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23rd Vuelta a Murcia - 2.3
Spain, March 5-9, 2003
Main Page Results Previous Stage Next Stage
Stage 4 - March 8: Cartagena - Alto de La Santa, 167.0 km
Peña back into contention
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The defending champion of the Vuelta a Murcia, Victor Hugo Peña (US Postal) moved himself back into contention for the overall classification after a strong ride to win today's fourth stage from Cartagena to Alto de La Santa. Peña crossed the line to win together with Czech Jan Hruska (ONCE), who is probably the favourite now to take the overall, with tomorrow's 12.9 kilometre time trial to decide the race. However the lead stayed with Kelme's Javier Pascual Llorente, who lost 31 seconds today to finish 5th.
Today's 167 km stage contained five categorised climbs, including three ascents of the Cat. 3 Alto De La Santa, and two of the Cat. 1 Alto Collado Bermejo. The stage finish was atop the final climb of Alto De La Santa. 125 riders started the stage in cool, 15 degree temperatures, with attacks almost going from the first kilometre.
After 41 kilometres, a group of 13 riders managed to escape, making it to the foot of the first climb of Alto De La Santa. The group split into pieces on the climb due to the rapid tempo, and Joaquím López (Paternina) was first to the top in front of Michael Rasmussen (CSC) and Thorwald Veneberg (Rabobank). Also in the leading group were Serguei Yakovlev (Telekom), Marcelino García (Cafe Baque), José Manuel Maestre (Fuenlabrada), Rafael Díaz (ONCE), Steve Zampieri (Sidermec), Denis Lunghi and Pietro Caucchioli (both Alessio).
The leaders were reduced to two as they tackled the Alto Collado Bermejo (km 70), with López and Rasmussen reaching the top first, a minute in front of race leader Javier Pascual Llorente (Kelme), who was leading a small peloton. The average speed had dropped from 46 km/h in the first hour to 38.1 km/h after two hours, but that was understandable given the Cat. 1 climb.
Rasmussen and López continued to hold their advantage over the peloton, which reached 2'42 after 106 kilometres. In the peloton, Victor Peña was already showing signs that he was having a good day, attacking near the foot of the Alto De La Santa (2nd ascent), and being caught again by the peloton. At the top of the climb (114 km), López and Rasmussen had 2'17 over David Muñoz (Kelme), but all three were caught and passed by a group of 14 riders on the next climb of the Alto Collado Bermejo (km 125).
This was a crucial part of the stage, as most of the GC favourites made it over the top in the leading group: Javier Pascual Llorente, Iban Mayo, Haimar Zubeldia (Euskaltel), José Luis Martínez (Paternina), Leonardo Piepoli (iBanesto.com)), Cadel Evans (Telekom), Levi Leipheimer and Addy Engels (Rabobank), Wladimir Belli (LAmpre), Juan Carlos Dominguez (Phonak), Victor Hugo Peña (US Postal) and Jan Hruska (ONCE).
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On the descent, a group of four riders broke clear and had 1'20 on the rest of the group at the Meta Volante sprint at Alhama De Murcia (km 145.6). The four included Rabobank teammates Levi Leipheimer and Addy Engels, Victor Hugo Peña, and Jan Hruska. On the final climb of Alto De La Santa, Leipheimer did what he could for Engels with the end result that he finished third. However Peña and Hruska profited more, with Peña staying clear to win the stage just in front of Hruska, and Engels taking third at 13 seconds.
The showdown is now set for tomorrow's 12.9 kilometre time trial in Murcia, with Peña, Hruska and as an outsider, Cadel Evans (Telekom) as favourites to win the tour. Tomorrow's rider to watch will be Lance Armstrong, who saved his legs today in the mountains in order to test them against the clock tomorrow. Today he finished 8'35 down in a group of 14 riders, containing among others Raimondas Rumsas (Lampre).
