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60th Vuelta a España - GT
Spain, August 27-September 18, 2005
Main Page Results & report Stage Details Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 3 - Monday, August 29: Cordoba-Puertollano, 153.3 km
Commentary by Jeff Jones, with additional reporting from Hernan Alvarez
Live report
Live coverage starts: 14:30 CEST
Estimated finish: 17:30 CEST
14:30 CEST
Welcome to Cordoba for the start
of the third stage of the Vuelta a España, a 153 km sprinter-favourable run
up to Puertollano. There's just one Cat. 3 climb today, the Alto de la Sierra
de Cardena after 61 km, and three intermediate sprints: Fuencaliente (km 91.8),
Puerto del Pulido (no points, km 126.5) and Almodovar del Campo (km 143). Although
there is a bit of climbing in the first half of the stage, it shouldn't present
the sprinters with any problem today.
The temperatures at the start
are already 35 degrees celsius, so it's going to be a long hot day. The race
leader is Brad McGee (Francaise des Jeux), who is one of the rare riders to
have worn the leaders jerseys in all three grand tours. He has a 22 second gap
over Leonardo Bertagnolli (Cofidis) on GC, and 31 seconds to Juan Antonio Flecha
(Fassa Bortolo).
14:42 CEST
Today's stage started at 13:30 with
all 196 riders signing on. Unlike yesterday, things were aggressive from the
start with Relax-Fuenlabrada opening the hostilities, along with French rider
Anthony Geslin (Bouygues). After 13 km of attacking, McGee's Francaise des Jeux
teammates got to the front and calmed things down for a little while, until
km 21 when Veneberg, Baldato, Veikkanen Gomez, Irizar, and Garcia tried to get
clear.
Some of these riders were caught and after 28 km, there is
a group of four in front: Charteau (Bouygues), Irizar (Euskaltel), Gomez (Saunier)
and Piil (CSC).
14:44 CEST 50km/103.3km to go
The four were joined
by Rik Verbrugghe and Xavier Florencio, and Verbrugghe's presence spelled the
end of the break after 35 km. After 44 km, Joan Horrach (Illes Balears) and
Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Comunidad Valenciana) got a gap, but were unable to escape.
44.3 km were covered in the first hour.
14:56 CEST 57km/96.3km to go
The bunch reaches
the foot of the Alto de la Sierra de Cardeña (Cat. 3) and Francaise des Jeux's
Jussi Veikkanen abandons. The Finnish rider might not be enjoying this extreme
heat.
The pace is fairly steady on the climb.
15:05 CEST 60km/93.3km to go
The peloton is taking
the only climb of the day at a steady pace. No-one wants to attack for the mountain
points just yet. The summit is still 1 km off.
15:09 CEST
One of our Finnish readers has written
in to tell us that Jussi Veikkanen's abandon was likely caused by the back pains
he has been experiencing lately. He was uncertain even of racing the Vuelta.
15:14 CEST 63km/90.3km to go
At the top of the
Alto de la Sierra de Cardeña, it's Joaquin Rodriguez (Saunier Duval) going over
first ahead of Fredy Gonzalez, Leonardo Bertagnolli (Cofidis), and Aitor Osa
(Illes Balears). That will give Rodriguez the lead in the mountains classification,
as he now has 13 points to Bertagnolli's 12.
The heat is well and
truly on as it's around 40 degrees now. The riders were allowed to start "refueling"
at km 25, and you can bet that there will be a lot of empty bidons by the side
of the road today.
15:22 CEST 69km/84.3km to go
The next rider to
abandon is Angelo Furlan (Domina Vacanze), who climbs off his bike.
There is a small crash involving Rolf Aldag (T-Mobile) and Franck Renier (Bouygues),
but both are back on their bikes and, after a visit to the race doctor, are
within the confines of the peloton.
15:25 CEST 70km/83.3km to go
We have another
attack! This time it's from Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Comunidad Valenciana),
who has a small gap over the peloton. After a fast start, it's been pretty quiet
of late.
15:35 CEST 82km/71.3km to go
Pascual Rodriguez'
move is a good one, and he now has a 2'08 lead over the peloton, which has covered
84.9 km in the first two hours of racing.
