race leader Vicioso was grinding over the pedals at an ever decreasing rate.
Then the man with something to prove, to his director, to his country, to the peloton, jumped. Laiseka was on the wheel of Heras and Piepoli in a flash. And as soon as he arrived he went and left the pair. They slowly pegged him back, hanging for a while 5-10 metres off his wheel. Behind a group was in pursuit with Txema del Olmo, Perdi and Haimar Zubeldia. Heras and Piepoli caught Laiseka with 4 km to go, and again Laiseka went over the right hand side of the road and away and up. Meanwhile Perdi arrived too late but managed to gain the cover of Heras and his teammate Piepoli.
Within 500 metres Laiseka had 15 seconds on the trio and 23 seconds on his captain Zubeldia. The two Saunier Duval riders gave chase with Heras sitting on, but they were not making inroads into Laiseka. But the last kilometre goes down a bit and might, it seemed, give them enough space to come back. Two kilometres to go and Laiseka had 18 seconds; the gap pixilated, 17, 18, 16, 19 seconds. As Laiseka passed the banner with 1 km to go he had 20 seconds. The crowd amassed on the narrow roadside, covered in orange, really was going wild - the prodigal son was putting in a grand performance and showing them that he is still their hero.
Finally Laiseka coasted through the last hundred metres soaking up some satisfaction and redemption. In two days he has gone from alleged bad boy to being the national hero again. With his win, Laiseka finally gave the locals something to cheer about in this year's Euskal.
The satisfaction was evident when his teammates surrounded him as they come in over the coming minutes. Importantly Sammy Sanchez was in Zubeldia's group, 26 seconds after Heras and 48 after Laiseka. It was enough to move Sanchez into third overall. But Laiseka's strength on the day saw him leapfrog from ninth to second overall. Euskaltel, who were even money bets for not winning anything this week, in what was looking like a clean sweep for Liberty, salvaged the day to end up securing two podium positions - second and third.
Heras of course maintained Liberty's overall G.C. win and in doing so has signaled this week that he can still climb as we expect, but that with his improved time against the clock is high amongst the challengers for three weeks in July. From here he doesn't race again until the Tour de France. He will concentrate on his skills through training. The pre-Tour season has given us rare opportunities to see the various players in full flight, all preferring one or two tests before racing back undercover. This week we have seen the test of Heras and the Liberty squad. It was more than a little impressive.
Of the rest, Baque's Peio Arreitunandia is certainly a rider with a strong future, as is the likes of Ion del Rio (Paternina). Perdi and Piepoli were everywhere all week as we have come to expect. Txema del Olmo battled heroically all week for Maia and Fassa's American connection Tom Danielson managed to stay with some impressive company whenever the road went upwards. Relax's Alberto Martinez lost contact on one day, but in the wider scheme of things also showed that he is not to be discounted in these types of encounters.
