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61st Vuelta a España - GT
Spain, August 26-September 17, 2006
Main Page Results Overall standings Stage Details Live report Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 2 - August 27: Málaga - Córdoba, 167 km
Success for The Cricket and the Thunder God
Stage to Bettini, maillot oro to Hushovd
By Shane Stokes in Córdoba, with additional reporting from Hernan Alvarez
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As was the case eight weeks ago, Norwegian rider Thor Hushovd finds himself in a Grand Tour leader's jersey thanks to his blistering turn of speed. A storming prologue ride earned him the maillot jaune last month, while today strong placings in bonus sprints plus a close second behind Italian champion Paolo Bettini at the finish saw him leap into the race lead of the Vuelta a España.
The final sprint was a chaotic affair, with riders lined right across the road on Córdoba's Avenida República Argentina. The wide boulevard meant that it was as much about timing as position; Erik Zabel's Team Milram hit the front too soon, as did Robbie McEwen's leadout du jour Fred Rodriguez. The Australian pumped his legs and wrenched his arms, fighting to get every bit of speed out of his bike, but cracked with fifty metres to go as Hushovd moved alongside and then started pulling away. But it was Bettini who read the gallop to perfection, making his move at precisely the right time to beat the pure sprinters and nab his second ever Vuelta stage win.
"This is a very important victory for my morale," beamed a positively chirpy Italian national champion at the post-race press conference. "The world road race championships on the 24th of September is a big goal for me and so to win here boosts my motivation. It helps me to relax and head there with strong morale.
"It is a big pleasure to take this victory ahead of all the specialists who are here. I have beaten them in the past in one-on-one sprints but to do so in a big bunch finish is special. I am not a pure sprinter, I normally do better on harder stages, but today my positioning was very good and I was able to make the most of that."
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'Il Grillo' Bettini said that he is fully focused on being ready for the World's in a month's time. "I will try to arrive at the world championships in top form. It is a course that I like - a very nervous one, a course like the classics. It is not guaranteed that the bunch will arrive together in the sprint, but instead everyone will have to ride hard. It could also suit riders such as Freire, Valverde or Vinokourov.
"Selecting the leader for the Italian team always tends to be a complicated process but I am hoping that I will be given that position."
New leader Thor Hushovd was pleased with how his day went, although he said he'd have exchanged Bettini's success for his own. "Today I would have preferred a stage win because I am a sprinter and the most important thing for me is to win a stage. But I am really happy to have the jersey here in the Tour of Spain," he said. "I had it in the Tour de France and now I have it in another big stage race, so I am really happy with that. Anyway, for sure I am going to have many opportunities to get a stage victory later on in this Tour of Spain."
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Heading to the line it looked like it was Hushovd who was going to land the win, but he was outfoxed by the crafty Olympic champion, who edged past to repeat his success of stage 16 last year. He was surprised by this. "I did not expect that Bettini was going to win the stage. I know that sometimes he can do a good sprint, he just has to come out of a good position like what he did today. I just wanted to sit on Milram's wheel because I knew they had a strong team leadout. When Robbie went I jumped as well and we did the sprint side by side against each other. I beat him, which was good, but Bettini surprised us both when he came by in the last few metres."
Hushovd also finished second in the two intermediate sprints, collecting eight seconds in bonuses. Although a stage win was his primary goal, he confirmed that taking the maillot oro was also a target. "I was thinking to at least try to get this jersey. It is always good to lead a big race and have the leader's jersey. So that is why I tried in the intermediate sprints."
Now that he's on top of the general classification, what are his thoughts on what happened in the Tour de France when he was leading there? "At the Tour I had that problem on the first sprint stage when I had the yellow jersey [he suffered a very bad cut to the arm after a mishap in the sprint]. First of all, when I saw all the blood I was scared, but afterwards when I went to hospital and got it stitched together, it wasn't too bad. I was thinking that maybe I have bad luck with the yellow jersey because in 2004 I had it, but crashed as well. But afterwards I got it back two days later so it is just something that can happen in the sprints, especially in the Tour de France."
Final question for him: when he was heading to this Vuelta, was his main aim to win a stage, prepare for the worlds or finish in Madrid? "First of all it was to win a stage," he answered. "Now I have taken yellow so that is one small goal I have achieved. After this my goal is to get a stage win, and then after ten days I will see how I am fixed for the points classification. If I am well placed then I am going to go for that.
"For sure I am going to try to do everything to try to finish this Tour and arrive to Madrid. If I am in good condition I will certainly go to the World's. That is one big ambition in this Vuelta, to get good form for the World's as well."
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Race leader Carlos Sastre looked likely to lose the maillot oro due to his lack of a finishing kick, but whatever tiny chance he had of taking a time bonus disappeared when he punctured with two clicks to go. The UCI rule governing mishaps in the final three kilometres made sure he would get the bunch time, but he had no such insurance against the finishing speed of Hushovd, who finished the day two seconds ahead of Bettini and seven up on Sastre. The Spaniard won't be too worried, though, as he knows that the mountains are where his efforts will count.
"I had a puncture with two and a half kilometres to go, he told Spain's radio Cadena SER after the stage. "So, as might be expected, I arrived behind the peloton. There weren't any other problems."
"Today the team did what we planned to do. We will have three more steady stages and then we will start in the mountains."
He also commented on the early start. "It was strange," he said. "We finished yesterday a bit late and we woke up today very early. But when you end early you have the afternoon and the whole evening to recover yourself, to have massage, to stay calm. For us that is much better".
As for McEwen, he said before the start that he was targeting at least one stage win in the race but eased back when he knew today would not be the day. As a result of that, Luca Paolini (Liquigas) was third over the line while the Australian took fourth, one place ahead of Uros Murn (Phonak). However tomorrow's 219 kilometre northwestward trek to Almendralejo is another mainly flat affair and so the sprinters who missed out today could well have another shot at Vuelta glory. That's presuming another surprise isn't in store; lightning never strikes twice, but could the Cricket?
How it unfolded
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Cordoba is a city in Northern Andalusia that has been heavily influenced by Arabian culture, like other Andalusian cities such as Granada or Seville, due to the long Arab occupation centuries ago. Cordoba's famous mosque is known worldwide. Italy's Leonardo Bertagnolli won in the last year's Vuelta in Cordoba, then being the fourth Italian to do so in seven finishes here.
The 189 riders who finished stage 1 yesterday in Malaga took the start today at the city of Pablo Picasso. s Raul Garcia De Mateo Rubio (Relax-GAM) was the first rider to attack, and when he was brought back after 3 km, his teammate Mario De Sárraga made the move that stuck. He was briefly joined by Saunier Duval's David De La Fuente, who had mechanical problems and had to drop back.
On the first climb of the day (Alto de Casabermeja, Cat. 3, 530 m above sea level, km 20.5), the Relax rider had a 6'50 lead. On the second climb (Alto de las Pedrizas, Cat. 3, 780 m, km 29.5), De Sárraga extended his gap to around 10 minutes to the peloton at that point, and got the mountain jersey after passing both climbs in first place. Mario De Sárraga continued his solo attack and increased the difference as he led by 13'05 at km 65. That prompted some teams like Milram to start to pick up the pace in order to catch the lone rider.
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The Relax rider resisted the efforts of the bunch, but the odds were now against him as a lone rider, and his lead dropped to 10'19 at km 78. However, he had a long way to go to get home. At km 96, the peloton had cut a couple of minutes and the difference was 8'24. At the first intermediate sprint of the day (Monturque – km 109) the peloton had cropped the gap back to 7'07. Meanwhile, Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and Magnus Bäckstedt (Liquigas) were second and third respectively at that point, picking up 4 and 2 bonus seconds for their efforts.
The bunch decided to go breakaway and reduced the lead to 5'50 at km 115. The big group was getting closer and 16 km later, it was just 3'03. De Sárraga's time as solo leader was about to end. At the second and last intermediate sprint (Fernan Nuñez – 38 km to go), the rider in red was just 2'04 ahead of the peloton with Hushovd and Bäckstedt again second and third.
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With 34 km to go, other two riders, Benoît Joachim (Discovery Channel) and Thierry Marichal (Cofidis) joined the lone leader. It didn't take long for Joachim and Marichal to leave the tired De Sárraga behind, but they themselves were only ahead by 50 seconds. The pair was easily caught by the peloton with 13 kilometres to go, and the bunch sprint was set.
Credit Agricole with Thor Hushovd and Davitamon Lotto with Robbie McEwen were ready for the final kick, while Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) preferred to sit it out, but Milram still had three men for Erik Zabel in the final kilometre and a half. But Zabel didn't get a chance, as Davitamon's Fred Rodriguez anticipated the sprint with 400m to go, with captain McEwen on his wheel. Unfortunately for McEwen, he was left on his own too early, and ran out of legs in the last 50 metres to see Bettini, Hushovd and Paolini pass him in that order.
It was a great sprint by Bettini against the specialists, and Hushovd's second place was enough to put him in gold.
Stage 3 – August 28: Cordoba-Almendralejo, 219km
The Vuelta a España will arrive in Almendralejo, Extremadura tomorrow after many years. It is a pretty flat stage with just two category 3 climbs, both at the very beginning: Alto de Villaviciosa (550 m. above sea level, km 6) and Puerto del Aire (750 m., km 30). It's a non-decisive stage, and the sprinters should reign again. The climbs are small, and the sprinters teams fresh, so a result similar to today can be expected.
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by Unipublic
- The queue to sign on
- Daniele Nardello (T-Mobile) signs a t-shirt
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) chats to Inigo Cuesta (CSC)
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) waiting for the start
- Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana) sits in the start village
- Di Luca and Petacchi don't look impressed
- Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d'Epargne) smiles at the start
- Carlos Sastre (CSC) smiling at the start
- Cutting the ribbon to start stage 2
- Race director Victor Codero blows the whistle to start stage 2
- The peloton rides through the barren Spanish countryside
- Raúl García De Mateo (Relax) was the first attacker of the day
- The peloton still relaxed
- Chente Garcia Acosta (L) chats to Pedro Horillo (R)
- That looks dark
- Denis Menchov (Rabobank) looking cool
- Over another small climb
- Easing into it on stage 2
- The bunch on its way
- Carlos Sastre (CSC) chats to Cyril Dessel in the peloton
- Iban Mayo (L) chats to a teammate
- Look out for the flag
- Mario De Sarraga (Relax-Gam) working hard
- Mario De Sarraga (Relax-Gam) on his own for much of the day
- Relax-Gam boys at the back
- Lars Bak (CSC) working for Sastre
- Carlos Sastre (CSC) chats to his director
- Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d'Epargne) in the bunch
- Davitamon-Lotto in command of the chase
- Mario De Sarraga (Relax-Gam) passes an intermediate sprint
- Mario De Sarraga (Relax-Gam) looks back to see Joachim and Marichal coming
- Benoit Joachim (Discovery) and Thierry Marichal (Cofidis) after catching De Sarraga
- The peloton strung out on the run into Cordoba
- Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) wins the stage with a great sprint
- Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) puts on the maillot oro
- Paolo Bettini (Quick.Step) in the points jersey
Images by Shane Stokes/Cyclingnews.com
- Vladimir Karpets and Iban Mayo at the start in Malaga
- Good morning!
- Olympic champ Paolo Bettini is building form before the World's.
- So too Alexandre Vinokourov who, along with Bettini, was in the middle of the fight for gold last year until Tom Boonen stole the show
- Vinokourov's BH bike
- He topped the podium twice in the Tour and now Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) is looking for a stage success here.
- Davide Rebellin had very bad luck yesterday, the Gerolsteiner rider crashing during the TTT
- The effects of that crash were very visible today
- Ouch...
- Robbie McEwen (Davitamon-Lotto) is trying to top the podium on at least one stage here, thus taking a victory in each of the Grand Tours this season.
Results
1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 4.19.31 (38.61 km/h) 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 4 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 5 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 6 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 7 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française des Jeux 9 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 10 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 11 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 12 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Team 13 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 14 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 15 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 16 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 17 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana Team 18 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 19 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Rabobank 20 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 21 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC 22 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 23 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 24 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 25 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 26 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 27 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole 28 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 29 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 30 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 31 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank 32 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française des Jeux 33 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram 34 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 35 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 36 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 37 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-Gam 38 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 39 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 40 José Ange Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 41 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 42 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 43 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 44 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 45 Miguel A. Martín Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 46 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 47 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 48 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 49 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 50 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile Team 51 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 52 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 53 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 54 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 55 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 56 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 57 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 58 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 59 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole 60 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana Team 61 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2R Prevoyance 62 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 63 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 64 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 65 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 66 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 67 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 68 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 69 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 70 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 71 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 72 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 73 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 74 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 75 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 76 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 77 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 78 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 79 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 80 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 81 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 82 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak Hearing Systems 83 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astana Team 84 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 85 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française des Jeux 86 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 87 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 88 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Team 89 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team 90 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 91 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 92 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 93 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 94 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 95 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 96 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française des Jeux 97 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 98 Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 99 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 100 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 101 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 102 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 103 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 104 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 105 David Navas (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 106 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 107 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 108 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 109 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 110 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 111 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 112 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 113 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Team Milram 114 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-Gam 115 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 116 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 117 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 118 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 119 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 120 Luis Fernández Oliveira (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 121 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 122 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 123 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 124 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 125 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 126 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas 127 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 128 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 129 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 130 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 131 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 132 Raúl García De Mateo (Spa) Relax-Gam 133 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 134 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 135 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 136 Josep Jufre (Spa) Davitamon-Lotto 137 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 138 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 139 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 140 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française des Jeux 141 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 142 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 143 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 144 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 145 David George (RSA) Relax-Gam 146 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux 147 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 148 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 149 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 150 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 151 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 152 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 153 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 154 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile Team 155 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 156 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 157 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux 158 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 159 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 160 José Vicent Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 161 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax-Gam 162 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 163 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 164 Daniel Becke (Ger) Team Milram 165 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 166 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 167 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Gam 168 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 169 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 170 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram 171 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 172 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner 173 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 174 Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.25 175 Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr) Team Milram 0.58 176 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 177 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram 1.16 178 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 179 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 180 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 2.02 181 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 182 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole 183 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 184 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 185 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram 186 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3.04 187 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 3.19 188 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 3.21 189 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 6.39 Points 1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 25 pts 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 20 3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 16 4 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 14 5 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 12 6 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10 7 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 8 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française des Jeux 8 9 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 7 10 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 6 11 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 5 12 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Team 4 13 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 3 14 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2 15 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1 Mountains Alto de Casabermeja - Cat. 3, km 20 1 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 6 pts 2 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4 3 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 2 4 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1 Puerto de las Pedrizas - Cat. 3, km 30 1 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 6 pts 2 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 4 3 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 2 4 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 Sprints Monturque - km 109.2 1 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 4 pts 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 2 3 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 1 Fernán Núñez - km 138 1 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 4 pts 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 2 3 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 1 Teams 1 Team CSC 12.58.33 2 Euskaltel - Euskadi 3 Bouygues Telecom 4 Liquigas 5 Phonak Hearing Systems 6 Credit Agricole 7 Astana 8 Quick Step - Innergetic 9 Saunier Duval - Prodir 10 Lampre - Fondital 11 Davitamon - Lotto 12 T- Mobile Team 13 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 14 Rabobank 15 Française des Jeux 16 Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone 17 Ag2r Prevoyance 18 Team Milram 19 Gerolsteiner 20 Caisse D'Epargne - Illes Balears 21 Relax - GAM General classification after stage 2 1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 4.27.00 2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.02 3 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 0.07 4 Lars Ytting Bak (Den) Team CSC 5 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 6 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 7 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 8 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 9 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 10 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 11 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 0.11 12 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 0.12 13 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.14 14 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 15 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 16 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 17 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 18 José Vicent Garcia Acosta (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 19 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 0.15 20 Marco Velo (Ita) Team Milram 21 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Team Milram 22 Daniel Becke (Ger) Team Milram 23 Egoi Martinez (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.16 24 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 25 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 26 Thomas Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 27 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 28 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 29 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 30 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 31 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 32 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.17 33 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.18 34 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 35 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile Team 36 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 37 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile Team 38 Bastiaan Giling (Ned) T-Mobile Team 39 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile Team 40 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile Team 41 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile Team 42 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Team 0.19 43 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astana Team 44 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astana Team 45 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Astana Team 46 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astana Team 47 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astana Team 48 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astana Team 49 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astana Team 50 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astana Team 51 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.20 52 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Credit Agricole 53 José Ange Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 54 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 55 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 56 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Credit Agricole 57 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Credit Agricole 58 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 59 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 60 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 61 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 62 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 63 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Credit Agricole 64 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas 65 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas 66 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 67 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 68 Davide Vigano (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 0.22 69 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 70 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 71 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 72 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 73 Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 74 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick Step-Innergetic 75 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 76 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.23 77 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.25 78 Igor Anton (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 79 Mauricio Ardila (Col) Rabobank 80 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank 81 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 82 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 83 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 84 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 85 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 86 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 87 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 88 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 89 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 90 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 91 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 92 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 93 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 94 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.26 95 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 96 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner 97 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 98 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 99 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner 100 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.28 101 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 102 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 103 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 104 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 105 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 106 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 107 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 0.29 108 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 109 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 110 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.31 111 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 112 Walter Beneteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 113 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 114 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 115 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom 116 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.32 117 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 118 Christopher Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 119 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 120 Josep Jufre (Spa) Davitamon-Lotto 121 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 0.33 122 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.34 123 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 124 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 125 Miguel A. Martín Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 126 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 127 Alexandre Usov (Blr) AG2R Prevoyance 128 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak Hearing Systems 129 Cyril Dessel (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 130 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 131 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 132 David Navas (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 133 Luis Fernández Oliveira (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 134 Hubert Dupont (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 135 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) AG2R Prevoyance 136 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 137 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 138 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 139 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française des Jeux 0.35 140 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française des Jeux 141 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française des Jeux 142 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française des Jeux 143 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française des Jeux 144 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française des Jeux 145 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.36 146 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 147 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 0.37 148 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 149 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 150 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 151 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 152 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 153 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 154 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.40 155 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 156 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française des Jeux 0.41 157 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.43 158 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française des Jeux 159 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-Gam 0.44 160 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-Gam 161 José Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax-Gam 162 Raúl García De Mateo (Spa) Relax-Gam 163 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax-Gam 164 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-Gam 165 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Gam 166 Ian Mcleod (RSA) Française des Jeux 0.45 167 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.47 168 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.48 169 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 170 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Team Milram 0.51 171 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step-Innergetic 1.01 172 Volodymyr Dyudya (Ukr) Team Milram 1.13 173 David George (RSA) Relax-Gam 1.15 174 Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.27 175 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 1.29 176 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.30 177 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Team Milram 1.31 178 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.59 179 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Team Milram 2.17 180 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Credit Agricole 2.22 181 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Credit Agricole 182 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Team Milram 2.42 183 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 2.57 184 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 3.22 185 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 3.51 186 Christophe Kern (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 4.02 187 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 4.04 188 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 4.59 189 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 7.11 Points classification 1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick Step-Innergetic 25 pts 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Credit Agricole 24 3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 16 4 Robbie Mcewen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 14 5 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak Hearing Systems 12 6 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10 7 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 8 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 8 9 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française des Jeux 8 10 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) AG2R Prevoyance 7 11 Erik Zabel (Ger) Team Milram 6 12 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis, le Credit par Telephone 5 13 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astana Team 4 14 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 3 15 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2 16 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 2 17 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 1 Mountains classification 1 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 12 pts 2 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 5 3 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5 4 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step-Innergetic 4 Combination classification 1 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Relax-Gam 198 pts Teams classification 1 Team CSC 13.06.09 2 Caisse D'Epargne - Illes Balears 0.07 3 Team Milram 0.08 4 Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 0.09 5 T- Mobile Team 0.11 6 Astana 0.12 7 Liquigas 0.13 8 Credit Agricole 9 Saunier Duval - Prodir 10 Quick Step - Innergetic 0.15 11 Euskaltel - Euskadi 0.18 12 Rabobank 13 Gerolsteiner 0.19 14 Lampre - Fondital 0.21 15 Bouygues Telecom 0.24 16 Davitamon - Lotto 0.25 17 Phonak Hearing Systems 0.27 18 Ag2r Prevoyance 19 Française des Jeux 0.28 20 Cofidis, le Credit Par Telephone 0.30 21 Relax - GAM 0.37