15:39 CEST
For those wondering, there are time
bonuses for intermediate sprints during the Vuelta. It's usually 6, 4, 2 seconds,
but sometimes, like the second sprint today, there are no bonuses. The finish
bonuses are usually 20, 12, 8 seconds.
15:47 CEST 87km/66.3km to go
Pascual Rodriguez
passes through the feed zone and into the province of Ciudad Real. He is approaching
the first sprint of the day at Fuencaliente.
15:55 CEST 95.3km/58km to go
Rodriguez is going
well, and has extended his advantage out to 3'03 as he takes the bonus at Fuencaliente.
15:57 CEST 96.3km/57km to go
La Francaise des
Jeux is leading the peloton, defending Brad McGee's gold jersey. Unlike Menchov
and Rabobank yesterday, FDJ is more interested in keeping the gold. The breakaway,
Javier Pascual Rodriguez, is already 10 minutes down on GC, so is no threat.
15:58 CEST
Second place in the sprint went to
Joaquin Rodriguez (4 seconds), while McGee took third (2 seconds).
16:02 CEST 97.3km/56km to go
Rodriguez suffers
his way up a false flat, drinking water and trying to keep cool. The road is
black and in very good condition.
Any chase will have to come from
the sprinters teams, Fassa Bortolo and Quick.Step. FDJ is not interested in
getting Rodriguez back.
16:05 CEST 100km/53.3km to go
Rodriguez tosses
an empty water bottle overboard to the deserted roadside, and gets another from
his team car. It's pretty lonely out there. Outside the cities, the crowds are
almost non-existent.
Rodriguez has 3'44 now.
16:06 CEST
The Phonak boys are enjoying themselves
again at the front of the peloton, spraying water over each other.
16:08 CEST
Rodriguez finds a bit of a downhill
and cranks the speed up a bit, but he still has to pedal.
Paolo Bettini
(Quick.Step) looks a bit more comfy today, although he's at the back of the
peloton.
16:10 CEST
Mountains leader Bertagnolli is wearing
a pink-ish helmet today, which doesn't quite go with his red-ish mountains jersey.
But it's close. I can only work in primary colours anyway.
16:11 CEST 103.3km/50km to go
Rene Haselbacher
(Gerolsteiner) gets a bit friendly with Jakob Piil (CSC), but the Dane doesn't
quite go along with the joke. Riding in 40 degree heat does some strange things
to grown men.
16:13 CEST
Rodriguez rides on the bike path/shoulder
on the edge of the road, mainly because it's the shortest route around this
curve. He keeps drinking.
16:15 CEST 108.3km/45km to go
Rodriguez has 3'40
on the peloton as he moves to the other side of the edge of the road, again
climbing.
16:20 CEST 110.3km/43km to go
Rodriguez is riding
well, keeping his 3'40 gap over the bunch, which has not got itself organised
in a real chase yet. Another 10 km and it will start to get interesting. Rodriguez
has the advantage of not having been out in front all day - he attacked after
70 km so "only" has to ride 83 km alone.
16:23 CEST 113.3km/40km to go
Rodriguez reaches
the top of a very long drag and takes some time out to suck down an energy gel
or two, as well as more water. The pace in the peloton has picked up a little,
and a lot of riders are not finding it easy on his false flat in 40 degree conditions.
16:24 CEST
Joseba Beloki (Liberty Seguros) doesn't
look too bad. He's near his team captain Roberto Heras. Beloki had a shocking
start to the race, crashing in the first 500m, but rode well yesterday to finish
with the main peloton.
The peloton is stretching.
16:26 CEST
The bunch reaches the top of the
"climb" and the gap to Rodriguez is 3'09. It's still FDJ leading, but now the
Fassa Bortolo riders are coming to the fore, led by Fabio Sacchi.
16:28 CEST 116.3km/37km to go
The speed hits
90 km/h as the peloton scorches down this long, straight descent. Rodriguez'
gap is down to 2'55.
16:29 CEST 118.3km/35km to go
Today marks the
first time that a Vuelta stage will finish in Puertollano.
The speed
is still over 60 km/h as the road flattens out in the Valle de Alcudia and the
chase is taken up by Fassa Bortolo.
16:31 CEST
The race has been going for three
hours, and Javier Pascual Rodriguez is fighting his way through the valley under
the baking sun. His gap is 2'27 and the peloton can probably see him on this
long straight road.