Photography
Images by AFP Photo/J.F. Moreno
- Lance Armstrong (US Postal presented by Berry Floor) climbs during stage four of the Vuelta a Murcia
- Victor Hugo Peña (US Postal presented by Berry Floor) crosses the line in front of Jan Hruska (ONCE) to win stage 4
- Victor Hugo Peña (US Postal presented by Berry Floor) salutes the crowd from the podium after his win in stage 4 of the Vuelta a Murcia
Results
1 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 4.14.03 (39.441 km/h) 2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 3 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 0.13 4 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 0.28 5 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 0.31 6 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 0.33 7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 0.35 8 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 9 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 10 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.39 11 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 0.41 12 Domingo Segado (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 0.53 13 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 14 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 15 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 16 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.57 17 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 1.07 18 David Lopez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 1.22 19 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 20 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.39 21 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 1.48 22 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 23 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.03 24 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.11 25 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 2.18 26 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2.55 27 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 28 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.46 29 Win Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 4.01 30 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 7.53 31 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 32 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 33 Jhonathan Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 34 Ivan Herrero (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 8.35 35 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre 36 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Team Coast 37 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 38 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 39 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 40 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Telekom 41 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 42 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 43 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal presented by Berry Flo 44 Francisco Jose Lara (Spa) Team Coast 45 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 46 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 47 Carlos Golbano (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 48 Juan Carlos Guillamon (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 11.14 49 Antonio Colom (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 50 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 15.27 51 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 52 Francisco Palacios (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 53 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 54 Rudolf Wentzel (RSA) Vlaanderen-T Interim 55 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 56 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 57 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 18.17 58 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 59 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 60 Jaime Hernandez (Spa) Team Coast 61 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 62 Gorka Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 63 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 64 Rafael Diaz (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 65 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 66 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 67 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 68 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 69 David Muñoz (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 70 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio 71 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Alessio 72 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 73 Thorsten Rund (Ger) Team Coast 74 David Kopp (Ger) Telekom 75 Jose Manuel Maestre (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 76 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 77 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 78 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 79 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 80 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 81 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 20.23 82 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Telekom 83 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 21.45 84 Lander Euba (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 85 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 86 Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Team Coast 87 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 88 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 89 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 24.17 Points 1 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 25 pts 2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 20 3 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 16 4 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 14 5 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 12 6 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 10 7 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 9 8 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 8 9 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 7 10 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6 11 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 5 12 Domingo Segado (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 4 13 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 3 14 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 2 15 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 1 Mountains Alto De La Santa - Cat. 3, km 59.60 1 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 3 pts 2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 2 3 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 1 Alto Collado Bermejo - Cat. 1, km 70.70 1 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 10 pts 2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 8 3 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 6 4 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 4 5 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2 6 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio 1 Alto De La Santa - Cat. 3, km 114.00 1 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 3 pts 2 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 2 3 David Muñoz (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1 Alto Collado Bermejo - Cat. 1, km 125.10 1 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 pts 2 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 8 3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 6 4 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 4 5 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 2 6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 1 Alto De La Santa - Cat. 3, km 167.00 1 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 3 pts 2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 2 3 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 1 Metas volantes Alhama De Murcia, km 90,60 1 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 3 pts 2 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 2 3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 1 Alhama De Murcia, km 145,60 1 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 3 pts 2 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 2 3 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 1 Teams 1 Rabobank 12.44.51 2 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.38 3 iBanesto.com 2.08 4 Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.54 5 