Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Mt Hood Classic Photo ©: Swift |
57th Vuelta a España
Spain, September 7- 29, 2002
Main page Start List Map Stage Profile Results
Stage 10 - September 16: Córdoba - Córdoba ITT, 36.5 km
Complete Live Report
Start time (first rider): 12:41 CEST
Finish time (last rider finish): 17:15 CEST
14:40 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews' coverage of the 10th stage of La Vuelta, a 36.5 kilometre
individual time trial around Cordoba. The course today is fairly flat and should
suit the TT specialists such as David Millar and Santiago Botero. The general
classification will likely change today, although Oscar Sevilla may be able
to keep his leader's jersey if he has a very good ride. Behind him are Alexandre
Vinokourov (Telekom) at 14 seconds, and Aitor Gonzalez (Kelme) at 41 seconds.
The fastest rider so far is Juan Carlos Dominguez (Phonak) who has ridden very well in wet conditions to record a time of 47'28, nearly a minute faster than Robert Bartko (Telekom).
Johan Verstrepen, Davide Bramati and Mariano Piccoli come to the line together, and have a joke about sprinting for the win.
The weather is bad today - it's raining over the whole parcours, and that will make it difficult to set really fast times. It doesn't look like clearing up either.
14:49 CEST
Speaking of Botero, you can scratch him off the favourites list as he passes
the intermediate time check at km 19 in 60th place (29'21). He hasn't had a
good Vuelta so far, and has been mainly working for Sevilla.
14:59 CEST
Melchor Mauri (Maia) crosses in a respectable time of 50'03. Mauri announced
his retirement yesterday after a career spanning 17 years. His time puts him
in 7th spot at the moment.
A note on the course: It's quite technical at the beginning, and the rain and wind aren't helping at all. It's also quite deserted.
Toni Tauler has just caught his minute man, Migel Martin Perdiguero (Acqua e Sapone). Jose Gutierrez (iBanesto) finishes in a time of 49'45 - that's better than Mauri, and moves him into 7th.
15:07 CEST
Perdiguero doesn't care about a time penalty, and happily sits in Tauler's draft
for a while. At least he'll get to the finish quicker!
Another candidate for the stage win is Euskaltel's Haimar Zubeldia, currently 6th on GC at 1'01. He put over 2 minutes into Sevilla in the Dauphine Libere time trial, where he finished third.
The rain is really heavy now!
15:12 CEST
Botero finishes in a time of 53'20, well off the pace and it was clear he wasn't
interested. The rain continues to fall heavily, drenching the brave spectators
who are lining the streets.
Perdiguero is still sitting behind Toni Tauler, who is riding quite well but probably doesn't want an Acqua e Sapone sprinter on his wheel.
Tauler is good: 15 seconds quicker than Dominguez at 19 km.
15:20 CEST
A note for Charly Wegelius fans. The Mapei rider has already finished his ride
in a time of 51'52, which puts him in 31st position at the moment (90 finishers
so far).
Santos Gonzalez (Acqua e Sapone) finishes in a good time of 48'18, second best to date.
15:27 CEST
Jesus Manzano (Kelme) finishes his ride in a time of 48'33, fourth best. Cyclingnews
diarist Danilo Di Luca (Saeco) is just about to start.
Di Luca lost 18 minutes yesterday and any chance on the GC, but he's vowed
to be back!
The rain has eased a little now, although the roads are still wet.
Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (ONCE) is about to set off. He'd normally be considered a big favourite for this stage, but has not been in top form at the Vuelta, like Santi Botero. We'll see what he can do.
15:38 CEST
Here comes Toni Tauler, who has gotten rid of Perdiguero at last. The Kelme
rider finishes in 46'56, the new top time.
15:50 CEST
Fernando Escartin (Team Coast) gets ready to ride. He's 20th on GC at 3'16.
The rain is persistent, and it looks as though all riders will have the same
conditions.
Miguel Martin Perdiguero has a time of 48'16, which is third best so far. He picked the right wheel to sit behind today!
David Millar (Cofidis) is about to start. The powerful Scot quickly gets into his rhythm, and it's clear that he wants to do a good time.
15:55 CEST
Christian Vandevelde (USPS) has the new top time at km 9, with 14'24.
Last year's Vuelta winner, Angel Casero, has started. He'll need to ride extremely well in the last week to move up to podium contention.
Igor Gonazlez de Galdeano has gone through the 19km mark in 26'09, 4th fastest.
16:01 CEST
Massimiliano Lelli finishes in 47'50, third best time.
Christian Vandevelde is 2 seconds faster than Tauler at 19 km, and has the new top intermediate time.
Oscar Camenzind (Phonak) is on his way.
16:09 CEST
Oscar Pereiro (Phonak) finishes in a time of 47'22, 26 seconds behind Toni Tauler's
best time. David Millar (Cofidis) has gone through the 9km mark in the same
time as Vandevelde (14'24), which is the equal best time at that point.
We're into the top 10 now, with Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo) setting off. Only 9 more riders to start.
16:14 CEST
Juan Antonio Pecharroman (Jazztel) finishes in 48'20, 7th best time.
Joseba Beloki (9th on GC) rolls down the starting ramp. A few minutes ahead of him, mountains leader Gilberto Simoni is struggling over the first part of the parcours. The conditions are definitely improving, but the roads are by no means dry yet. At least it's stopped raining.
Danilo Di Luca finishes in 49'26, 20th best time.
16:20 CEST
Igor Gonzalez finishes in 47'43, 4th fastest time and not a bad showing at all.
