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43rd Vuelta al Pais Vasco - 2.HC
Spain, April 7-11, 2003
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Stage 5a - April 11: Santesteban-Fuenterrabía, 91 km
Mayo resumes control, Hamilton in position
By Chris Henry
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The Vuelta al Pais Vasco, which often supplies some truly dreadful weather conditions, came through once again this year on the race's final day. In a veritable deluge, Iban Mayo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) reclaimed the overall lead which he held for just one day after his stage 1 victory. This time, however, he won with precious seconds in hand over many of the principal favourites. Mayo's teammate Samuel Sanchez finished in the same time, along with CSC's Tyler Hamilton, while pre-race favourite Dario Frigo (Fassa Bortolo) sits 22" behind in fourth place.
With 31 riders entering the final day with the same time in the general classification, the dramatic conditions provided the opportunity necessary to force a greater selection in advance of the potentially decisive afternoon time trial. After several splits in the peloton and a number of abandons, the showdown came on the final ascension of the category 2 Erlaitz. Defending champion Aitor Osa (iBanesto.com), active on the final climb of stage 4, once again went on the attack, but could never gain the necessary gap to create a selection.
Mayo decided it was time to move, launching an attack that completely split the lead group behind. Frigo worked to pull back the stage 1 winner, but it was Mayo's E-E teammate Sanchez who jumped across and rejoined his leader at the front. Frigo, unable to follow the acceleration of Sanchez, settled in for a more steady chase. Meanwhile, favourites such as Vinokourov and Rasmussen, and yellow jersey Valverde were in difficulty.
Mayo and Sanchez worked together, spurred on by the appreciative cheers of the Basque supporters, braving the rain to see their local heroes in action. Frigo chased 100 metres behind, while Tyler Hamilton separated himself from the chasers and poured on the gas to join the Italian in the chase. With Hamilton still working to reach Frigo, the Fassa Bortolo leader made contact with the two leaders, only to have Mayo launch another attack, unwilling to let Frigo spoil the party.
Tyler Hamilton caught Samuel Sanchez, left behind by Mayo's attack, and the two slowly clawed their way back to Frigo. As they reeled in Mayo on the false flat near the summit of the Erlaitz, the four leaders held 37" over a chase group lead by iBanesto and Rabobank.
On descent the Euskaltel pair took risks on the slick roads to drop Frigo, who was least at ease through the turns, while Hamilton dared to maintain contact. Frigo steadily lost time on the descent, seemingly unwilling to take the risks necessary to rejoin the leaders. Although he closed to within 8" in the closing kilometres, Frigo cracked in the finale and lost hope of reaching the leading three as they began to position themselves for the stage win.
The first attack came from Mayo in the final 2km, immediately marked by Hamilton. The American was likely less concerned with the stage victory than finishing in the same time as the two, whom he would be favoured to beat in the time trial. However in the closing metres, Mayo launched the sprint once again, holding off both Sanchez and Hamilton, and taking his second victory of the Vuelta. Frigo struggled in 22" behind, while the chase group of Valverde and Osa crossed the line 47" back.
With a short 13km time trial remaining, Hamilton was well positioned for an overall victory, but the difficulty of the day could certainly have blunted the legs of many who played their cards on this challenging penultimate stage.
