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45th Vuelta al Pais Vasco - PT
Spain, April 4-8, 2005
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Stage 4 - April 7: Gasteiz - Altsasu, 167 km
Valverde again - this time by more than just
By Martin Hardie
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He did it again! The Illes Baleares sprinter who climbs, who does just about anything, including playing super domestique to the race leader all day. Alejandro Valverde, came from nowhere, yet again, to prove that he is one of the fastest around when it comes to a contested race to the line. As the sprint into Altsasu started this afternoon, following a strong lead out by CSC's Arvesen, it seemed that Perdiguero, Di Luca, Julich and co. were going to have it to themselves today. But then from what seemed way back amongst the swelling head of the bunch, Valverde decided to jump. Down the right hand side, while everyone else was battling it out on the left he flew. And that was the end of the day's contest.
Valverde, who always made himself available to the press after each stage of last year's Vuelta a España, is always quick to give a comment and a smile. Today he was succinct. "It was good to win and I showed them that today I was clearly the fastest." A reference of course to his narrow win over Lombardi yesterday. Valverde made it clear that tomorrow he is there to do the job of supporting the race leader Aitor Osa, who is set, but still not ensured, of his second Itzulia victory.
How it unfolded
170 riders set off from Vitoria to the Navarran Altsasu. Those who didn't start this morning where Liberty's Marcos Serrano and Franco Pellizotti of (Liquigas-Bianchi). The frantic pace of the race continued to takes its toll when Valencia's strong man Carlos Garcia Quesada pulled the pin not long after the start.
The day saw an early break jump away as soon as the course left the capital and as has become the norm the Kaiku milkmen were again present with Andoni Aranaga finding himself with Matthieu Sprick (Bouygues Telecom), Benoît Poilvet (Credit Agricole), Philippe Gilbert (Française de Jeux) and Alessandro Bertolini (Domina Vacanze). The group was soon after joined by another Vicente Belda team move when Comunidad Valencia's David Latasa and David Muñoz jumped across. They quickly built up an advantage of over four minutes and crossed the Cat. 1 Opakua - Latasa, Aranaga and Poilvet was the order - before heading off to cross the Alto de Urbasa.
Illes Baleares again marked the pace in the peloton with the escapees over five minutes ahead, but after the descent of the Urbasa, now well into Navarra, they had brought the gap down to 4'15. The gap swung back and forth. At the meta volante as the route passed through Altsasu for its loop out through the ranges that include the next three categorised climbs, the escapees had managed to find another half a minute and rode 4'45 ahead of the peloton as they prepared themselves for the first of two ascents of the Alto de La Cadena. Andoni Aranaga delivered for Kaiku on the climb by taking the points ahead of Comunidad Valencia's Navarran David Latasa. With today's effort, the two have started to set themselves out for a mountains jersey duel. Meanwhile behind, with the stage still having some 70 km to travel, Saunier Duval decided to join Illes Baleares at the front of the peloton.
As they headed towards Altsasu on the way across the valley's undulating, narrow wooded roads, Phonak decided it was time that the escapees were brought under control, they massed to the front, and picking up the pace they obviously were thinking about remedying the Perdiguero drought so far in this year's race. They quickly brought the gap down to very close to 3 minutes as they passed the finish line but still with 49 km to go. The next encounter was the meta volante in the small village of Olatzi before quickly hitting the day's penultimate climb. By this point the gap had already fallen below 2 minutes.
On the climb of Altamira, Gilbert finally livened things up by attacking his six companions. But without luck, they were all together on the winding open descent and heading back across the valley floor toward La Cadena. Position on today's stage is always important. From here on in it was the tricky part of the day. Selections are often made on the final descent of la Cadena and the twenty kilometre run into the finish. Thus the riders in the break, as well as in the chasing bunch, needed to keep their wits about them.
Aranaga crossed the summit first but Gilbert's action served to liven things up; so much so, that their advantage jumped out to 2'25. Behind on the descent and across the valley, the frenetic pace caused the peloton to fracture into three groups. It then reformed into two, with the second 15 seconds behind, and strung out in a long line as they tried to get back on. At the front of the leading peloton, Phonak continued to pull hard in pursuit of the break.
The gap from the Phonak chase to the escapees was again falling, now with less than 30 km to go and the final climb looming it was down to around 1'40. The strain was starting to show in the break as those arguments commenced, as they do at times like this, regarding who was pulling through and who was not.
On the start of the last climb Aranaga, Latasa and Sprick left the others quickly behind. The gap was falling now to under a minute as more teams, Lampre, Saunier and Rabobank in particular, joined in. Sprick jumped and then was chased by Latasa. Latasa, at home, kept going, the others strung right out, as Valverde started to drive the peloton up the climb. Latasa crested but with no more than a 20 second gap on the frantic peloton.
