Vuelta News for September 14, 2003 Edited by Chris Henry & Jeff Jones Plenty of penalties in first mountain stage No hiding Photo: © AFP The seventh stage of the Vuelta, the first serious mountain stage, saw a number of riders attract fines and penalties for various infractions of the rules. When the peloton split shortly after the start of the stage, leaving numerous groups facing long flat stretches separated by difficult climbs, some team managers decided to drive ahead of their riders in order to offer them shelter from the wind. This is very much against the rules. The Cofidis, Rabobank and Telekom team managers were all given 200 Swiss franc fines. Alessio team manager Valerio Tebaldi was expelled from the stage and the team's second car will not be able to participate in the race for the remaining stages, leaving the Italian group with only one vehicle for the rest of the Vuelta. Two cyclists were also expelled from the race: Italian Davide Frattini (Alessio) and Austrian Gerrit Glomser (Saeco). Courtesy: Lavuelta.com 40 riders tested On Friday morning, 40 riders in the Vuelta were given blood tests to determine whether they were fit to continue the race. Lampre, Phonak Hearing Systems, Saeco, Milaneza MSS and Paternina-Costa de Almería were the teams tested. None of the riders were declared unfit to start. Previous News    Next News (All rights reserved/Copyright Knapp Communications Pty Limited 2003)

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