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46th Vuelta al Pais Vasco - PT
Spain, April 3-8, 2006
2005 results Stage List Preview Start List Past winners
The Stages
- Stage 1 - April 3: Irún - Irún, 130 Km
- Stage 2 - April 4: Irún - Segura, 155 Km
- Stage 3 - April 5: Segura - Lerín, 170 Km
- Stage 4 - April 6: Lerín - Vitoria- Gasteiz, 172 Km
- Stage 5 - April 7: Vitoria- Gasteiz - Zalla, 178 Km
- Stage 6 - April 8: Zalla - Zalla ITT, 24 Km
ProTour action in the Basque country
By Jeff Jones
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The ProTour continues this week with the 46th Tour of the Basque Country/Vuelta al Pais Vasco/Euskal Herriko itzulia, a tough six day stage race through the exremely hilly country in the northern part of the Iberian peninsula. Last year's winner, Danilo di Luca, will be back again this year, but probably not in the same form that saw him not only win this race, but also the Amstel Gold Race and Fleche Wallonne. Those few weeks in 2005 built the foundation that resulted in an overall win in the inaugural ProTour. However, Di Luca will surely test his legs a few times with an eye to the Giro d'Italia.
Instead, we can look to riders like Frank Schleck (CSC), Denis Menchov and Oscar Freire (Rabobank), Cadel Evans (Davitamon-Lotto), Alberto Contador (Liberty Seguros), Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), José Azevedo (Discovery Channel), Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne), Iban Mayo and Samuel Sanchez (Euskaltel) to be among the action during the six days.
The race begins with a 130 km stage around Irún, followed by a more difficult 155 km one from Irún to Segura, featuring 12 climbs. Stage 3 from Segura to Lerín is 170 km and has a cat. 3 cobbled climb at the finish, to mess things up for the sprinters. The fourth stage between Lerín and Vitoria- Gasteiz is 172 km and with the cat. 1 Alto de la Herrera halfway, followed by a couple of laps of a finishing circuit with some cat. 3 climbs, it won't be easy.
The fifth stage is between Vitoria- Gasteiz and Zalla over 178 km and has the steep Alto De Orduna after 61 km, before a series of jagged smaller hills in the final 80 km that will break the peloton. The final stage is a 24 km time trial around Zalla, and usually decides the general classification.
Start list
Liquigas Team CSC
1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) 11 Peter Luttenberger (Aut)
2 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) 13 Carlos Sastre (Spa)
3 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) 14 Jens Voigt (Ger)
4 Dario David Cioni (Ita) 15 Ińigo Cuesta (Spa)
5 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) 16 Nicki Sorensen (Den)
6 Andrea Noe (Ita) 17 Michael Blaudzun (Den)
7 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) 18 Frank Schleck (Lux)
8 Charles Wegelius (GBr)
Phonak Hearing Systems Rabobank
21 M. A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) 31 Denis Menchov (Rus)
22 Luis Fernandez (Spa) 32 Thomas Dekker (Ned)
23 Alexandre Moos (Swi) 33 Michael Boogerd (Ned)
24 Jonathan Mc Carty (USA) 34 Oscar Freire (Spa)
25 Ignacio Gutierrez (Spa) 35 Theo Eltink (Ned)
26 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) 36 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus)
27 Steve Morabito (Swi) 37 Pieter Weening (Ned)
28 Florian Stalder (Swi) 38 Grischa Niermann (Ger)
Davitamon-Lotto Liberty Seguros-Würth Team
41 Cadel Evans (Aus) 51 Joseba Beloki (Spa)
42 Josep Jufre (Spa) 52 Aitor Osa (Spa)
43 Mario Aerts (Bel) 53 Unai Osa (Spa)
44 Christophe Brandt (Bel) 54 Alberto Contador (Spa)
45 Christopher Horner (USA) 56 Isidro Nozal (Spa)
46 Björn Leukemans (Bel) 57 Sergio Paulinho (Por)
47 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) 58 Daniel Navarro (Spa)
48 Johan Van Summeren (Bel)
Gerolsteiner Saunier Duval-Prodir
61 Davide Rebellin (Ita) 71 Manuele Mori (Ita)
62 Beat Zberg (Swi) 72 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa)
63 Matthias Russ (Ger) 73 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita)
64 Ronny Scholz (Ger) 74 Arkaitz Duran (Spa)
65 Andrea Moletta (Ita) 75 Riccardo Ricco (Ita)
66 Markus Fothen (Ger) 76 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa)
67 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) 77 Oliver Zaugg (Swi)
68 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) 78 Ruben Lobato (Spa)
Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team Credit Agricole
81 José Azevedo (Por) 91 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz)
82 Jason Mccartney (USA) 92 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus)
83 Manuel Beltran (Spa) 93 Francesco Bellotti (Ita)
84 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) 94 Mads Kaggestad (Nor)
85 Egoi Martinez (Spa) 95 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita)
86 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) 96 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra)
87 Benjamin Noval (Spa)
88 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) 98 Benoît Poilvet (Fra)
Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone
101 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) 111 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra)
102 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) 112 Luis Perez (Spa)
103 Antonio Colom (Spa) 113 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel)
104 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) 114 Leonardo Duque (Col)