Results
1 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.19.37 2 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 4 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.22 5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.47 6 Aitor Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 7 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 8 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 10 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 11 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 12 Udo Bölts (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.40 13 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 14 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre 15 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 16 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 17 Benjamín Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 18 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 19 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 20 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 21 Angel Vicioso (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 22 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Team Saeco 23 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 24 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Team Saeco 25 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 26 Antonio Colom (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 27 Joaquin Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 28 Jordi Riera (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2.01 29 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 2.03 30 Hector Guerra (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 5.23 31 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 32 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 6.01 33 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphon 34 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 35 Cadel Evans (Aus) Team Telekom 36 Aitor Kintana (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 37 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 38 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 39 Bobby Julich (USA) Team Telekom 40 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 41 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 42 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 43 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 44 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Saeco 45 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 46 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Team Telekom 47 Marcos Serrano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 48 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) iBanesto.com 49 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 50 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 51 Dario Gadeo (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 52 Alexander Shefer (Kaz) Team Saeco 53 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 7.17 54 Gustavo Toledo (Arg) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 55 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 56 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 8.35 57 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 10.50 58 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 59 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 60 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Team Saeco 61 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 11.42 62 Massimo Codol (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 63 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 64 Jon Odriozola (Spa) iBanesto.com 65 Ivan Basso (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 66 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre 67 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 68 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 12.50 69 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 70 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 71 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Team Saeco 72 Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 73 Alex Zuelle (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 74 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 75 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 13.57 76 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Domo 77 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Domo 78 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 16.01 79 Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 18.52 80 Carlos Golbano (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 81 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) iBanesto.com 82 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 83 Gustavo Otero (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 84 Marcelino Garcia (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 85 Iker Camaño (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 86 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 87 Dermot Nally (Irl) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 88 Sylvester Szymyd (Pol) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino Points 1 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 25 pts 2 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 20 3 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 16 4 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 14 5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 12 6 Aitor Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 10 7 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 9 8 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 8 9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 7 10 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 6 11 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 5 12 Udo Bölts (Ger) Gerolsteiner 4 13 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 3 14 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre 2 15 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 1 Mountains Agina - Cat. 2 1 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 6 pts 2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 4 3 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 2 4 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 1 Aritxulegi - Cat. 3 1 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3 pts 2 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 2 3 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 1 Erlaitz - Cat. 2 1 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6 pts 2 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4 3 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 4 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 1 Metas volantes Hondarribia, km 51 1 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 3 pts 2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 2 3 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1 Irun, km 62 1 Jordi Riera (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 3 pts 2 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1 Gurutze, km 81 1 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 3 pts 2 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 3 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 General classification after stage 5a 1 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18.39.28 2 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 3 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 4 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.21 5 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.46 6 Aitor Osa (Spa) iBanesto.com 7 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 8 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 10 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 11 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1.27 12 Angel Vicioso (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 1.39 13 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 14 Benjamín Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 15 Antonio Colom (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 16 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC 17 Alberto Martinez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18 Patxi Vila (Spa) Lampre 19 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) Team Telekom 20 Marius Sabaliauskas (Ltu) Team Saeco 21 Mikel Zarrabeitia (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 22 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Team Saeco 23 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 1.54 24 Matthias Kessler (Ger) Team Telekom 2.44 25 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 2.59 26 Udo Bölts (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5.54 27 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 6.00 28 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 29 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Saeco 30 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 31 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 32 Marcos Serrano (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 33 Denis Menchov (Rus) iBanesto.com 34 Aitor Kintana (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 35 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 6.03 36 Cadel Evans (Aus) Team Telekom 6.15 37 Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 38 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 6.41 39 Massimiliano Lelli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphon 40 Dario Gadeo (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 7.24 41 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 7.50 42 Bobby Julich (USA) Team Telekom 43 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) iBanesto.com 8.32 44 Mario Aerts (Bel) Team Telekom 8.45 45 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 10.24 46 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 11.07 47 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Team Telekom 11.10 48 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre 11.41 49 Ivan Basso (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 50 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 11.49 51 Gustavo Toledo (Arg) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 52 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Team Saeco 13.30 53 Axel Merckx (Bel) Lotto-Domo 13.34 54 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 14.13 55 Massimo Codol (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 56 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 57 Jordi Riera (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 14.26 58 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 59 Alexander Shefer (Kaz) Team Saeco 15.46 60 Joaquin Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa de Almeria 16.16 61 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC 16.29 62 Nicki Sorensen (Den) Team CSC 16.34 63 Georg Totschnig (Aut) Gerolsteiner 17.04 64 Alex Zuelle (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 19.06 65 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 19.21 66 Jon Odriozola (Spa) iBanesto.com 21.43 67 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 21.47 68 Marc Lotz (Ned) Rabobank 22.51 69 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 24.54 70 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Team Saeco 26.12 71 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Lotto-Domo 26.17 72 Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Mercatone Uno - Scanavino 28.32 73 Hector Guerra (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 29.18 74 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Lotto-Domo 30.16 75 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 36.35 76 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 41.18 77 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 42.37 78 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Fassa Bortolo 44.55 Points classification 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 53 pts 2 Angel Vicioso (Spa) O.N.C.E.-Eroski 45 3 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 40 4 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Saeco 40 5 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 26 6 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 25 7 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC 23 8 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 16 9 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 14 10 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Crédit par Téléphone 14 Mountains classification 1 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 24 pts 2 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca-2-Café Baqué 23 3 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 18 4 Samuel Sanchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 15 5 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 16 6 Jordi Riera (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 9 7 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 9 8 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 6 9 Hector Guerra (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 6 10 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Lampre 4
