Home-grown riders favored in Vuelta

By Simon Baskett – Reuters News

A crop of top quality, home-grown riders will be vying for top honors when the 58th edition of the Vuelta a España gets underway in the northern coastal city of Gijon on Saturday.

Spanish riders have dominated the race for the past three years and with big guns Lance Armstrong and Jan Ullrich preferring to stay away and focus their preparations on next year’s Tour de France they should have a chance to maintain their supremacy.

But even without the presence of the top two from this year’s French race, the Vuelta promises to be an exciting affair after the organizers again opted for a series of explosive stages with none of the largely inconsequential transition days that once plagued the big tours.

Last year, all-rounder Aitor Gonzalez blasted his way to a dramatic victory when he overhauled race leader Roberto Heras on the final time trial around the streets of Madrid and the year before Angel Casero did the same to Oscar Sevilla.

This time the tables could be turned, though, as the route appears to give the specialist climbers the edge.

Six mountain-top finishes, including what could prove to be a decisive, leg-burning, 12-km time trial up the first-category Alto de Abantos on the penultimate day of the three-week race, and a return to the Pyrenees could tip the balance in favor of the mountain men.

Explosive climbing
On paper Heras, who is backed by a powerful-looking U.S. Postal team, should be the rider to watch as he tries to reproduce the explosive climbing that gave him such a spectacular victory three years ago.

The course also appears to suit Sevilla but the Kelme rider will leave the start line with too few kilometres under his belt having missed much of the season through injury and is likely to suffer in the opening week.

But the climbers will not have it all their own way and all-rounders Gonzalez and Casero will be given the chance to claw back valuable seconds in two lengthy individual time trials around Zaragoza and Albacete.

The flatter stages promise to produce some of the most exciting action as the sprinters muscle it out for the honors in the sprint finishes.

In the absence of compatriot Mario Cipollini, speed king Alessandro Petacchi will be doing his utmost to see off the challenge from fellow sprinters Giovanni Lombardi and Erik Zabel.

The Fassa Bortolo rider will complete a memorable season if he manages to notch up any more victories to add to his tally of 10 from this year’s Giro and Tour.

For two teams, ONCE and iBanesto, the Vuelta looks set to provide the stage for an emotional farewell performance in front of their home crowd.

The sponsors of the two Spanish-based outfits have said they will be withdrawing their support for the sport and both teams will be looking to go out on a high in what is likely to be their last major race on home soil.

Time trial specialist Igor Gonzalez Galdeano leads the ONCE ranks, while the highly rated climber Paco Mancebo will be iBanesto’s best bet for a podium finish.

Foreign challenge
As for the chances of a foreign rider sinking the Spanish Armada, Italy’s Dario Frigo and American rider Levi Leipheimer are both talented enough to mount a convincing challenge.

With victories in the Setmana Catalana, the Tour of Valencia and in the time trail during the Paris-Nice race, Frigo has had a great season but he is likely to come to the fore only if team mate Aitor Gonzalez slips up.

Leipheimer, who was third in the race two years ago, leads the well-drilled Rabobank outfit and will be anxious to make up for his disappointment at having to drop out during the first stage of the Tour because of injury.

After completing this year’s Tour with another stage victory to his name, David Millar will be out to show he is capable of challenging for the overall leadership in a three-week race.

The Malta-born Scot has worked hard on his climbing and given his top-quality performances against the clock he could spring a surprise or two if any of the favorites are not at their best.

The race gets underway with a 28-km team trial around Gijon before heading to the hills with two tough stages in the Picos de Europa mountain range.

With almost no time to catch their breath the riders will then be tested in a 40-km time trial around Zaragoza before three grueling days in the Pyrenees.

By then it should begin to become clear which of the pre-race favorites are really capable of claiming the winner’s gold jersey when the tour ends in Madrid on September 28.Vuelta route
Itinerary for the 2003 Tour of Spain, which starts on Saturday in Gijon (* denotes mountain finish):Stage 1 – Saturday, Sept 6: team time trial, Gijon (28km)
Stage 2 – Sunday, Sept 7: Gijon – Cangas de Onis (140km)
Stage 3 – Monday, Sept 8: Cangas de Onis – Santander (160km)
Stage 4 – Tuesday, Sept 9: Santander – Burgos (158km)
Stage 5 – Wednesday, Sept 10: Soria – Zaragoza, (165km)
Stage 6 - Thursday, Sept 11: individual time trial Zaragoza(40km)
Stage 7 – Friday, Sept 12: Huesca – Cauterets, France (190km)*
Stage 8 – Saturday, Sept 13: Cauterets – Pla de Beret (166km)*
Stage 9 – Sunday, Sept 14: Vielha – Port d’Envalira, Andorra(176km) *
Stage 10 - Monday, Sept 15: Andorra – Sabadell (179km)
Tuesday, Sept 16: rest day
Stage 11 - Wednesday, Sept 17: Utiel – Cuenca (160km)
Stage 12 - Thursday, Sept 18: Cuenca – Albacete (167km)
Stage 13 - Friday, Sept 19: individual time trial, Albacete(53km)
Stage 14 – Saturday, Sept 20: Albacete – Valdepenas (160km)
Stage 15 - Sunday, Sept 21: Valdepenas – Sierra de la Pandera(181km) *
Monday, Sept 22: rest day
Stage 16 - Tuesday, Sept 23: Jaen – Sierra Nevada (162km) *
Stage 17 – Wednesday, Sept 24: Granada – Cordoba (180km)
Stage 18 – Thursday, Sept 25: Las Rozas – Las Rozas (150km)
Stage 19 – Friday, Sept 26: Alcobendas – Collado Villalba (166km)
Stage 20 – Saturday, Sept 27: individual mountain time trial,El Escorial – Alto de Abantos (12km) *
Stage 21 – Sunday, Sept 28: Madrid – Madrid (130km)

Total distance: 2925 kilometers.Vuelta winners since 1980
1980 - Faustino Ruperez (Spain)
1981 - Giovanni Battglin (Italy)
1982 - Marino Lejarreta (Spain)
1983 – Bernard Hinault (France)
1984 – Eric Caritoux (France)
1985 – Pedro Delgado (Spain)
1986 - Alvaro Pino (Spain)
1987 - Luis Herrera (Spain)
1988 – Sean Kelly (Ireland)
1989 - Delgado
1990 - Marco Giovanetti (Italy)
1991 – Melchor Mauri (Italy)
1992 - Toni Rominger (Switzerland)
1993 - Rominger
1994 - Rominger
1995 – Laurent Jalabert (France)
1996 – Alex Zülle (Switzerland)
1997 - Zülle
1998 - Abraham Olano (Spain)
1999 – Jan Ullrich (Germany)
2000 - Roberto Heras (Spain)
2001 – Angel Casero (Spain)
2002 - Aitor Gonzalez (Spain)Biggest winning margin: 30 minutes 8 seconds – Delio Rodriguez (Spain) over Julian Berrendero (Spain) 1945.Smallest winning margin: six seconds Eric Caritoux (France) over Albert Fernandez (Spain) 1984.

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