105 Pablo Lastras (Spa) 115 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita)
107 Mikel Pradera (Spa) 117 Cristian Moreni (Ita)
108 Marco Fertonani (Ita) 118 Ivan Parra (Col)
Quick Step-Innergetic T-Mobile Team
121 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) 131 Thomas Ziegler (Ger)
122 Serge Baguet (Bel) 132 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita)
123 Kevin De Weert (Bel) 133 Oscar Sevilla (Spa)
124 Addy Engels (Ned) 134 Matthias Kessler (Ger)
125 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) 135 Kim Kirchen (Lux)
126 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) 136 Bernhard Kohl (Aut)
127 Bram Tankink (Ned) 137 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita)
128 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) 138 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger)
Lampre-Fondital Bouygues Telecom
141 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) 151 Thomas Voeckler (Fra)
142 Francisco Javier Vila (Spa) 152 Didier Rous (Fra)
143 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) 153 Laurent Lefevre (Fra)
144 Giuliano Figueras (Ita) 154 Walter Beneteau (Fra)
145 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) 155 Olivier Bonnaire (Fra)
146 Marco Marzano (Ita) 156 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra)
147 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) 157 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra)
148 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) 158 Matthieu Sprick (Fra)
Team Milram Euskaltel-Euskadi
161 Björn Schröder (Ger) 171 Iban Mayo (Spa)
162 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) 172 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa)
163 Daniel Becke (Ger) 173 Samuel Sanchez (Spa)
164 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) 174 Inaki Isasi (Spa)
165 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) 175 Aitor Hernandez (Spa)
166 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) 176 Unai Etxebarria (Ven)
167 Daniel Musiol (Ger) 177 Iker Camańo (Spa)
168 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita)
Française des Jeux AG2R Prevoyance
181 Frédéric Finot (Fra) 191 Carl Naibo (Fra)
182 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) 192 Inigo Chaurreau (Spa)
183 Sandy Casar (Fra) 193 José Luis Arrieta (Spa)
184 Freddy Bichot (Fra) 194 Mikel Astarloza (Spa)
186 Eric Leblacher (Fra) 195 Sylvain Calzati (Fra)
187 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) 196 Philip Deignan (Irl)
188 Ian Mcleod (RSA) 197 Hubert Dupont (Fra)
198 Stéphane Goubert (Fra)
Kaiku Relax-Gam
201 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) 211 Jose Almagro (Spa)
202 Israel Nuńez (Spa) 212 Xavier Tondo (Spa)
203 Yon Bru (Spa) 213 David George (RSA)
204 Adrian Palomares (Spa) 214 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa)
205 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) 216 Jesus Hernandez (Spa)
206 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga (Spa) 217 Raul Garcia De Mateo (Spa)
207 Juanjo Oroz (Spa) 218 Mario De Sarraga (Spa)
208 Jorge Azanza (Spa)
Past winners
2005 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 2004 Denis Menchov (Rus) Illes Balears-Banesto 2003 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2002 Aitor Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 2001 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Fassa Bortolo 2000 Andreas Klöden (Ger) Deutsche Telekom 1999 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE 1998 Inigo Cuesta (Spa) ONCE 1997 Alex Zülle (Swi) 1996 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) 1995 Alex Zülle (Swi) 1994 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1993 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1992 Tony Rominger (Swi) 1991 Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) 1990 Julian Gorospe (Spa) 1989 Stephen Roche (Irel) 1988 Erik Breukink (Ned) 1987 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1986 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1985 Pello Ruiz-Cabestany (Spa) 1984 Sean Kelly (Ire) 1983 Julian Gorospe (Spa) 1982 José-Luis Laguia (Spa) 1981 Silvano Contini (Ita) 1980 Alberto Fernandez (Spa) 1979 Giovanni Battaglin (Ita) 1978 Juan-A. Gonzalez-Linares (Spa) 1977 Juan-A. Gonzalez-Linares (Spa) 1976 Giambattista Baronchelli (Ita) 1975 Juan-A. Gonzalez-Linares (Spa) 1974 Miguel-Maria Lasa (Spa) 1973 Luis Ocana (Spa) 1972 Juan-A. Gonzalez-Linares (Spa) 1971 Luis Ocana (Spa) 1970 Luis-P. Santamarina (Spa) 1969 Jacques Anquetil (Fra) 1968 José-Maria Errandonea (Spa) 1967 Carlos Echeverria (Spa) 1966 Eusebio Velez (Spa) 1965 Sebastian Elorza (Spa) 1964 Carlos Echeverria (Spa) 1963 Juan-J. Sargaduy (Spa) 1962 Rolf Wolfshohl (Ger) 1961 Antonio Karmany (Spa) 1960 Benigno Aspuru (Spa) 1959 Antonio Bertran (Spa) 1958 Jesus Lorono-Arteaga (Spa) 1957 Antonio Barrutia (Spa) 1956 Jesus Lorono-Arteaga (Spa) 1955 José Escolano (Spa) 1954 José Serra (Spa) 1953 Vicente Iturat (Spa) 1952 Louis Caput (Fra) 1945 Miguel Gual (Spa) 1944 José Gandara (Spa) 1943 Martin Mancisidor (Spa) 1942 Federico Ezquerra (Spa) 1941 Firmin Trueba (Spa) 1940 Federico Ezquerra (Spa) 1939 Mariano Carnado (Spa) 1935 Gino Bartali (Ita) 1930 Mariano Carnado (Spa) 1929 Maurice De Waele (Bel) 1928 Maurice De Waele (Bel) 1927 Victor Fontan (Fra) 1926 Nicolas Frantz (Lux) 1925 Auguste Verdyck (Bel) 1924 Francis Pélissier (Fra) Past winners by Mario Stiehl, www.world-of-cycling.com