16:34 CEST 120.3km/33km to go
Rodriguez keeps
punching along as Fassa eases off the pace slightly. The gap is under 2 minutes
now, so there's no rush.
16:36 CEST 121.3km/32km to go
Race leader McGee
is further back in the peloton as there is no real danger at the moment. The
road climbs again gradually, and the peloton has got Rodriguez pegged at 1'25.
16:38 CEST
39 km were covered in the third hour,
and the overall average speed is 41.3 km/h after three hours.
16:41 CEST 124.3km/29km to go
Javier Pascual
Rodriguez has won a stage and the overall of the Vuelta a la Rioja this year,
as well as the GP Miguel Indurain. He won stage 18 of the Vuelta last year.
He has won several other Spanish races, but never anything outside his own country.
16:43 CEST 126.3km/27km to go
Rodriguez has 27
km to go as he continues to hold his 1'25 lead.
Phonak's Jose Enrique
Gutierrez, who crashed yesterday on the San Jeronimo, is getting his radio seen
to.
16:44 CEST 127.3km/26km to go
The peloton is
fanned out about 15 riders wide along this road. It's not because of the wind
though. It's just one solid block.
16:46 CEST 127km/26.3km to go
Rodriguez is feeling
it now, as he sits up after taking the sprint at Puerto del Pulido. McGee was
second ahead of a teammate. Were there bonus seconds for that one? It seems
so.
16:47 CEST 128km/25.3km to go
Rodriguez takes
another drink, looks back and sees the bunch hurtling towards him on this short
descent. He's swallowed.
16:50 CEST 129.3km/24km to go
Oh no! Jose Enrique
Gutierrez has crashed again! This time he's just run off the side of the road.
He takes some time to get going again, but he's OK. He had a whole lot of bidons
with him so he might have been trying to give them to his teammates. He gives
them back to the team car after spraying them over the dirt on his legs.
16:50 CEST
Gutierrez chases back on behind his
team car. He'll maybe get a penalty, but it's worth it. He's not a GC rider
so the time doesn't matter.
16:52 CEST
According to the Vuelta road book,
there were no bonus seconds at Puerto del Pulido, so McGee's effort might have
been a bit wasted.
16:53 CEST 131.3km/22km to go
The bunch has regrouped
as a few riders try to improve their position by riding on the path on the edge
of the road. Will anyone try to escape before the finish? Very probably.
16:54 CEST
Well, the road book appears to be
wrong :-) McGee has six bonus seconds today (4 + 2), while Rodriguez has 12.
16:55 CEST 133.3km/20km to go
Gutierrez is back
in the peloton after his stack, and gives the bidons back to his teammates.
His bro Ignacio takes him to the front.
16:57 CEST 134.3km/19km to go
Fassa and CSC are
setting the tempo now, trying to keep the pace high enough to discourage attacks.
No sign of Quick.Step yet, but you can bet 400 Belgian francs that once Tom
Boonen gets a sniff of the finish line, he'll have a go. Sprinters are hard
to tame like that.
17:00 CEST 136.3km/17km to go
An attack! Thomas
Ziegler (Gerolsteiner) accelerates away on a small climb and gets a gap. That'll
wake the others up a bit.
17:01 CEST 137.3km/16km to go
Ziegler chose a
good point to attack, as it was near the top of the climb and he gets a descent
to recover. The peloton hasn't really reacted, but the pace will pick up a bit
now.
17:01 CEST 138.3km/15km to go
Ziegler flies under
15 km to go with 15 seconds on the bunch, where Fassa leads.
17:03 CEST 140.3km/13km to go
Ziegler grabs a
drink and continues to power away. He is not leaving anything in the tank, and
has a good 20 seconds now. CSC sits behind one Fassa rider, but the chase isn't
really on yet.
17:04 CEST 141.3km/12km to go
Ziegler exits the
big road, then the peloton follows. 12 km left and it's now Illes Balears with
a couple of men in front. Fassa is still up there.
17:06 CEST 142.3km/11km to go
Ziegler has half
a minute as he hits a speed hump on the outskirts of town. He'll get to the
final intermediate sprint soon.
17:07 CEST 143.3km/10km to go
Ziegler powers
up a small climb through the streets, lined with people, motors over some cobbles
and gets to the sprint at Almodovar del Campo. The young German has 27 seconds
lead.
