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Clasica San Sebastian - CDM
Spain, August 10, 2002
Main page Start List Map Results
Complete Live Report
Start time: 11:25 CEST
Estimated finish time: 17:10 CEST
14:30 CEST
Welcome to Cyclingnews.com's live coverage of the Clasica San Sebastian,
the seventh round of the World Cup raced over a fairly hilly 227 kilometre parcours.
The climbs start early, with the Alto De Orio (Cat. 3) at kilometre 19, followed
by several more Cat. 2 and Cat. 3 climbs. The decisive climb is the Cat. 1 Alto
De Jaizkibel (465m) which starts at 40 km to go, and normally forces a selection.
An update on the race so far: The weather conditions at the start were quite bad, and the peloton was in no mood to race early on. However, two riders: Juan Miguel Mercado (iBanesto.com) and Constantino Zaballa (Kelme) decided to try their chances on the Alto De Orio (km 19), and were let go by the peloton. Their lead at the moment is a whopping 15'03, after approximately three hours of racing.
That can change, depending on how motivated the peloton is. But 15 minutes is a lot of time to give away in a World Cup.
15:40 CEST - 154 km/73 km to go
The rain has now eased, as has the gap to the two leaders, Constantino Zaballa
and Juan Miguel Mercado. They attacked the lethargic peloton at 19 km, and had
a maximum lead of 15 minutes. They are paying for their efforts now. The gap
is now 10'20, with 73 kilometres to go.
15:48 CEST - 160 km/67 km to go
The gap is coming down fairly quickly, but it's still big enough to be a
threat. It's now 8'50 between the peloton and the two leaders, Zaballa and Mercado,
who are still working well together. Mercado gets some assistance from the iBanetso
team car, getting rid of all his rain gear and having a bite to eat. He also
gets rid of his helmet in favour of a cap.
15:54 CEST - 162 km/65 km to go
The small hills are starting to take their toll on the two leaders, Juan
Miguel Mercado and Constantino Zaballa, who now lead the peloton by 7'50 with
around 65 km to go. Although the rain has stopped for the time being, the skies
are overcast and still look threatening.
16:02 CEST - 175 km/52 km to go
The peloton is being led by a Gerolsteiner rider, who is doing a good job
for his leader Davide Rebellin. Plenty of Phonak jerseys are in evidence near
the front, as is Salvatore Commesso (Saeco) in his Italian national champion's
jersey. Museeuw and Freire are also in the peloton, which is around 150 strong.
They have 10 km to go until the foot of the Jaizkibel, and the gap has fallen to 6 minutes.
16:09 CEST - 180 km/47 km to go
Austrian champion Rene Haselbacher (Gerolsteiner) takes a turn at the front,
and now there are a mass of US Postal riders - six in total - right behind him.
Matt White looks ready to do some hard tempo making. The gap is now 5'00, with
another 5 km to the foot of the Jaizkibel.
16:14 CEST - 183 km/44 km to go
Mercado and Zaballa, who have been out in front for over 160 km, are really
starting to hurt. They lead the peloton by 4 minutes, and will certainly be
swallowed on the Jaizkibel. US Postal takes over Gerolsteiner's tempo making
at the front, with Lance Armstrong well placed in 5th wheel, coming through
for a turn. Floyd Landis, Matt White and Viatschlav Ekimov are working hard.
The Postie's man today is George Hincapie, who is in good form.
16:22 CEST - 187 km/40 km to go
The leaders pass through Lezo, and start to climb the Jaizkibel. They have
a 2 minute lead to the peloton, which is being led by Elio Aggiano (Mapei).
16:25 CEST - 188 km/39 km to go
Andrei Kivilev (Cofidis) attacks the peloton at the foot of the climb. He closes
in on the leading pair, and passes them.
16:30 CEST - 189 km/38 km to go
Zaballa and Mercado come back to the peloton, which is making up its mind
to start racing up the Jaizkibel. There's an acceleration by Laurent Jalabert
(CSC) with Igor Astarloa and Gabriele Missaglia on his wheel, but it doesn't
go anywhere. Missaglia continues on his own, in pursuit of Andrei Kivilev.
Kivilev is caught by Missaglia and Sastre (CSC), as Igor Astarloa (Saeco) and Raffaele Ferrara (Alessio). Jalabert tries again, and succeeds in getting up to the leading group. There are now six leaders, with the peloton at 5 seconds.
16:34 CEST - 190 km/37 km to go
Juan Antonio Flecha (iBanesto) and Dario Cioni (Mapei) set the tempo on
the front, with Freire and Armstrong in third and fourth wheel. The leading
six are 18 seconds in front now.
Armstrong now gets to the front, and picks up the speed. But it's not an attack.
16:37 CEST - 191 km/36 km to go
The peloton is in one long line, led by a certain Lance Armstrong, who is
not having a big effect on the breakaway group. There are now five leaders,
with Jalabert, Sastre, Kivilev, Astarloa, and Missaglia (Ferrera is dropped)
with a 15 seconds lead.
There more attacks in the peloton, and this reduces the gap to 10 seconds. Danilo Di Luca accelerates, and the peloton breaks into several groups. 17 riders are chasing, with Rebellin, Frigo, and Ivan Basso prominent in front.