Down a narrow, twisting forested road, that then opens out onto green pastures for the final run across to the finish, which in itself is one long steady drag up to Altsasu, the main group soon had Latasa in sight and he seemed to realise that they day's adventure was over. The bunch was spread right across the grey strip that cut right through the verdant Navarran pastures. 17 kilometres to go and it was over. Phonak's lighter shade of green clearly visible against the grey and green backdrop.
From here on in it looked like another day that the sprinter's teams were going to control to the finish. Through the forest, with trees still awaiting the coming of spring after the harsh snowy winter, CSC, Phonak, Lampre and Illes Baleares all were up the front. Soon they were onto the main roads and the pace was high, but still with 9 km left, Luis Perez launched one of his late solo efforts. The Cofidis rider who hails from Madrid specialises in this sort of effort, they are thrilling daredevil stuff, but in many of his attempts, Perez has still yet to score. Before the five kilometre banner he was caught and it looked again as things were settled. Until...
In the lull, Vinokourov jumped. He got some space and Brad McGee followed him. Within no time they were holding a mere four or five seconds as they set into their two up time trial mode. They passed a large building, its wall advertising Patxaran (if you don't know what that is you haven't lived) and they had 5 seconds! A Fassa rider tried to chase and the three seemed to get together, but then with not much more than 2km to go it was over.
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There was one long thread of bikes wavering across the road. There were some more little flings, but none with the power of the previous. Euskaltel's Camano was driving off the front, he got away and was caught up again and just became part of the head of the snake. Into the last kilometre, a couple of corners, right, left and Arvesen was leading it out for CSC. Into the straight he pulled off, Perdiguero was screaming at the front of a group of five who it seemed would contest the sprint. They were in the centre of the road, a little to the left as they jostled. Then, from five, six back, he came again, hard down the right, solo, passing them all, two bike lengths at the end, both hands raised, Valverde, two in a row.
Tomorrow morning we have the mini-stage, always fast and always tricky and with a hint of rain in the air, it may not be a cinch. Following that is the short and not so flat afternoon time trial. And as the way some of these sprints are being contested and these late attacks keep occurring suggest, we won't know the final result until that big floppy hat is plonked on the winner's head tomorrow afternoon in Oñati. As Danilo Di Luca said after the stage today, "Tomorrow is a very technical day, the road stage is crucial, the time trial is fundamental."
Photography
For a thumbnail gallery of these images, click here
Images by AFP Photo
- Alejandro Valverde (Illes Balears) wins the fourth stage of the Vuelta a Pais Vasco
- Alejandro Valverde (Illes Balears) on the podium, celebrating his win
Results
1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 4.12.04 2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 4 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 5 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 6 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Française Des Jeux 7 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 8 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 10 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 11 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 12 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 13 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 14 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 15 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 16 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 17 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 18 Iker Camaño (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 19 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 20 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 21 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 22 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 23 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step 24 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 25 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 26 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 27 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 28 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 29 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 30 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 31 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 32 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 33 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux 34 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 35 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 36 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 37 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 38 Francisco Javier Vila (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 39 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 40 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 41 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 42 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 43 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 44 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile Team 45 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 46 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 47 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 48 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 49 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 50 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole 51 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick Step 52 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 53 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 54 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 55 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 56 Unai Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 57 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 58 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 59 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 60 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 61 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 62 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 63 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 64 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 65 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 66 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 67 Javier Ramirez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 68 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 69 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 70 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 71 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 72 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 73 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo 74 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 75 Juan Manuel Fuentes (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 76 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 77 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 78 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 79 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 0.15 80 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Caffita 81 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 82 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 83 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank 84 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 85 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 86 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 87 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step 88 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 89 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 90 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 91 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 92 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 93 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 94 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux 95 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas-Bianchi 96 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 97 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step 98 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick Step 99 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 100 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 101 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 102 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 103 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 104 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 105 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 106 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 107 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 108 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 109 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 110 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 111 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Domina Vacanze 112 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 113 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 114 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 115 Matthew White (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 116 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.28 117 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 0.31 118 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.34 119 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.39 120 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 121 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 122 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.04 123 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 5.05 124 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step 125 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 126 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 127 Carlos Zarate (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 128 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 129 Maryan Hary (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 130 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 131 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 132 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux 133 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Team