Photography
Images by AFP Photo
- Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel) wins the final stage of the Euskal Bizikleta
- Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros) on the podium after winning the overall
- The final podium (L to R): Roberto Laiseka (2nd), Roberto Heras (1st) and Samuel Sanchez (3rd)
Results
1 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.47.34 2 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.22 3 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 5 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 0.40 6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.48 7 Unai Yus (Spa) Brioches La Boulangere 8 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 9 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 10 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 11 Tom Danielson (USA) Fassa Bortolo 12 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 13 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 0.57 14 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.13 15 Koldo Gil (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1.20 16 Mikel Elgezabal (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 1.37 17 Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 18 Peio Arreitunandia (Spa) Cafes Baque 19 Michele Scotto (Ita) Lampre 20 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 21 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 2.05 22 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2.56 23 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 24 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 25 Lander Euba (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 3.10 26 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros 27 Bruno Pires (Por) Milaneza Maia 28 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.13 29 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 4.20 30 Jokin Ormaetxea (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 4.52 31 Ivan Parra (Col) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 4.53 32 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 33 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 5.32 34 David Herrero (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 7.01 35 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL 7.41 36 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 9.33 37 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 38 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 39 Simone Bertoletti (Ita) Lampre 40 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 41 Peter Farazjin (Bel) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 42 Gustavo Dominguez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 43 Cedric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 44 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 45 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 46 Julián Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 47 Lizuarte Manuel Martins (Por) Milaneza Maia 9.56 48 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Lampre 11.26 49 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 11.31 50 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 14.48 51 Paolo Longo (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 52 Jon Odriozola (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 15.54 53 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 54 Jonathan Gonzalez (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 55 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 56 Giulio Tomi (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 16.03 57 Marco Cavallari (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie DNF Joaquin Lopez (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina DNF Joseba Beloki (Spa) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere DNF Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre DNF Romans Vainsteins (Lat) Lampre DNF José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto DNF Jose Antonio Lopez Gil (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto DNF Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto DNF Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo DNF Roberto Petito (Ita) Fassa Bortolo DNF René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros DNF Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros DNF Alvaro Glez. Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros DNF Javier Ramirez (Spa) Liberty Seguros DNF Elio Aggiano (Ita) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Daniele Contrini (Ita) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Luca Nardello (Ita) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Dimitri Konyshev (Rus) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Mauro Santanbrogio (Ita) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Claudio Lucchini (Ita) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL DNF Hernan Buenahora (Col) Cafes Baque DNF Felix Cardenas (Col) Cafes Baque DNF Francisco Palacio (Spa) Cafes Baque DNF Aitor Perez (Spa) Cafes Baque DNF Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Cafes Baque DNF Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir DNF Rafael Casero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir DNF Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir DNF Paulo Barroso (Por) Milaneza Maia DNF Angel Edo (Spa) Milaneza Maia DNF Hugo Sabido (Por) Milaneza Maia DNF Renato Silva (Por) Milaneza Maia DNF Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone DNF Luis Perez Romero (Spa) Relax-Bodysol DNF Giampaolo Cheula (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie DNF Marco Gili (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie DNF Claudio Astolfi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo DNF Alessandro D'andrea (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo DNS Antonio Olmo (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme Points 1 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 25 pts 2 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 20 3 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 16 4 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 14 5 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 12 6 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 7 Unai Yus (Spa) Brioches La Boulangere 9 8 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 8 9 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 7 10 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 6 11 Tom Danielson (USA) Fassa Bortolo 5 12 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4 13 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 3 14 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 15 Koldo Gil (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1 Mountains San Trokaz - Cat. 3,, km 8 1 Felix Cardenas (Col) Cafes Baque 3 pts 2 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 Elgeta - Cat. 2, km 32 1 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 6 pts 2 Jokin Ormaetxea (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 4 3 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 Ixua - Cat. 1, km 57 1 Jokin Ormaetxea (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 10 pts 2 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 3 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 6 4 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 4 5 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 2 Trabakua - Cat. 3, km 76 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 3 pts 2 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 1 Areitio - Cat. 3, km 92 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 3 pts 2 Alvaro Glez. Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1 Ixua - Cat. 1, km 103 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 10 pts 2 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 3 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 6 4 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 5 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 2 San Miguel - Cat. 2, km 116 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 6 pts 2 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 4 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2 Usartza - Cat. 1, km 130 1 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 pts 2 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 8 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 6 4 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 4 5 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 2 Metas volantes Eibar, km 51.8 1 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 3 pts 2 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 2 3 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 Eibar, km 123.7 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 3 pts 2 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 2 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1 Teams 1 Euskaltel - Euskadi 11.24.18 2 Liberty Seguros 3.16 3 Costa de Almeria - Paternina 5.16 4 Brioches La Boulangere 7.40 5 Kelme - Comdad. Valenciana 8.25 6 Saunier Duval - Prodir 8.41 7 Cofidis, le credit par telephone 10.22 8 Fassa Bortolo 11.41 9 Milaneza - Maia 12.10 10 Relax-Bodysol 18.18 11 Lampre 19.07 12 Illes Balears - Banesto 26.47 13 Vini Caldirola 30.52 Final general classification 1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 18.07.31 2 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.24 3 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.36 4 Koldo Gil (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1.40 5 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.47 6 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 1.54 7 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 2.00 8 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.10 9 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros 2.29 10 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.37 11 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 3.45 12 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 4.12 13 Peio Arreitunandia (Spa) Cafes Baque 4.15 14 Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 4.30 15 Michele Scotto (Ita) Lampre 4.49 16 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 5.05 17 Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 6.13 18 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 6.52 19 Tom Danielson (USA) Fassa Bortolo 6.54 20 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 8.21 21 Mikel Elgezabal (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 8.41 22 Lander Euba (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 10.39 23 Bruno Pires (Por) Milaneza Maia 11.10 24 Unai Yus (Spa) Brioches La Boulangere 11.43 25 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 12.41 26 Didier Rous (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 12.59 27 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14.40 28 Ion Del Rio (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 17.24 29 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 19.41 30 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 20.54 31 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Team L.P.R.-Piacenza Management SRL 21.33 32 Cedric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 21.50 33 Julián Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 21.54 34 Ivan Parra (Col) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 22.21 35 David Herrero (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 22.28 36 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 22.42 37 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Brioches La Boulangere 23.25 38 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 24.31 39 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 26.10 40 Peter Farazjin (Bel) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 28.32 41 Gustavo Dominguez (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 28.56 42 Valery Kobzarenko (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone-Caffe Mokambo 29.21 43 Jonathan Gonzalez (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 30.13 44 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32.28 45 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Lampre 32.44 46 Paolo Longo (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 36.42 47 Jokin Ormaetxea (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 42.31 48 Jon Odriozola (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 44.08 49 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 44.16 50 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 50.34 51 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax-Bodysol 52.28 52 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 52.37 53 Simone Bertoletti (Ita) Lampre 53.29 54 Lizuarte Manuel Martins (Por) Milaneza Maia 57.51 55 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 1.04.18 56 Giulio Tomi (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 1.10.01 57 Marco Cavallari (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 1.10.09 Points classification 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 24 pts 2 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 22 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 22 4 Koldo Gil (Spa) Liberty Seguros 18 5 Julián Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 17 6 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 16 7 Jokin Ormaetxea (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 14 8 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 12 9 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 11 10 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 11 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 8 12 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 8 13 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 14 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 7 15 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6 16 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros 6 17 David Herrero (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 6 18 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 19 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 2 20 Paolo Longo (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 2 21 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 1 Mountains classification 1 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 24 pts 2 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 22 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 22 4 Koldo Gil (Spa) Liberty Seguros 18 5 Julián Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 17 6 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 16 7 Jokin Ormaetxea (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 14 8 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 12 9 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 11 10 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 11 Txema Del Olmo (Spa) Milaneza Maia 8 12 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 8 13 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 14 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 7 15 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6 16 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros 6 17 David Herrero (Spa) Costa De Almeria-Paternina 6 18 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 19 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 2 20 Paolo Longo (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 2 21 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 1 Teams classification 1 Liberty Seguros 54.26.11 2 Euskaltel - Euskadi 1.07 3 Costa de Almeria - Paternina 19.40 4 Saunier Duval - Prodir 20.19 5 Cofidis, le credit par telephone 25.12 6 Kelme - Comdad. Valenciana 29.14 7 Brioches La Boulangere 33.23 8 Milaneza - Maia 37.00 9 Fassa Bortolo 42.59 10 Lampre 48.35 11 Illes Balears - Banesto 1.06.48 12 Relax-Bodysol 1.17.49 13 Vini Caldirola 1.26.48