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 7.00 6 Paternina-Costa Almeria 7.14 7 ONCE-Eroski 13.46 8 Gerolsteiner 15.45 9 Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 15.50 10 Kelme-Costa Blanca 16.11 11 Vlaanderen-Tinterim 17.05 12 Alessio 17.21 13 Phonak Hearing Systems 21.13 14 Telekom 24.45 15 Lampre 28.13 16 Team Coast 32.45 17 Saunier Duval-Sidermec 42.27 General classification after stage 4 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 15.42.54 2 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 0.10 3 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.15 4 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 0.22 5 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 0.24 6 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 0.29 7 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 0.30 8 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 0.35 9 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.37 10 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 0.40 11 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 0.49 12 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.53 13 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Gerolsteiner 1.11 14 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 1.17 15 Laurent Dufaux (Swi) Alessio 1.19 16 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Alessio 1.28 17 Domingo Segado (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 1.34 18 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.54 19 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.04 20 Roberto Heras (Spa) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 2.09 21 David Lopez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 2.11 22 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 2.23 23 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.24 24 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 2.30 25 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.32 26 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Rabobank 2.36 27 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) iBanesto.com 4.00 28 Win Van Huffel (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 5.03 29 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5.24 30 Daniel Schnider (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 8.31 31 Jhonathan Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 8.48 32 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 8.49 33 Raimondas Rumsas (Ltu) Lampre 8.51 34 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 8.53 35 Jef Peeters (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 9.25 36 Lance Armstrong (USA) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 9.40 37 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 9.46 38 Joaquim Lopez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 9.50 39 Rene Andrle (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 9.52 40 Carlos Golbano (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 10.31 41 Francisco Jose Lara (Spa) Team Coast 10.38 42 Steffen Kjaergaard (Nor) US Postal presented by Berry Flo 43 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 10.52 44 Juan Carlos Guillamon (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 12.09 45 Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Telekom 12.28 46 Antonio Colom (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 14.11 47 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Team Coast 15.06 48 Jose Cayetano Julia (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 16.05 49 Francisco Palacios (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 16.32 50 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 16.44 51 Rudolf Wentzel (RSA) Vlaanderen-T Interim 16.56 52 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 16.59 53 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 17.03 54 Gianni Faresin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 17.30 55 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 17.48 56 Jurgen Van De Walle (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 18.55 57 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 19.55 58 Xabier Zandio (Spa) iBanesto.com 59 Rafael Diaz (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 20.20 60 Uwe Hardter (Ger) Gerolsteiner 61 Ivan Herrero (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 20.44 62 Gorka Beloki (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 20.58 63 Alvaro Gonzalez (Spa) ONCE-Eroski 21.05 64 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 21.09 65 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 21.12 66 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 21.14 67 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 68 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Telekom 21.29 69 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Alessio 22.03 70 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Telekom 22.07 71 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 22.37 72 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 22.45 73 Carlos Torrent (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 23.02 74 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Rabobank 23.33 75 David Kopp (Ger) Telekom 76 Denis Lunghi (Ita) Alessio 24.28 77 Frederik Willems (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 24.55 78 Lander Euba (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 25.35 79 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 26.18 80 Marcel Strauss (Swi) Gerolsteiner 26.58 81 Jose Manuel Maestre (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 27.08 82 Jaime Hernandez (Spa) Team Coast 29.00 83 Thorsten Rund (Ger) Team Coast 84 Dirk Reichl (Ger) Telekom 31.49 85 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32.16 86 Uwe Peschel (Ger) Gerolsteiner 34.47 87 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Lampre 88 Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Team Coast 89 David Muñoz (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 38.55 Points classification 1 Javier Pascual Llorente (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 37 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 36 3 Beat Zberg (Swi) Rabobank 31 4 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 30 5 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 26 6 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 24 7 Nico Sijmens (Bel) Vlaanderen-T Interim 24 8 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 22 9 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 22 10 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 21 11 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 21 12 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 20 13 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Lampre 17 14 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 13 15 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 12 16 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 12 17 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Saunier Duval-Sidermec 12 18 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 10 19 David Etxebarria (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 9 20 Francisco Gutierrez (Spa) Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 9 21 Jorge Ferrio (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 7 22 Daniele Contrini (Ita) Gerolsteiner 6 23 Gerhard Trampusch (Aut) Gerolsteiner 5 24 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 5 25 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5 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 11 3 Jose Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) iBanesto.com 23 4 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) US Postal presented by Berry Floor 23 5 Addy Engels (Ned) Rabobank 25 6 Jose Luis Martinez (Spa) Paternina-Costa Almeria 27 7 Jan Hruska (Cze) ONCE-Eroski 33 8 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Kelme-Costa Blanca 33 9 Cadel Evans (Aus) Telekom 34 10 Santiago Blanco (Spa) Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 47 11 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) iBanesto.com 50 Teams classification 1 Rabobank 47.12.15 2 Colchon Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.20 3 iBanesto.com 2.06 4 Euskaltel-Euskadi 4.44 5 Paternina-Costa Almeria 7.59 6 US Postal presented by Berry Floor 9.11 7 ONCE-Eroski 14.53 8 Kelme-Costa Blanca 15.26 9 Gerolsteiner 16.27 10 Labarca 2-Cafe Baque 17.05 11 Vlaanderen-Tinterim 18.30 12 Alessio 21.17 13 Phonak Hearing Systems 22.17 14 Telekom 26.15 15 Lampre 31.20 16 Team Coast 39.51 17 Saunier Duval-Sidermec 45.17
