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14th Challenge Illes Balears - 1.1 (x5)
Spain, February 6-10, 2005
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Stage 2 - February 7: Port d'Alcudia-Port d'Alcudia (Trofeo Alcudia), 163.2 km
Oscar again!
Freire makes it two for two, but won't be back for three-in-a-row
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Oscar Freire has won the second stage of the Challenge Illes Balears, once again out-sprinting Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) at the finish.
Today's stage was slightly more sedate than stage 1's opening dash as the peloton made its way along a 163km loop that started and finished in Port d'Alcudia. An eight-man break went away after 33km, comprising Toni Tauler (Illes Balears), Íñigo Cuesta (Saunier), Matt Hayman and Karsten Kroon (Rabobank), David Bernabéu and Rubén Plaza (Comunidad Valenciana), Josep Jufre (Relax Fuenlabrada) and José Antonio López (Kaiku).
It was almost as though the break had permission from the peloton to go out on its own for a while and by the 43km mark the gap was eight minutes. That was the cue for the Illes Balears team to increase the tempo and work with Rabobank and T-Mobile to bring the peloton back together for a sprint finish.
Despite having a man in the break, Illes Balears' strategy was to set things up for sprinter Galvez and Tauler was instructed not to work with his companions out front. The break was reeled in after 152km and the stage was set for another sprint showdown. But the rainbow-clad Freire once again demonstrated that he has scorching form this season and comfortably eclipsed Galvez to take the win.
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"I have to make the most of the excellent form I'm in," said Freire. "I feel very comfortable and had to take this opportunity. The breakaway made for a very fast stage, so the day was harder than we expected."
While Freire heads the overall classification at the Challenge Illes balears, he won't be trying to keep it. "I am not going to fight for the general [classification]," he said, "because I won't start tomorrow. I believe I have already done my work and now have to think about other things."
The Illes Balears team is hoping to have one of its riders pull on Friere's overall classification jersey after tomorrow's third stage, which is why Tauler was ordered not to work with today's breakaway. "The team had to do a lot of work again to chase down the escape," said Illes Balears rider Vicente Reynés, "because Bernabéu is a dangerous man to our hopes of winning the general [classification]."
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"I have very good feelings about tomorrow's stage," continued Reynes. "It is the key day. I am sure the Challenge will be decided there and the team's plan is to fight for a repeat of last year's success."
Toni Tauler agreed, saying that he was in a good break, "but the team told me to stop. Those are the orders of the team and you have to obey them. Tomorrow is a decisive and key stage for the final victory, so we are all ready to give it the maximum."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Franklin Tello/Franklin Tello Photography
- Paolo Bettini (Quick Step) happy to be in Mallorca.
- Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears) was determined to go for the win again today
- The peloton rolls out of Port d'Alcudia for a 163km loop back to where it started.
- A Rabobank rider leads the peloton up the first climb
- Oscar Freire (Rabobank) rides alongside his team car
- Oscar Freire and his lucky jersey
- Er, Oscar - I'm not sure you're supposed to follow the team car quite that close...
- Toni Tauler (Illes Balears) consults with his team manager during the breakaway
- Toni Tauler rides alongside his team car
- Oscar Freire and Roberto Laiseka chat as the peloton rolls along
- T-Mobile and Kaiku riders add a big splash of pink to the peloton
- The eight-man escape stayed away for almost 120km
- The breakaway hammers through the fields
- Toni Tauler - the local hope in the break
- Karsten Kroon (L) and Matt Hayman represented Rabobank in the breakaway
- The break lasted until ten kilometres from the finish before being swept up by the peloton
- Oscar Freire (Rabobank) wins his second stage in as many days, ahead of Isaac Galvez (Illes Balears). Rainbow curse? What rainbow curse?
- Oscar Freire is very happy to be on the podium again - and the podium girls look pretty pleased to have him there too!
