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59th Vuelta a España - GT
Spain, September 4-26, 2004
Main Page Results Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Rest day 2 - September 20
Intermezzo in Andalucia
By Martin Hardie
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Following last Wednesday's rest day in Almeria, La Vuelta arrived at its intermezzo, the shorter bridging period before the final push to Madrid. The intermezzo was played out entirely within Andalucia, with its stark desert like landscapes, which gradually appear more fertile the further we headed towards the ancient capital of Granada. Andalucia is the home of tapas, flamenco, the grand bullfighters of history, the Spanish Moorish heritage and the sun.
These four days included three that yielded crucial selections and gave us the first concrete indications as to who might be contesting the GC over the final few days.
Stage 12 - September 16: Almería - Observatorio Meteorológico de Calar Alto, 145 km
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La Vuelta left Almeria with Floyd Landis still wearing the leader's golden jersey. The 12 th stage was a monster with no respite within its short 145 kilometres. The first 40 km or so were flattish before the three enormous climbs that arose out of the spaghetti western landscape.
Whilst a break formed with Cafes Baque's Felix Cardenas off again in search of early mountain points, Paternina-Costa Almeria's Paco Lara left them on a long solo bid. behind Liberty Seguros controlled the rhythm of the peloton. Over the Velefique they shelled quite a few and by the start of the final ascent of the Calar Alto and some regroupings, the peloton numbered only 40. As the day's third 20 kilometre climb got under way Liberty's Serrano, Baranowski and Nozal set a pronounced pace. By the second half of the climb, most were gone, including Landis who had succumbed to the rhythm. Only Mancebo, Valverde and Heras really seemed to remain in the hunt. But along with them stuck Phonak's Santi Perez.
Heras attacked, leaving the others behind, In pursuit, Valverde was the first to crack, then Mancebo leaving only Santi Perez chasing the stellar Heras. Heras took the win and the lead. Perez gained the confidence booster of his life and rolled in alone for second. Heras had got himself an advantage of 39 and 45 seconds respectively over Mancebo and Valverde.
Stage 13 - September 17: El Ejido - Málaga, 172 km
A rolling flat day to the Costa de Sol and Petacchi's last hurrah of this year's Vuelta. Once the day's non eventful break was caught, Cofidis worked with Fassa to position the sprinters for the straight.
Petacchi was victorious ahead of Zabel, Horillo and O'Grady, picking up his fourth win in this year's race. He thought his four wins this year were as significant, given the route, as his five of last year. There was no change in the overall.
Stage 14 - September 18: Málaga - Granada, 167 km
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Phonak's Santi Perez found the light at the end of two years of enduring pain and sorrow following the death of his girlfriend in a car accident when he plunged down the evil Alto de Monachil to finish solo in Granada.
Behind, after the attack of Perez five kilometres from the summit, Valverde set about testing the nerve of Roberto Heras. When Valverde went in the final kilometre of the climb, Heras was glued to his wheel over the top. But Valverde wouldn't give in and tried to scare Heras off his wheel in a dare-devil display of descending skills.
In the end it was not to be. Garcia Quesada was a tower of strength in support of Valverde at every moment, and the top three remained steady. Perez, however, managed to leap frog Landis and Beltran to go from 8th to 6th on GC.
Stage 15 - September 19: Granada - Sierra Nevada (ITT), 29.6 km
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A 30 kilometre individual time trial up two classified climbs, the evil Monachil, a Cat. 1, and the mythical special category to the ski station at Sierra Nevada. The finish stands at an altitude of 2100 m, dwarfing Granada on the plateau below. The road actually climbs up further to nearly 3,400 meters to be among the highest in Europe.
It was meant to be the day that Roberto Heras sealed his victory. Or at least give himself more room to breathe before La Vuelta's final chapter. It was not to be.
The reborn Santi Perez ripped minutes out of everybody to take his second win on the trot. He jumped over Mancebo, Sastre and Nozal to now sit in third position overall, 1'45 back. Heras didn't look himself. Valverde looked like a man possessed on an unstoppable mission to win La Vuelta. He robbed Heras of 44 seconds. La Vuelta now stands with the two top placed riders five seconds apart.
The Final Countdown
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As the caravan sets off on its long journey towards the Portuguese border and the town of Olivenza nestled near the frontier in Extremadura, the riders are already there, having flown over last night, and are recharging their batteries for the final push to Madrid.
