www.cyclingnews.com presents the 57th Vuelta a España, 2002.

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Dauphiné Libéré
Photo ©: Sirotti

57th Vuelta a España Preview

Spain, September 7- 29, 2002

Vai Dani! Danilo Di Luca's Vuelta diary

Danilo Di Luca
Photo: © Sirotti

Nationality: Italian
Team: Saeco-Longoni Sport

Italian speedster Danilo Di Luca from the Saeco-Longoni Sport Team will be writing a diary for Cyclingnews.com during this year's Vuelta a España. The classy rider has been in excellent form leading into the 2002 Vuelta, with a recent victory in the Giro Del Veneto showing he has hit Spain's major tour with motivation and speed. With his consistent performances in Italy during August, Di Luca is looking to the Vuelta with confidence. "The Giro del Veneto was my last race before the Vuelta... we've got big plans for the Spanish race. Simoni will be going for the overall and I'm looking for stage wins."

Index to all entries

Stage 3 - September 9: San Vicente de Raspeg - Murcia, 134.2 km

Hello again to the readers of cyclingnews!

Stage 3 went off like fireworks...

For me, today's stage was quite relaxed; I stayed in the bunch all day and the speed was pretty regular, except the guy from Domo Farm Frites who attacked far from the finish (he was very brave too!)

In the last part of the stage, I stayed in front so I wouldn't have too many risks from crashes. In fact, the tension was high, especially in the final kilometres. There is always that risk to find yourself behind a gap or lose precious seconds from a crash.

None the less, everything went well today and so in the final sprint, it was Mario Cipollini who beat Alessandro Petacchi and Eric Zabel. Too bad for me that with his third place, the German passed me in the points classification, but I'll promise you now that I'll be writing this diary...wearing the Vuelta Points Jersey!

See you tomorrow
Danilo

Danilo Di Luca's official website - www.danilodiluca.com