Frigo attacks on his own, in pursuit of the leading five.
16:40 CEST - 194 km/33 km to go
Frigo is doing a great job to close the gap to the leaders, and has left
the other 16 chasers behind on the Jaizkibel.
16:40 CEST - 196 km/31 km to go
Astarloa crosses the Jaizkibel first, followed by Missaglia, Kivilev, Sastre,
and Jalabert. Then Frigo at 5 seconds. The Italian is nearly there.
Di Luca, Basso, Rasmussen, Casagrande come across in the next group at 26 seconds. Then Armstrong's group (which has Bettini) at 38 seconds.
Casagrande goes off on the descent in pursuit of the group in front of him.
16:45 CEST - 199 km/28 km to go
Carlos Sastre is having problems following the other four on the descent,
but gets back on on an uphill section.
A rider has fallen - it's a US Postal rider with a big bike. It's Hincapie, and he looks to have broken his collarbone. Armstrong is with Rebellin and Casagrande in pursuit of the leaders. No sign of Bettini yet.
16:50 CEST - 203 km/24 km to go
Jalabert, Kivilev, Missaglia, and Astarloa are leading the race, with Sastre
being dropped but coming back again. Lance Armstrong, Davide Rebellin, Francesco
Casagrande and a Phonak rider (Dominguez?) are in pursuit.
Dario Frigo has caught the leaders. There are now six in front. They have 40 seconds lead on the next group.
16:53 CEST - 195 km/22 km to go
Basso, Rebellin, Di Luca, Pererio, Armstrong, Bettini and Freire are part
of a fairly large chasing group, but they're not having an impact on the six
leaders, who are now at 50 seconds with 21 km to go.
Hincapie has abandoned the race, but he may not have broken anything.
16:57 CEST - 210 km/17 km to go
The gap is up to 1 minute with 17 km to go, as the leading six (Jalabert,
Sastre, Kivilev, Missaglia, Astarloa, Frigo) approach the final climb of the
Alto De Gurutze.
A group of seven riders is chasing them, including Fofonov. The 35 rider peloton is just behind them.
17:02 CEST - 212 km/15 km to go
Sastre is finally dropped on the Alto De Gurutze. Laurent Jalabert must
now be fancying his chances of a second successive victory in San Sebastian.
In the peloton, an acceleration by Faresin (Gerolsteiner) on the climb attempts to bring down the 1 minute gap. It's going to be hard. Rebellini and Camenzind are well placed. Bettini is also in the peloton, but will be sprinting for seventh.
17:04 CEST - 213.5 km/13.5 km to go
Jalabert, Kivilev, Missaglia, Astarloa and Frigo stay together on this final
climb of the Alto De Gurutze. They cross with a 1'05 lead on the peloton, which
seems to be growing but not closing the gap.
17:08 CEST - 216 km/11 km to go
11 kilometres to go, and the five leaders are still taking equal turns,
trying to ensure they stay in front of the peloton into San Sebastian. Frigo
looks strong, as does Astarloa, who was second in HEW Cyclassics. But a few
eyes will be on Laurent Jalabert, who has a big chance to win today.
The gap is still 1'05 as Cadel Evans does a turn on the front of the peloton.
17:12 CEST - 219 km/8 km to go
The leaders are now on the main highway, heading into San Sebastian. The
peloton, with riders such as Freire, Bartoli, Bettini, Virenque, Di Luca, Mikhailov,
Simoni, follows at 58 seconds. The gap is gradually coming down.
17:15 CEST - 222 km/5 km to go
Cadel Evans continues with his work on the front of the peloton, but is
getting little help. Bartoli and Belli (Fassa Bortolo) move up to the lead,
but it's too late to catch the leaders.
The leading five - Jalabert, Kivilev, Missaglia, Astarloa and Frigo - pass the 5 km to go mark.
17:18 CEST - 223 km/4 km to go
4 km to go, and there are no changes to the situation. The leaders are still
1'05 in front of the peloton.
Danilo Di Luca attacks the peloton.
17:21 CEST - 225 km/2 km to go
No-one is willing to make a move in front. All seem to be relying on their
sprint.
17:23 CEST - 226 km/1 km to go
We'll have a five man sprint as they go under the 1 km banner. Frigo leads,
Astarloa is in last wheel.
17:24 CEST - 227 km/0 km to go
Kivilev leads from Missaglia and Frigo. Kivilev leads out the sprint, Astarloa
and Frigo try to come around, but Jalabert wins it from Astarloa and Missaglia.
Two in a row!
Danilo Di Luca wins the sprint for 6th place in front of Bettini and Mattan and Dufaux (Alessio). Then the peloton a few seconds behind, led by Mikhailov and Freire.
Results
1 Laurent Jalabert (Fra) CSC-Tiscali 5.47.30 2 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 3 Gabriele Missaglia (Ita) Lampre-Daikin 4 Andrei Kivilev (Kaz) Cofidis 5 Dario Frigo (Ita) Tacconi Sport 6 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 0.35 7 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 8 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 9 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 10 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Lotto-Adecco 0.41 World Cup standings after round 7 1 Johan Museeuw (Bel) Domo Farm Frites 270 pts 2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 202 3 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Saeco-Longoni Sport 152
Results Mail the Cyclingnews commentary team!
