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57th Vuelta a España
Spain, September 7- 29, 2002
Vai Dani! Danilo Di Luca's Vuelta diary
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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."
Stage 21 - September 29: Warner Bros Park - Stadion Santiago Bernabeu - ITT, 41.2 km
The Vuelta a España is over!
We concluded the race with a final time trial that finished in one of the shrines of football (soccer)...all the people that were there! Wow it was fantastic and I felt a lot of emotion when I finished.
Well to start off this final diary about my Vuelta and how it went, I went through it pretty relaxed even though I didn't expect a lot on GC. So I just went along and took one day at a time. Regarding the GC riders, I have to really congratulate Aitor Gonzalez. He rode really well; he was so strong the last week and was very clever when we had the first mountain top finish at Sierra Nevada: Great Ride Aitor Gonzalez!
But not just him! Heras deserves a lot of credit on how he rode on the climbs, as well as Sevilla who was a real threat to win the Vuelta throughout.
I'm pretty happy about my Vuelta; I won a really good stage and I could have maybe done more but it just didn't work out. I was 4th in another stage but I never gave up trying!
So to wrap things up, thanks to Cyclingnews for the opportunity to do this diary; I was able to revisit in my room after the stage, while I was writing this, all the things that happened during the stage; the things I did well or not so well...all the emotions and feelings that pass by. Plus the readers of Cyclingnews could get to know me better as a rider & as a person.
From tomorrow onward on my internet site (www.danilodiluca.it) a poll to hear from you the readers which stage of the Vuelta was the best one and which one of my diary entries you like the best!
Thanks for reading and see you in Zolder, Belgium at the World Championships
a presto
Danilo
Danilo Di Luca's official website - www.danilodiluca.it