We have six days left in la Vuelta. Six intense days, one flat with no sprinter's team remaining to control the race, four days of continual ascending and a final 28 kilometre time trial in Madrid. Valverde remains convinced he can keep the thumb screws tightened and win on the final day. Santi Perez is like a wide eyed kid who has been told he can have anything in the candy shop - if he wants it, he only has to ask. And Heras sits on the throne for the present, surrounded by his blue jerseyed guard of strongmen and his wise old sage of a director, wondering what he can do to keep the rabble in its place.
Six days of struggle in which the winner will probably not be known until 5:15 next Sunday afternoon in Madrid. Hemingway once wrote in his tome on a season of bullfighting, The Dangerous Summer that "Bullfighting is worthless without rivalry, but with two great bullfighters, it becomes a deadly rivalry" that can force a matador to push beyond his abilities until he is injured or killed. Cycling too can become worthless without rivalry, a packaged media spectacle and not much more, but La Vuelta 2004 is not worthless, it has all the rivalry necessary. Between riders, teams and directors; between visions of the future of the sport. It promises to become a rivalry that will not lay down till then end.
Results
General classification after stage 15 1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 54.04.25 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 0.05 3 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.45 4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 2.02 5 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 3.45 6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 6.12 7 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 8.21 8 Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 8.44 9 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 8.51 10 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 8.59 11 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 9.43 12 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 11.21 13 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 13.58 14 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 14.06 15 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 16.26 16 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 17.43 17 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 18.28 18 Miguel A. M. Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 19.48 19 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 23.24 20 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 24.30 21 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 25.39 22 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 26.50 23 Peio Arreitunandia (Spa) Cafes Baque 27.51 24 David Plaza (Spa) Cafes Baque 28.02 25 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 28.05 26 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Team CSC 29.04 27 Unai Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 29.12 28 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 30.56 29 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32.29 30 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Lampre 33.37 31 Rubén Plaza (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 34.49 32 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 36.31 33 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 36.45 34 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 36.56 35 Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 38.13 36 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Team CSC 39.07 37 Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Relax-Bergasol 42.16 38 Hernan Buenahora (Col) Cafes Baque 42.27 39 Dariusz Baranowski (Pol) Liberty Seguros 44.32 40 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 47.39 41 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 47.40 42 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 48.39 43 Felix Cardenas (Col) Cafes Baque 49.00 44 José Enrique Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 51.56 45 Ivan Parra (Col) Cafes Baque 51.58 46 Cadel Evans (Aus) T-Mobile Team 55.55 47 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 57.08 48 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.00.34 49 Francisco Garcia (Spa) Cafes Baque 1.00.42 50 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prevoyance 1.01.10 51 Jose Luis Rebollo (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 1.01.33 52 Frank Schleck (Lux) Team CSC 1.02.32 53 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.02.56 54 Benoit Joachim (Lux) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1.03.35 55 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.04.39 56 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.05.43 57 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 1.06.01 58 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Saeco 1.08.30 59 Cedric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 1.08.57 60 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros 1.10.44 61 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 1.11.04 62 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 1.12.54 63 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 1.13.02 64 Koldo Gil (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1.14.17 65 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.14.40 66 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.14.43 67 Jose Antonio Pecharroman (Spa) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.15.20 68 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1.15.30 69 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 1.16.25 70 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 1.18.19 71 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 1.18.40 72 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 1.19.46 73 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 1.21.19 74 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 1.23.48 75 Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 1.25.23 76 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.25.28 77 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 1.26.25 78 Aitor Perez (Spa) Cafes Baque 1.26.34 79 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Lampre 1.26.38 80 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 1.28.31 81 Joseba Beloki (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.29.54 82 Joaquin Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 1.30.16 83 Roberto Sgambelluri (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 1.31.28 84 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saeco 1.32.33 85 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.33.07 86 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1.34.22 87 David Herrero (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 1.36.28 88 Iñaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.37.45 89 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Alessio-Bianchi 1.37.56 90 Michael Barry (Can) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1.38.47 91 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 1.39.40 92 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Saeco 1.41.03 93 Klaus Möller (Den) Alessio-Bianchi 1.41.37 94 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.43.54 95 Rafael Casero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.46.28 96 Alberto Lopez De Munain (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.47.00 97 José Garrido (Spa) Quick.Step-Davitamon 1.49.34 98 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Saeco 1.49.52 99 David Fernandez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 1.50.40 100 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 