CSC 134 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step 135 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 136 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas-Bianchi 137 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 138 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita 139 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 140 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 141 Michele Gobbi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 142 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 143 José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 144 Francisco José Lara (Spa) T-Mobile Team 145 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Caffita 146 Antonio Berasategui (Spa) Kaiku 147 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 148 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina Vacanze 8.42 149 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step 150 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 151 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 152 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux 153 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux 154 Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 155 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 156 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 157 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 158 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 159 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Kaiku 160 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 161 Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 162 Christian Werner (Ger) T-Mobile Team 163 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 164 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 165 Niki Aebersold (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems Points 1 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 25 pts 2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 20 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 16 4 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 14 5 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 12 6 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Française Des Jeux 10 7 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 9 8 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 8 9 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 7 10 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 6 11 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 5 12 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 4 13 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 3 14 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 2 15 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1 Mountains Alto de Opakua - Cat. 2 1 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10 pts 2 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 8 3 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 6 4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 4 5 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 6 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 1 Alto de Urbasa - Cat. 2 1 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 6 pts 2 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 4 3 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 4 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 1 Alto de la Cadena - Cat. 3 1 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 3 pts 2 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 3 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1 Alto de Altamira - Cat. 3 1 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 3 pts 2 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 3 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1 Alto de la Cadena - Cat. 3 1 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 3 pts 2 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 3 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 1 Metas Volantes Alasasua - km 81 1 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 3 pts 2 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 3 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 1 Lizarraga - km 93 1 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 3 pts 2 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 3 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 1 Olazti - km 123 1 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 3 pts 2 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 2 3 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 1 Lizarraga - km 142 1 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 3 pts 2 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 3 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1 Teams 1 Rabobank 12.36.12 2 Illes Balears - Caisse D'Epargne 3 Liquigas - Bianchi 4 Credit Agricole 5 Relax Fuenlabrada 6 Phonak Hearing Systems 7 Kaiku 8 Davitamon - Lotto 9 Team CSC 10 Euskaltel - Euskadi 11 Liberty Seguros - Würth Team 12 Discovery Chanel Pro Cycling Team 13 Saunier Duval - Prodir 14 Fassa Bortolo 15 Lampre - Caffita 16 Bouygues Telecom 17 Cofidis, le credit par telephone 18 La Francaise Des Jeux 0.15 19 Quick Step 20 Domina Vacanze 21 Comunidad Valenciana 22 Team Gerolsteiner 0.30 23 T- Mobile Team 0.31 General classification after stage four 1 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 15.35.01 2 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.02 3 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 0.05 6 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.07 7 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 8 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 0.12 9 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 0.14 10 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 11 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 12 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 13 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.17 14 Alberto Contador (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.18 15 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 0.20 16 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step 17 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Française Des Jeux 18 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 19 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 20 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 21 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 22 Manuel Beltran (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 23 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 24 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 0.30 25 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 26 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 27 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile Team 28 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.34 29 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.35 30 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 0.37 31 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.39 32 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 0.40 33 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.41 34 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux 0.42 35 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.44 36 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 37 Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) Domina Vacanze 0.55 38 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1.00 39 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 40 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 1.03 41 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 1.05 42 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 43 Volodymir Gustov (Ukr) Fassa Bortolo 44 José Azevedo (Por) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 45 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo 46 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 1.21 47 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1.24 48 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Credit Agricole 1.28 49 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 1.34 50 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 1.35 51 Alexandre Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 1.36 52 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.45 53 Francisco Javier Vila (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 1.52 54 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick Step 2.00 55 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2.06 56 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 2.08 57 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2.09 58 Johann Tschopp (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 2.41 59 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Domina Vacanze 2.49 60 Pierrick Fedrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3.03 61 Jose Miguel Elias (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 3.11 62 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Credit Agricole 3.12 63 Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Credit Agricole 3.26 64 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Caffita 3.33 65 Daniel Atienza (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 3.45 66 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.57 67 Wim Van Huffel (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 4.20 68 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank 4.23 69 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 4.29 70 Sandy Casar (Fra) Française Des Jeux 5.46 71 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 5.53 72 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 73 Unai Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 74 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 75 Javier Ramirez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6.01 76 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 6.08 77 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 78 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 6.41 79 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Credit Agricole 6.57 80 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 7.04 81 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 8.05 82 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick Step 8.33 83 Andrea Noe' (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 8.35 84 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 8.42 85 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 8.45 86 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner 9.01 87 Levi Leipheimer (USA) Gerolsteiner 88 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 9.03 89 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 90 