Images by Mario Stiehl/www.world-of-cycling.com
- The peloton climbs out of Port d'Alcudia
- The peloton chases the break in the Spring sunshine
- Oscar Freire claims his second victory in the Challenge Illes Balears
- Oscar Freire accepts the trophy
Results
1 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 3.41.12 2 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears 3 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep 4 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 5 Unai Elorriaga (Spa) Sel. Española 6 Vidal Celis (Spa) Orbea 7 Mikel Gaztanaga (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 8 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team 9 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears 11 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team 12 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears 13 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 14 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears 15 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 16 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 17 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 18 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Fundacion C. Euskadi 19 Aitor Perez (Spa) Spiuk 20 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 21 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 22 Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Kaiku 23 M.A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 24 Antonio Miguel (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 25 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 26 Javier Cherro (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 27 Angel Edo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 28 Jordi Berenguer (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 29 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Spiuk 30 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Kaiku 31 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 33 Iker Camano (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 34 Adolfo Garcia (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 35 José A. Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 36 Benat Albizuri (Spa) Orbea 37 Pedro Romero (Spa) Spiuk 38 Fernando Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 39 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 40 Juan A. Pastor (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 41 Ruben Perez (Spa) Orbea 42 Gorka Arrizabalaga (Spa) Orbea 43 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 44 Javier Benitez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 45 Eloy Teruel (Spa) Sel. Española 46 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 47 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 48 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears 49 Victor M. Gomes (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 50 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 51 Antonio Olmo (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 52 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Illes Balears 53 Christian Werner (Ger) T-Mobile Team 54 Rafael Macarron (Spa) Spiuk 55 Miguel Alzamora (Spa) Sel. Española 56 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank 57 Raul Garcia (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 58 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile Team 59 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank 60 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Kaiku 61 Ignacio Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 62 Aketza Peña (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 63 Javier P.Llorente (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 64 Julen Zubero (Spa) Orbea 65 Aaron Villegas (Spa) Orbea 66 Sebastian Franco (Spa) Sel. Española 67 José L. Martinez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 68 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 69 Alan Perez (Spa) Orbea 70 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 71 Igor Anton H. (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 72 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 73 Xabier Tondo (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 74 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 75 Iker Flores (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 76 José E. Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 77 Iker Mezo (Spa) Orbea 78 David Fernandez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 79 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 80 Angel Rodriguez (Spa) Spiuk 81 Efrain Gutierrez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 82 Fernando Torres (Spa) Spiuk 83 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 84 José Ruiz (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 85 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quickstep 86 Juan M. Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 87 Dailos Diaz (Spa) Orbea 88 Fco. José Martinez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 89 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 90 Fco. J. Garcia (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 91 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Quickstep 92 Tomasz Nose (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 93 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 94 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) T-Mobile Team 95 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears 96 Sergio Dominguez (Spa) Spiuk 97 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 98 Alberto Benitez (Spa) Spiuk 99 Joan Llaneras (Spa) Sel. Española 100 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 101 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 102 Anton Luengo (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 103 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 104 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 105 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 106 Angel L. Casero (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 107 Moises Duenas (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 108 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quickstep 109 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 110 Iker Leonet (Spa) Illes Balears 111 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep 112 David Herrero (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 113 Jos. Aguirrezabala (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 114 Jesus Buendia (Spa) Sel. Española 115 José A. Garrido (Spa) Quickstep 116 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quickstep 117 José A. Pecharroman (Spa) Quickstep 118 Juan M. Mercado (Spa) Quickstep 119 Gorka Amuriza (Spa) Orbea 120 Mads Christensen DEM Quickstep 121 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank 122 Aitor Alonso (Spa) Sel. Española 123 Javier Ruiz (Spa) Kaiku 124 Jorge Sanchez (Spa) Spiuk 125 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 126 Alberto Lopez (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 127 Jose A. Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 128 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 129 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 130 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir 131 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 132 Alfonso Rodriguez (Spa) Spiuk 0.20 133 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 134 José A. Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 135 Guillermo Ferrer (Spa) Sel. Española 136 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears 137 Francisco Lara (Spa) T-Mobile Team 138 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 139 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 140 Angel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.35 141 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.41 Mountains Comuna De Petra - Cat. 4, km 132,00 1 Ruben Plaza (Spa) 3 pts 2 Antonio Tauler (Spa) 2 3 David Bernabeu (Spa) 1 Metas Volantes Llucmajor, km 77,00 1 José A. Lopez (Spa) 3 pts 2 Josep Jufre (Spa) 2 3 David Bernabeu (Spa) 1 Manacor, km 117,60 1 Mathew Hayman (Aus) 3 pts 2 José A. Lopez (Spa) 2 3 Josep Jufre (Spa) 1 Special sprints Sa Pobla, km 12,60 1 Alberto Benitez (Spa) 3 pts 2 Pedro Romero (Spa) 2 3 Fernando Torres (Spa) 1 Felanitx, km 104,30 1 José A. Lopez (Spa) 3 pts 2 Josep Jufre (Spa) 2 3 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) 1 Teams 1 T-Mobile Team 11.03.36 2 Illes Balears 3 Catalunya-Angel Mir 4 Kaiku 5 Comunidad Valenciana 6 Relax-Fuenlabrada 7 Rabobank 8 Fundacion C. Euskadi 9 Orbea 10 Spiuk 11 Phonak Hearing Systems 12 Andalucia-Paul Versan 13 Sel. Española 14 Saunier Duval-Prodir 15 Quickstep General classification after stage 2 1 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 5.14.11 2 Isaac Galvez (Spa) Illes Balears 3 Dimitri De Fauw (Bel) Quickstep 4 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 5 Unai Elorriaga (Spa) Sel. Española 6 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears 7 Vidal Celis (Spa) Orbea 8 Mikel Gaztanaga (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 9 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 11 Aitor Perez (Spa) Spiuk 12 Pablo Urtasun (Spa) Kaiku 13 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 14 Carlos Castaño (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 15 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears 16 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 17 Javier Cherro (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 18 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 19 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Fundacion C. Euskadi 20 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears 21 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 22 Javier Benitez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 23 Antonio Miguel (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 24 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 25 Adolfo Garcia (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 26 José A. Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 27 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Kaiku 28 M.A M.Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 29 Jordi Berenguer (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 30 Victor M. Gomes (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 31 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Kaiku 32 Olaf Pollack (Ger) T-Mobile Team 33 Angel Edo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 34 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears 35 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 36 Jaume Rovira (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 37 Juan A. Pastor (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 38 Iker Camano (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 39 David Fernandez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 40 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Quickstep 41 Pedro Romero (Spa) Spiuk 42 Angel Gomez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 43 Iker Mezo (Spa) Orbea 44 José E. Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 45 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank 46 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 47 Benat Albizuri (Spa) Orbea 48 Raul Garcia (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 49 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quickstep 50 Fco. J. Garcia (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 51 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 52 Angel Rodriguez (Spa) Spiuk 53 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 54 Rafael Macarron (Spa) Spiuk 55 Ignacio Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 56 Eloy Teruel (Spa) Sel. Española 57 José L. Martinez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 58 Aketza Peña (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 59 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Illes Balears 60 Aaron Villegas (Spa) Orbea 61 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 62 Fco. José Martinez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 63 Juan M. Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 64 Antonio Olmo (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 65 Efrain Gutierrez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 66 Imanol Erviti (Spa) Illes Balears 67 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile Team 68 Julen Zubero (Spa) Orbea 69 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 70 Ruben Perez (Spa) Orbea 71 Miguel Alzamora (Spa) Sel. Española 72 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank 73 Fernando Torres (Spa) Spiuk 74 Christian Werner (Ger) T-Mobile Team 75 José Ruiz (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 76 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 77 Sebastian Franco (Spa) Sel. Española 78 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 79 Alberto Benitez (Spa) Spiuk 80 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 81 David Herrero (Spa) Fundacion C. Euskadi 82 Xabier Tondo (Spa) Catalunya-Angel Mir 83 Tomasz Nose (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 84 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 85 Dailos Diaz (Spa) Orbea 86 Juan M. Mercado (Spa) Quickstep 87 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 88 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 89 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 90 José A. Pecharroman (Spa) Quickstep 91 Aitor Alonso (Spa) Sel. Española 92 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank 93 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quickstep 94 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quickstep 95 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 96 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 97 Andreas Klier (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.12 98 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quickstep 0.19 99 Sergio Dominguez (Spa) Spiuk 100 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 101 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) T-Mobile Team 102 Angel L. Casero (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 103 Joan Llaneras (Spa) Sel. Española 104 Jesus Buendia (Spa) Sel. Española 105 José A. Garrido (Spa) Quickstep 106 Mads Christensen DEM Quickstep 107 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 108 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir 109 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.20 110 José A. Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 111 David Navas (Spa) Illes Balears 1.01 112 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile Team 113 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.41 Mountains classification 1 Ruben Plaza (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 3 pts 2 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Illes Balears 2 3 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1 Metas volantes classification 1 José A. Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 5 pts 2 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank 3 3 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 3 4 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 3 5 Antonio Olmo (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 6 David Fernandez (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versa 2 7 David Bernabeu (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1 8 Alberto Benitez (Spa) Spiuk 1 Special sprints classification 1 Alberto Benitez (Spa) Spiuk 7 pts 2 José A. Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 3 3 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 3 4 Antonio Olmo (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 3 5 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2 6 Pedro Romero (Spa) Spiuk 2 7 Rory Sutherland (Aus) Rabobank 2 8 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1 9 Fernando Torres (Spa) Spiuk 1 Baleares rider classification 1 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears 2 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears Teams classification 1 Quickstep 15.42.33 2 T-Mobile Team 3 Illes Balears 4 Kaiku 5 Catalunya-Angel Mir 6 Orbea 7 Comunidad Valenciana 8 Relax-Fuenlabrada 9 Rabobank 10 Andalucia-Paul Versan 11 Fundacion C. Euskadi 12 Spiuk 13 Phonak Hearing Systems 14 Sel. Española 15 Saunier Duval-Prodir