1.51.07 101 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio-Bianchi 1.51.12 102 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 1.51.13 103 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 1.52.29 104 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Saeco 1.55.44 105 Francisco Cabello (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 1.57.07 106 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 1.57.41 107 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 1.58.21 108 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre 2.00.07 109 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank 2.00.39 110 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick.Step-Davitamon 2.00.56 111 Jan Hruska (Cze) Liberty Seguros 2.03.45 112 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 2.04.07 113 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems 2.04.44 114 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 2.04.47 115 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 2.04.49 116 Marco Milesi (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 2.06.23 117 José Julia (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 2.07.36 118 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 2.10.25 119 Herbert Gutierrez (Col) Cafes Baque 2.14.20 120 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.14.23 121 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC 2.15.03 122 Rene Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros 2.18.28 123 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 2.20.38 124 Frank Høj (Den) Team CSC 2.21.14 125 José Garcia Acosta (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 2.23.32 126 Julián Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 2.24.01 127 Jan Boven (Ned) Rabobank 2.25.42 128 Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Lampre 2.26.07 129 Brian Vandborg (Den) Team CSC 2.28.04 130 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre 2.28.45 131 Erki Pütsep (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 2.31.07 132 Guido Trenti (USA) Fassa Bortolo 2.33.25 133 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Saeco 2.36.28 134 Marco Velo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2.36.32 135 Paolo Fornaciari (Ita) Saeco 2.38.33 136 Ellis Rastelli (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 2.38.44 137 Aitor Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.43.26 138 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2.46.13 139 Matthew White (Aus) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 2.47.46 Points classification 1 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 148 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 126 3 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 97 4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 85 5 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 76 6 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 72 7 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 52 8 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 51 9 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Quick.Step-Davitamon 51 10 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 50 11 David Zabriskie (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 49 12 Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 43 13 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 43 14 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 38 15 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 36 16 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 34 17 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Alessio-Bianchi 33 18 Miguel A. M. Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 31 19 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 31 20 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 30 21 Benoit Joachim (Lux) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 29 22 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 29 23 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 28 24 Antonio Cruz (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 28 25 Erki Pütsep (Est) Ag2R Prevoyance 27 Mountains classification 1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 87 pts 2 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 72 3 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 71 4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 67 5 Felix Cardenas (Col) Cafes Baque 58 6 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 50 7 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 42 8 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 40 9 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 36 10 David Fernandez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 35 11 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32 12 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 28 13 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 24 14 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21 15 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 21 16 Manuel Quinziato (Ita) Lampre 20 17 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 19 18 Unai Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 19 19 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 18 20 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 17 21 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 17 22 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 16 23 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 16 24 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 14 25 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio-Bianchi 14 Combined classification 1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 5 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 8 3 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 10 4 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 12 5 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 18 6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 33 7 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 40 8 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 46 9 Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 48 10 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 52 11 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 54 12 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 55 13 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 56 14 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 56 15 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 60 16 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 62 17 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 63 18 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 78 19 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Bergasol 84 20 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 88 21 Felix Cardenas (Col) Cafes Baque 89 22 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 92 23 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 93 24 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 97 25 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 103 Teams classification 1 Comunidad Valenciana - Kelme 162.24.01 2 Liberty Seguros 8.50 3 Costa de Almeria - Paternina 35.01 4 Illes Balears - Banesto 36.07 5 US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 37.52 6 Phonak Hearing Systems 41.57 7 Team CSC 47.29 8 Saunier Duval - Prodir 50.50 9 Cafes Baque 54.37 10 Cofidis, le credit par telephone 1.11.46 11 Relax-Bodysol 1.20.31 12 Saeco 1.42.09 13 T-Mobile Team 2.00.26 14 Euskaltel - Euskadi 2.12.43 15 Fassa Bortolo 2.30.36 16 Rabobank 2.41.16 17 Quick Step - Davitamon 2.46.17 18 Vini Caldirola -Nobili Rubinetterie 2.47.43 19 Lampre 3.17.39 20 Alessio - Bianchi 4.04.56