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 9.18 91 Ivan Basso (Ita) Team CSC 9.42 92 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 9.47 93 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 10.14 94 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 10.19 95 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank 10.24 96 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 10.31 97 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10.42 98 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10.47 99 Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank 10.58 100 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 11.23 101 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 11.29 102 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Team CSC 11.54 103 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 12.08 104 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas-Bianchi 12.35 105 Juan Manuel Fuentes (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 12.37 106 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak Hearing Systems 12.39 107 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 12.46 108 Jens Voigt (Ger) Team CSC 12.48 109 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 13.05 110 Iker Camaño (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 13.44 111 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick Step 14.00 112 José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 14.08 113 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita 14.18 114 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 14.56 115 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 15.00 116 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 15.04 117 Christian Werner (Ger) T-Mobile Team 15.07 118 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux 15.39 119 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 15.58 120 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile Team 16.22 121 Peter Luttenberger (Aut) Team CSC 18.34 122 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 18.47 123 Matthew White (Aus) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 19.25 124 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 20.29 125 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 20.43 126 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 21.37 127 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 22.01 128 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 22.09 129 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile Team 22.26 130 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 22.34 131 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 23.12 132 Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 23.52 133 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 24.45 134 Antonio Berasategui (Spa) Kaiku 25.08 135 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick Step 25.25 136 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 25.29 137 Francisco José Lara (Spa) T-Mobile Team 25.33 138 Juan Manuel Garate (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 26.08 139 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux 27.23 140 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick Step 28.02 141 Maryan Hary (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 28.51 142 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 29.59 143 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 30.08 144 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 30.15 145 Alessandro Vanotti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 30.32 146 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Kaiku 30.58 147 Jason Mccartney (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 31.16 148 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 31.32 149 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 32.15 150 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux 32.50 151 Carlos Zarate (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 32.55 152 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick Step 33.16 153 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 33.58 154 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Caffita 34.02 155 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 34.53 156 Victor Hugo Peña (Col) Phonak Hearing Systems 37.01 157 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas-Bianchi 38.06 158 Michele Gobbi (Ita) Domina Vacanze 38.16 159 Niki Aebersold (Swi) Phonak Hearing Systems 38.30 160 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick Step 39.30 161 Maxim Iglinskiy (Kaz) Domina Vacanze 39.50 162 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 39.53 163 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 164 Antonio Colom (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 41.47 165 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 41.53 Points classification 1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 69 pts 2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 66 3 M.A. Martin Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 55 4 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 38 5 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 29 6 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 29 7 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 28 8 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 25 9 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 25 10 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile Team 20 11 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Team CSC 20 12 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 19 13 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 18 14 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 16 15 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank 16 16 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank 11 17 Bradley Mcgee (Aus) Française Des Jeux 11 18 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 10 19 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 10 20 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 6 21 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick Step 6 22 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Credit Agricole 6 23 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 6 24 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo 5 25 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 4 26 Bobby Julich (USA) Team CSC 3 27 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 28 Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 3 29 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2 30 Dario Frigo (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 1 31 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1 Mountains classification 1 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 22 pts 2 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 21 3 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 12 4 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 12 5 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 10 6 Carlos Zarate (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 9 7 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 8 8 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 8 9 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 7 10 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner 6 11 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 6 12 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 5 13 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 5 14 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 4 15 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 4 16 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 4 17 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Caffita 3 18 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3 19 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 2 20 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 2 21 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team 2 22 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 2 23 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2 24 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 25 Dario David Cioni (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 2 26 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 2 27 Patrice Halgand (Fra) Credit Agricole 1 28 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1 29 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile Team 1 30 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank 1 31 Unai Osa (Spa) Illes Balears-Caisse d'Epargne 1 32 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 1 33 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 1 34 Iker Camaño (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1 35 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 1 Metas Volantes classification 1 Ivan Mayoz (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 13 pts 2 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Credit Agricole 11 3 Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank 9 4 Carlos Zarate (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 6 5 Ruben Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 5 6 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 4 7 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze 3 8 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 3 9 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 3 10 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 3 11 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 3 12 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 3 13 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 2 14 Laurent Lefevre (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2 15 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 2 16 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 1 17 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux 1 18 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 1 19 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1 20 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi 1 21 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis, Le Credit Par Telephone 1 Teams classification 1 Saunier Duval - Prodir 46.45.38 2 Rabobank 0.09 3 Liberty Seguros - Würth Team 0.33 4 Discovery Chanel Pro Cycling Team 0.39 5 Illes Balears - Caisse D'Epargne 0.54 6 Fassa Bortolo 1.00 7 Cofidis, le credit par telephone 1.56 8 Credit Agricole 2.00 9 T- Mobile Team 2.01 10 Phonak Hearing Systems 2.40 11 Comunidad Valenciana 2.46 12 Bouygues Telecom 3.26 13 Kaiku 3.59 14 Davitamon - Lotto 4.16 15 Lampre - Caffita 4.40 16 Quick Step 5.13 17 La Francaise Des Jeux 6.13 18 Euskaltel - Euskadi 6.22 19 Team CSC 6.43 20 Relax Fuenlabrada 7.42 21 Liquigas - Bianchi 13.41 22 Team Gerolsteiner 15.37 23 Domina Vacanze 20.30