17:08 CEST 144.3km/9km to go
McGee shoots out
of the bunch and takes second place and another 4 seconds. One of the Fassas
was third - Flecha, who is close to McGee on GC.
17:08 CEST 144.3km/9km to go
Ziegler is 9'41
down on GC so doesn't present a threat to McGee. But he does to the sprinters!
He keeps his 28 second lead as Credit Agricole takes up the chase for Thor Hushovd.
17:09 CEST 145.3km/8km to go
The peloton exits
town and the speed picks up. Fassa and Credit have it wound up again. But Ziegler
is strong! Great riding by the German who is now under 8 km to go.
17:11 CEST 146.3km/7km to go
Thomas Ziegler remains
rock solid as he points his nose towards Puertollano. Rik Verbrugghe is now
working for Quick.Step.
17:12 CEST 147.3km/6km to go
The chase has carved
7 seconds off the lead, and it's down to 20 seconds with 7 km to go. Quick.Step
and Fassa are working, as Saunier comes up the front too. Petacchi and Boonen
look to be the favourites, but don't forget Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto)...
17:12 CEST
The chase is relentless and it's
14 seconds under 6 km to go. The peloton is not too strung out, even so. T-Mobile
has a rider up there too.
17:13 CEST 148.3km/5km to go
Ziegler is being
sucked back on this wide road. He gets to a roundabout, which will help him
a bit. 10 seconds. Some riders chose to go straight over the top of the roundabout.
17:14 CEST 149.3km/4km to go
The bunch has Ziegler
in its sights now and the German is swallowed with just over 4 km to go. De
Weert lifts the pace for Quick.Step.
17:14 CEST 149.3km/4km to go
The bunch has Ziegler
in its sights now and the German is swallowed with just over 4 km to go. De
Weert lifts the pace for Quick.Step.
17:15 CEST 149.3km/4km to go
Fassa gets its silver
train into gear at the 4km to go banner. The pace is very high now.
17:15 CEST 150.3km/3km to go
Petacchi is in sixth
wheel and well placed. Quick.Step has moved Boonen up, but Zabel is there too.
17:16 CEST
They're in the centre of town now
and Fassa winds it up for Petacchi. They have enough men, it looks like.
17:16 CEST 151.3km/2km to go
It's a classic bunch
sprint coming up, with Fassa leading it out all the way.
17:17 CEST
Under two km to go and Petacchi still
has four men in front. Zabel is up there on his wheel.
17:17 CEST 151.8km/1.5km to go
Three riders left
with 1.5 km to go, then Petacchi. Bettini moves up with Boonen. Zabel and Boonen
next to each other.
17:18 CEST 152.3km/1km to go
Last kilometre and
Fassa has got a textbook leadout going. Two men for the last 800m. Hushovd and
Zabel are there.
17:19 CEST 153.3km/0km to go
The leadout proper
starts with 500m to go and Petacchi gets a perfect lead until 200m. He hits
out with 150m and gets it from Zabel and Boonen! No danger. That went like clockwork.
17:27 CEST
Petacchi's finishing speed was 58
km/h, according to the radar, which means it was a pretty hard sprint. But it
doesn't matter how fast you go, as long as you win.
The race lead
stays with Brad McGee, who put another 10 seconds between himself and his closest
rivals. He should keep the points jersey, while Joaquin Rodriguez takes over
the mountains jersey.
That's all folks, until tomorrow!
Results
Provisional 1 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 3.48.41 2 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 3 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick Step - Innergetic 4 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 5 Giosuè Bonomi (Ita) Lampre - Caffita 6 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 7 Miguel Angel Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 8 Tom Steels (Bel) Davitamon - Lotto 9 Marco Velo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 10 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas - Bianchi General classification after stage 3 1 Bradley McGee (Aus) Française des Jeux 8.50.32 2 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis, le credit par telephone 0.32 3 Juan Antonio Flecha Giannoni (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 0.39 4 Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (Spa) Saunier Duval - Prodir 0.41 5 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6 Francisco Javier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre - Caffita 0.42 7 Unai Yus Kerejeta (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 0.43 8 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step - Innergetic 1.02 9 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 1.05 10 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 1.12
