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83rd Volta a Catalunya - 2.HC
Spain, June 16-22, 2003
Stage 1 - June 16: Salou / Vilaseca, TTT, 22.9 Km
ONCE by three seconds
The time gap was the same as last year, but the placings were reversed in the first stage of the Volta a Catalunya, a 22.9 km team time trial between Salou and Vilaseca. Last year (with a similar squad) it was the US Postal blue train that won, three seconds ahead of ONCE's yellow and black guard. This year the ONCE boys triumphed in a time of 25'32 (53.8 km/h), giving Xavier Florencio the first leader's jersey in the seven day race. The gap was still just three seconds back to US Postal, demonstrating how close these two top teams are.
Neither ONCE nor US Postal has its biggest gun at this race, which is the third Hors Categorie stage race in June. Most teams use it to decide who will ride the Tour de France, although to win this race also carries a lot of prestige. Last year it was Roberto Heras, who went onto the Tour as a key helper for Lance Armstrong. This year, Heras is a candidate, along with riders like Jan Hruska (ONCE), Ivan Basso (Fassa Bortolo), Leonardo Piepoli (iBanesto), Santiago Botero (Telekom) and Jose A. Pecharroman (Paternina). Second in the Giro d'Italia, Stefano Garzelli (Vini Caldirola) is another starter in this race, seeking to recover some form in time for the Tour de France.
16 teams started the race, with Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada setting a fast early time of 26'12, which was bettered by Rabobank with a brisk 25'45. The Paternina team suffered a setback when one of its strong riders Juan Carlos Guillamón had a mechanical problem just after the start, and had to ride the whole stage alone, losing 4'50.
ONCE started second last, and rode very well to finish in 25'32, proving once again that they are the team to beat against the clock. US Postal had the benefit of knowing ONCE's time splits, but that wasn't enough to beat them this time as they finished in 25'35, just off the fierce pace set by ONCE. Rabobank held onto third place, with Fassa Bortolo and iBanesto.com rounding out the top five.
Tomorrow's second stage between Mora d'Ebre and El Morell will be moderately challenging, containing a couple of Cat. 3 climbs and a Cat. 2 climb near the start, however the finish should suit the likes of the sprinters such as Erik Zabel.
Results
1 O.N.C.E.-Eroski 25.32 (53.81 km/h) 2 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.03 3 Rabobank 0.13 4 Fassa Bortolo 0.25 5 iBanesto.com 0.26 6 Team Telekom 0.32 7 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.40 8 Paternina-Costa de Almeria 0.49 9 Kelme-Costa Blanca 10 Vini Caldirola-SO.DI 0.56 11 Gerolsteiner 12 Lokomotiv 1.00 13 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.20 14 Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 1.24 15 Labarca-2-Café Baqué 1.41 Individual classification 1 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 25.32 2 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 3 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 4 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 5 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 6 David Arroyo (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 7 Koldo Gil (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 8 Matthew White (Aus) US Postal-Berry Floor 0.03 9 Christian Vandevelde (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 10 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal-Berry Floor 11 George Hincapie (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 12 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal-Berry Floor 13 Benoit Joachim (Lux) US Postal-Berry Floor 14 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal-Berry Floor 15 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.13 16 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 17 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank 18 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 19 Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank 20 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 0.22 21 Nicola Loda (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.25 22 Ivan Basso (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 23 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 24 Michele Bartoli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 25 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 26 Juan De Los Angeles (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 27 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 28 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 29 Jon Odriozola (Spa) iBanesto.com 0.26 30 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) iBanesto.com 31 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 32 Unai Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 33 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 34 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) iBanesto.com 35 Jose Luis Arrieta (Spa) iBanesto.com 36 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 37 Erik Zabel (Ger) Telekom 0.32 38 Santiago Botero (Col) Telekom 39 Rolf Aldag (Ger) Telekom 40 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Telekom 41 Andreas Kloden (Ger) Telekom 42 Mario Aerts (Bel) Telekom 43 Robert Hunter (RSA) Rabobank 0.33 44 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.40 45 Josep Jufre (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 46 Oscar Laguna (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 47 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 48 Jose Manuel Maestre (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 49 Rafael Casero (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 0.49 50 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 51 Jose A. Pecharroman (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 52 Jose Antonio Garrido (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 53 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 54 Xavier Tondo (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 55 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 56 Jose Enriqu Gutierrez (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 57 Ivan Ramiro Parra (Col) Kelme-Costa Blanca 58 Jesus Maria Manzano (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 59 David Latasa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 60 Javier P. Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 61 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.50 62 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 0.56 63 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 64 Andrej Hauptman (Slo) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 65 David De La Fuente (Spa) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 66 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 67 Olaf Pollack (Ger) Gerolsteiner 68 Udo Bolts (Ger) Gerolsteiner 69 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 70 Torsten Schmidt (Ger) Gerolsteiner 71 Rene Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 72 Alexei Markov (Rus) Lokomotiv 1.00 73 Serguei Klimov (Rus) Lokomotiv 74 Pavel Brutt (Rus) Lokomotiv 75 Nikita Eskov (Rus) Lokomotiv 76 Alexei Kuznetsov (Rus) Lokomotiv 77 David Navas (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.02 78 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.20 79 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 80 Inigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 81 Julen Fernandez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 82 Gorka Gerrikagoitia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 83 Lander Euba (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 84 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Cofidis 1.24 85 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis 86 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis 87 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis 88 Marek Rutkiewicz (Pol) Cofidis 89 Massimo Apollonio (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 1.29 90 Paolo Bossoni (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 1.31 91 Alberto Hierro (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 1.41 92 Cesar Garcia (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 93 Gustavo Miguel Otero (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 94 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 95 Aitor Kintana (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 96 Marcelino Garcia (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 97 David Lopez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 98 Francisco J. Cerezo (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 99 Nico Mattan (Bel) Cofidis 100 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank 1.47 101 Robert Bartko (Ger) Rabobank 2.10 102 Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Gerolsteiner 2.28 103 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-So.Di 2.32 104 Antonio Tauler (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2.35 105 Volker Ordowski (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.43 106 Gorka Arrizabalaga (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.09 107 Gian Matteo Fagnini (Ita) Telekom 3.35 108 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal-Berry Floor 3.48 109 Robert Sassone (Fra) Cofidis 3.58 110 Alexander Serov (Rus) Lokomotiv 4.14 111 Edouard Gritsoun (Rus) Lokomotiv 112 German Nieto (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 4.28 113 Roberto Lozano (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 4.38 114 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 4.40 115 Jan Schaffrath (Ger) Telekom 116 Juan Carlos Guillamon (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 4.50 117 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5.09 118 Oleg Rodionov (Rus) Lokomotiv 5.28 119 Juan Miguel Cuenca (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 5.39 Teams 1 O.N.C.E.-Eroski 1.16.36 2 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.09 3 Rabobank 0.39 4 Fassa Bortolo 1.15 5 iBanesto.com 1.18 6 Team Telekom 1.36 7 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.00 8 Paternina-Costa de Almeria 2.27 9 Kelme-Costa Blanca 10 Vini Caldirola-SO.DI 2.48 11 Gerolsteiner 12 Lokomotiv 3.00 13 Euskaltel-Euskadi 4.00 14 Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 4.12 15 Labarca-2-Café Baqué 5.03 Catalan rider classification 1 Xavier Florencio (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 2 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 3 Angel Vicioso (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 4 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 5 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski
