Recently on Cyclingnews.com |
 Giro finale Photo ©: Bettini |
23rd Vuelta a Murcia - 2.3
Spain, March 5-9, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage
Stage 5 - March 9: Murcia - Murcia ITT, 12.9 km
Llorente confirms with impressive TT win
 |
Kelme's Javier Pascual Llorente has continued his team's run of success in the early season Spanish races, taking out the Vuelta a Murcia after winning the final time trial today. Llorente, who took control of the tour when he won stage 2, rode a time of 15'24 to beat US Postal's Lance Armstrong by 2 seconds, with ONCE's Jan Hruska finishing in third spot at 7 seconds. Llorente already had the leader's jersey before today's stage, and thus finished the race on top of the standings, with Hruska taking second, Euskaltel's Haimar Zubeldia third, and the impressive Jose Ivan Gutierrez (iBanesto.com) fourth.
The final stage was expected to be a battle between Llorente and Hruska, with yesterday's stage winner Victor Hugo Peña (USPS) and Cadel Evans (Telekom) also outside chances. The parcours measured 12.9 kilometres and was fairly flat, a good course for the more powerful riders. There was also a good deal of anticipation surrounding Lance Armstrong's ride, as the American had come here to test himself in this stage, despite not being in contention for the overall.
 |
The early pace was set by ONCE's Rafael Diaz Justo, who clocked 15'48 over the 12.9 kilometres at an average speed of 49.98 km/h. He was overtaken by teammate Rene Andrle, who finished in 15'34 to move into the lead. However, when Lance Armstrong came in he knocked another eight seconds off the best time to clock 15'26, and many wondered whether this would hold until the end.
Armstrong's teammate Victor Hugo Peña finished in 15'33, confirming his good form and moving him up to 6th overall. Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel) went one second better with a 15'32, and then the second last rider to start, Jan Hruska (ONCE) recorded a 15'31.
Javier Pascual Llorente started last, and had the benefit of knowing all the previous riders' splits as well as wearing the yellow jersey, which clearly motivated him to ride at his best. His final time was an impressive 15'24, two seconds faster than Armstrong and more than enough to claim the overall victory. Coupled with his win in the Ruta del Sol, Llorente's season has been excellent so far, and the Kelme team has dominated the early season Spanish races with three out of four overall victories.
 |
As for Armstrong, he was more than satisfied with his performance in his first race of the season. "It was good to get back to Murcia after missing last year," he said. "It's a great race to start the season with although I admit that this year was much harder than my previous experience. The riders were more aggressive and the courses were hillier and windier. Overall, I'm happy with the way it went.
"My fitness is where it needs to be if not a little ahead. I'll have another chance to test it in the Semana Catalana in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, I'll spend my time training hard."
 |
Armstrong was also impressed with his teammate Peña's winning effort in Stage 4. "For the second year in a row, Victor gave us our first victory," Armstrong said. "I've never seen him look so good. Whoa...he deserved this victory."
Team director Johan Bruyneel commented that "Overall, it was a good week for us. It was big relief to get our first win of the season after such a tough start with all of our injuries and sickness. Victor rode really well yesterday and today, Lance was only beat by the rider in the leader's jersey. It was a good performance for Lance for this time of the year and it was a good course for him for a first big test."
"We decided that in all the time trial events he races, Lance would go 100% simply because there are not many opportunities to do a test in a time trial this year. He will do another one in Circuit de la Sarthe and then at the Dauphiné Libéré, which gives him only three time trials before the Tour."
Photography
Images by Diseño web masadelante.com
- The cat 3 Alto de La Santa and Joaquim López (Paternina) and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) have broken away from the peloton...
- ...which is lead by Iban Mayo (Euskatel) and the Kelme boys 2.17 behind (overall GC winner Javier Pascual Llorente in yellow).
- Last years GC winner, and stage winner on the day USPS's Victor Hugo Peña digs deep to finish in front of ONCE's Jan Hruska (hidden behind Victor).
- Stage 4 winner Victor Hugo Peña chats with the press
- Two Labarca 2-Cafe Baque riders warm up for the time trial.
- Lance Armstrong warms up on his 'new' Trek TT Bike.
- Stage four winner Victor Hugo Peña has a chat with the crowd, clicks in and starts his warm up. He finished fifth on the day, and sixth on the overall GC.
- Second place in the GC, ONCE's Jan Hruska warms up...
- ...alone on a sidewalk - maybe the Lance factor?
- Johan Bruyneel double checking the bike of USPS's highest placed rider in the GC, Victor Hugo Peña.
- A nice shot of Lances time trial position. He warmed up in front of the crowd for about 40 minutes (are those new handlebars?).
- Lance double-checks his bike...
- ...puts on his helmet and game face...
- ...and checks his bike once again.
- The Man went out and blazed to an eventual second place finish for the TT. He was a bit too fast for my camera!
- The four time TDF winner then cooled down in from of the crowd (those forks look new too).
- Victor Hugo Peña on his final warm up...
- Notice the super-fast silver shoe covers. He finished fifth on the day, and sixth on the overall GC.
- A nice look at two time trial bikes (left: Paternina Costa-Almeria - right: Labarca 2-Cafe Baque), while the boys were in the bar having a pre-ride coffee!
- Trek Bike's Scott Daubert was on hand, here with the USPS TT bike.
- Javier Pascual Llorente's (Kelme) Overall GC winning Look Light KX.
- Team Telekom's ride for the Vuelta a Murcia...
- ...included some very nice Campy Record carbon fiber cranks.
Images by AFP Photo/J.F. Moreno
- Lance Armstrong (USPS) rides during the final stage of the Vuelta a Murcia, where he finished second
- Javier Pascual Llorente (Kelme) celebrates as he wins the final stage and the overall classification of the Vuelta a Murcia
Results
1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 15.24 (50.26 km/h) 2 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.02 3 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 0.07 4 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.08 5 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.09 6 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 0.10 7 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 8 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 0.11 9 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 10 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 0.18 11 Rafael Diaz (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 0.24 12 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 0.28 13 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.29 14 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 0.30 15 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 0.31 16 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 0.33 17 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.37 18 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 0.38 19 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 0.40 20 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre 0.42 21 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.43 22 Domingo Segado (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 0.44 23 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 24 Gorka Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 0.45 25 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 0.46 26 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.48 27 David Muñoz (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.49 28 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 29 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 0.50 30 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Telekom 31 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.52 32 Antonio Colom (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.53 33 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 34 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.55 35 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 36 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 0.58 37 Juan Carlos Guillamon (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.01 38 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 1.02 39 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 1.07 40 Ivan Herrero (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 41 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.08 42 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 43 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 1.10 44 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 45 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.11 46 Francisco Jose Lara (Spa) Team Coast 1.12 47 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 1.15 48 David Lopez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 1.16 49 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.17 50 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.18 51 Jhonathan Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 52 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.19 53 Win Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 1.22 54 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 1.23 55 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 1.24 56 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.26 57 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 58 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.27 59 Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Team Coast 1.29 60 Francisco Palacios (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 61 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.34 62 Lander Euba (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.37 63 Carlos Golbano (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.40 64 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.42 65 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 1.43 66 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 1.44 67 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 68 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Alessio 1.48 69 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 70 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 1.49 71 Jaime Hernandez (Spa) Team Coast 1.51 72 David Kopp (Ger) Telekom 1.57 73 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 2.02 74 Jose Manuel Maestre (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.04 75 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 2.24 76 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 2.25 77 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 78 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Telekom 2.32 79 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio 2.39 80 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 2.49 81 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Team Coast 2.50 82 Thorsten Rund (Ger) Team Coast 2.55 83 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.13 84 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.21 Points 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 25 pts 2 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 20 3 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 16 4 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14 5 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 12 6 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 10 7 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 9 8 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 8 9 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 7 10 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 6 11 Rafael Diaz (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 5 12 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 4 13 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3 14 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 2 15 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 1 Teams 1 ONCE-Eroski 46.53 2 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.07 3 Rabobank 0.43 4 Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.57 5 Gerolsteiner 1.23 6 Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.26 7 iBanesto.com 1.36 8 Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.42 9 Lampre 1.44 10 Phonak Hearing Systems 1.50 11 Telekom 2.04 12 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.17 13 Alessio 2.21 14 Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 2.48 15 Vlaanderen-Tinterim 2.52 16 Team Coast 3.51 17 Saunier Duval-Sidermec 4.16 Final general classification 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 15.58.18 2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 0.17 3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.23 4 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 0.40 5 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.47 6 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.49 7 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 1.00 8 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 9 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.08 10 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 1.22 11 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 1.28 12 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 1.56 13 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Gerolsteiner 2.03 14 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 2.05 15 Domingo Segado (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 2.18 16 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.27 17 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.49 18 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 2.53 19 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 2.56 20 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 3.05 21 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 3.14 22 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 3.16 23 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3.19 24 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.20 25 David Lopez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 3.27 26 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.42 27 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 4.11 28 Win Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 6.25 29 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6.35 30 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 9.26 31 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre 9.33 32 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 9.42 33 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 9.56 34 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 10.02 35 Jhonathan Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 10.06 36 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 10.33 37 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 10.42 38 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 10.54 39 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 11.09 40 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 11.15 41 Francisco Jose Lara (Spa) Team Coast 11.50 42 Carlos Golbano (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 12.11 43 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 12.34 44 Juan Carlos Guillamon (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 13.10 45 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Telekom 13.18 46 Antonio Colom (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 15.04 47 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 17.32 48 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Team Coast 17.56 49 Francisco Palacios (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 18.01 50 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 18.10 51 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 18.16 52 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 18.18 53 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 20.12 54 Rafael Diaz (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 20.44 55 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 21.18 56 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 21.35 57 Gorka Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 21.43 58 Ivan Herrero (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 21.51 59 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 21.57 60 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 22.16 61 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 22.22 62 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 23.12 63 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 23.41 64 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Alessio 23.51 65 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 24.03 66 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 24.21 67 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 24.22 68 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Telekom 24.39 69 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 24.46 70 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 24.59 71 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 25.10 72 David Kopp (Ger) Telekom 25.30 73 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 27.01 74 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio 27.07 75 Lander Euba (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 27.12 76 Jose Manuel Maestre (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 29.12 77 Jaime Hernandez (Spa) Team Coast 30.51 78 Thorsten Rund (Ger) Team Coast 31.55 79 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 33.13 80 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 34.41 81 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 35.16 82 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 35.37 83 Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Team Coast 36.16 84 David Muñoz (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 39.44 Points classification 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 62 pts 2 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 42 3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 40 4 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 39 5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 36 6 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 36 7 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 30 8 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 24 9 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 22 10 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 22 11 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 22 12 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 22 13 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 21 14 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 20 15 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 17 16 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 12 17 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 12 18 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 12 19 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 10 20 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 10 21 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 22 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 9 23 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 7 24 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 7 25 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 6 Mountains classification 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 24 pts 2 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 16 3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 16 4 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 12 5 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 6 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 10 7 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 10 8 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio 9 9 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 7 10 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 6 11 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 5 Combination classification 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3 pts 2 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 3 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 17 4 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 23 5 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 26 6 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 31 7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 34 8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 35 9 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 44 10 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 51 11 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 56 Teams classification 1 Rabobank 47.59.51 2 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.54 3 iBanesto.com 2.59 4 Euskaltel-Euskadi 5.27 5 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 8.35 6 Paternina-Costa Almeria 8.58 7 ONCE-Eroski 14.10 8 Kelme-Costa Blanca 15.40 9 Gerolsteiner 17.07 10 Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 19.10 11 Vlaanderen-Tinterim 20.39 12 Alessio 22.55 13 Phonak Hearing Systems 23.24 14 Telekom 27.36 15 Saunier Duval-Sidermec 48.50