Vandevelde has lost 16 seconds to Tauler at the third check (km 29). Meanwhile David Millar passes the 19 km check in the same time as Vandevelde (2 seconds quicker than Tauler). The race will be won over the second half.
Klaus Moller comes by 19 km in 25'46, 4th fastest at that point. Roberto Heras (USPS) is just starting his ride.
16:24 CEST
Vandevelde finishes in a time of 47'15, second best time behind Tauler.
Aitor Gonzalez starts his ride. He's one of the favourites for this stage, and also to take the lead. He has ambitions on winning the Vuelta overall too.
Joseba Beloki (ONCE) is getting yelled at by Manolo Saiz, and appears to be responding by riding quickly. He goes by 9 km in 14'04 - that's 10 seconds quicker than Millar and Vandevelde!
16:29 CEST
Oscar Sevilla (Kelme) sets off 2 minutes behind Alex Vinokourov. He at least
can start in the "dry", but will have to be as careful as the others
on the wet roads.
16:34 CEST
Fabian Jeker (Maia) has ridden well, to finish in a time of 47'45, 49 seconds
behind the current leader Toni Tauler.
Gilberto Simoni has lost 51 seconds to Vandevelde at 19 km, but he's still in 16th at that point.
16:38 CEST
Casagrande passes 19km pretty close to the time of Simoni, for 18th place. Joseba
Beloki is having a great ride though, coming through 19 km in 25'21, 21 seconds
faster than Vandevelde. He will catch Casagrande.
Heras was 10th through 9 km in 14'36.
David Millar is finishing, and will beat Tauler. He crosses in 46'32, new best time.
Aitor Gonzalez is second fastest at 9km behind Beloki.
16:43 CEST
Casero finishes in 48'05, 9th fastest and not bad, but not brilliant. Klaus
Moller finishes in 47'14, 3rd quickest.
Zubeldia comes past 19km in 26'05, 44 seconds slower than Beloki.
After 9 km, Beloki has the best time, with Aitor Gonzalez second at 2 seconds, and Sevilla third at 9 seconds. They are followed by Vandevelde, Millar and Moller. Vinokourov has already lost 37 seconds at this point, and certainly won't be in gold tonight.
16:49 CEST
Heras comes past 19 km in 25'43, that's 22 seconds slower than Beloki and good
enough to give him 4th place. Sevilla is going quicker though.
But here comes Aitor Gonzalez! 24'57 - that's 24 seconds faster than Beloki!
16:53 CEST
It's not over yet, but the winners today look to be the Kelme team, with Aitor
Gonzalez possibly moving into the lead if he continues his fantastic ride. He
has some drier roads than those preceding him.
Beloki is past 29 km in 39'13, 2 seconds quicker than Millar.
Vinokourov is 23rd after 19 km, followed by Sevilla who goes through in 25'23, 26 seconds slower than his teammate Aitor Gonzalez. He can lose 41 seconds to concede first place on GC.
16:56 CEST
Gilberto Simoni finishes in a decent time of 48'44, but he's going to lose too
much time to Sevilla and Heras to be able to win the Vuelta.
Aitor Gonzalez is unofficially 39 seconds in front of Sevilla. Just another two seconds and he'll take the leader's jersey.
Casagrande finishes in 48'24, 1'52 behind Millar. He is followed by Beloki, who doesn't go under Millar's time - 46'33.
17:01 CEST
Aitor Gonzalez is unofficially 43 seconds in front of Sevilla, meaning he has
the golden jersey. Unofficially.
Iban Mayo (Euskaltel) finishes in 47'02, an excellent time for fourth.
17:04 CEST
Aitor Gonzalez continues to increase his advantage over the rest of the field.
He should win this time trial comfortably, as he is showing no signs of slowing
down. He also should take the leader's jersey, but not by too much. He goes
past 29 km in 38'23, that's 50 seconds quicker than Beloki!
Zubeldia finishes 15th at 1'27. He won't move up on GC today.
17:09 CEST
Aitor Gonzalez has 2 km to go, and he's going to beat David Millar's time by
around a minute. Meanwhile, Sevilla has put 35 seconds into Heras, and is second
fastest at 29 km in 39'00.
Heras finishes his ride in a good time, clocking 47'06, 34 seconds behind Millar. But Aitor Gonzalez finishes close behind him: 45'32. Exactly a minute in front of Millar.
17:13 CEST
Sevilla can see Vinokourov just in front of him as he goes under 2 km to go.
He catches him on a small climb, cheered on by thousands of fans.
Gonzalez and Sevilla will give Kelme a 1-2 today, both in the stage and in the GC. With Toni Tauler also up there, they have a strong position for the mountains.
17:15 CEST
Sevilla keeps the jersey! He finishes 40 seconds behind Aitor Gonzalez after
a very strong finish.
Results
1 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 45.32 2 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.40 3 David Millar (GBr) Cofidis 1.00 4 Joseba Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 1.01 5 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.24 6 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.30 7 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal Service 1.34 8 Klaus Möller (Den) Milaneza-MSS 1.42 9 Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal Service 1.43 10 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.50 General classification after stage 10 1 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 33.19.0 2 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.01 3 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal Service 1.42 4 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.04 5 Joseba Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 6 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 2.19 7 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.56 8 Félix Garcia Casas (Spa) Bigmat.Auber 93 3.05 9 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) ONCE-Eroski 3.20 10 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 3.33
Results Mail the Cyclingnews commentary team!
