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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 15 - September 22: Gijón - Angliru, 176.7 km
A stage that I will never forget; actually a climb that I will never forget!
To my friends,
The Angliru is the hardest climb that I have done in my life...tough, really and truly tough.
The stage is difficult to explain - it was a real effort for all the riders to get to the finish line in this stage, with all the climbing and the rain and cold. It was hellish! This mountain was really hell to climb.
I'm happy with the way the stage went for me; I was strong enough to attack on the next to last climb and felt good all the way to the stage finish. On the Angliru I had a 38 on the front and a 30 tooth sprocket on the back, but I was mistaken - I needed the triple chainring!!!
At a certain point, the road seemed to go straight up...I couldn't believe my eyes but that's the way it really was!
Every time a person asks me about this stage, I say just two words - f-f: freddo e fatica [cold and tiring].
For you crazy people who might want to try and ride up Angliru, good luck. My advice is to put on your triple chainring and train a lot!
see you soon,
Danilo
Danilo Di Luca's official website - www.danilodiluca.com
