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Euskal Bizikleta - 2.HC
Spain, June 1-5, 2005
Main Page Results Overall standings Next Stage
Stage 1 - June 1: Eibar - Sopelana, 164.8km
Angel back on top
By Gabriella Ekström
In an eventful first day, Liberty Seguros' multitalented rider Angel Vicioso outsmarted the Barloworld riders, who certainly had strength in numbers, to win the opening stage of the Euskal Bizikleta and to take the sky blue leader's jersey.
Vicioso won two stages in this race last year, and was satisfied to return to the podium. "It was my turn again", he said. "It was hard to win, because I was in a group with very strong people that could beat me in the sprint, like Astarloa, Bru, and Joaquin Rodriguez. I decided to get to Astarloa's wheel, because he looked good and he was the biggest favourite. It was Latasa who started the sprint, Astarloa went after him and I followed, until I jumped at 200 meters to go. I believe that I did well, because the wind was from the right and I stuck to the left side, so that whoever wanted to pass would have to do so against the wind."
Vicioso now has the lead, but is not sure whether he'll be able to defend it. "It is necessary to take it day by day, because this race is very hard and tomorrow we have seven climbs. There are people who are bigger favourites than me, like David Herrero and Aitor Gonzalez, who I think look good. I already saw what can happen here last year, when I won two stages and I felt better than now, but I could not win the general classification either."
Vicioso dedicated his win "to my grandparents Antonio and Pepa, who died a few months ago. I was waiting a long time for a win to devote it to them."
How it unfolded
The 165 kilometre stage took an unusual turn right from the beginning when 16 riders, representing all the participating teams got away after five kilometres. The group with Carlos Barredo and Luis Leon Sanchez (Liberty Seguros), Iñaki Isasi (Euskaltel), David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval), David Muñoz (Comunidad Valenciana), Luis Perez (Relax), Ruben Oarbeskoa and Adrian Palomares (Kaiku), Ryan Cox (Team Barloworld), Christophe Laurent (Agritubel), Hubert Dupont (R.A.G.T.), Daniele Masolino and Luca Nardello (LPR), Jure Golcer (Acqua & Sapone), Alessandro Bertuola (Naturino) and Benat Albizuri (Orbea) reached their maximum lead of 4'30 at the intermediate sprint in Ispaster (km 50.3).
After 100 kilometres raced, at the third category San Pelayo climb, the peloton had eaten up most of the gap, and the time was down to 1'48 as David de la Fuente passed the summit first, ahead of South African champion Ryan Cox. Over the second category climb of Jata, riders in the front group started to tire, and after Luis Leon Sanchez crossed the top in the premier position, it was time for the first attack from the breakaway group and the very same Sanchez went away with Euskaltel's Iñaki Isasi.
Until that point, the work back in the peloton had mainly been done by Euskaltel and Saunier Duval, despite the fact that they were both represented in the break. After the last categorized climb of the day, actions in the tropela were not so controlled anymore, and individual riders started to attack in order to bridge across to the leaders, at the same time as the more tired riders from the break were spread all over the mountainside.
Isasi and Sanchez were brought back within minutes, but Isasi countered with numerous attacks, none of them lasting. With 35 kilometres to go, Isasi jumped again and was accompanied by Masolino, Cox, Palomares and Perez over the undulating roads.
The five man group was brought back when Agritubel's Jose Alberto Martinez tried for a solo attack, and he in his turn were joined by Angel Vicioso and Yon Bru when 20 kilometres remained of the race. The group slowly filled up with more and more riders as a stream of never tiring riders joined in from behind. Isasi still had some energy left, and so had Luis Perez, Adrian Palomares, Daniele Masolino, Stefano Cavallari and Ryan Cox, and from the peloton came former world champion Igor Astarloa (Barloworld), and team mate Stefano Cavallari, together with Joaquin Rodriguez (Saunier Duval).
Despite having three riders in the front group, Team Barloworld failed to upset the group, and instead Vicioso showed great responsibility when it came to keeping the pace up and bringing back the odd attacks. Approaching Sopelana, the first chasing group was only half a minute down on the leader, and what remained of the peloton, another minute down. The peloton sat up when it realized it would not catch the leaders.
Coming in towards the line, Adrian Palomares of the lesser known professional continental team Kaiku set up a nice arrangement for his team mate Bru, by fooling Astarloa into an early sprint. Vicioso sat in Astarloa's wheel and handled the situation to perfection, while Bru was a little too far away from Vicioso's wheel to really benefit. Vicioso, who sprinted on Bru's inner side during the last left hand bend, stuck his wheel in front of Bru's and had just enough time to throw his hands in the air.
Relax's Julio Lopez lead the majority of the peloton over the line at 14'49, and the race for the GC is effectively over for riders such as Wladimir Efimkin (Barloworld), Alexandre Arekeev (Acqua & Sapone) and David Etxebarria (Liberty Seguros).
Results
1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 3.58.53 2 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 5 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 6 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7 Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team L.P.R. 8 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 9 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Kaiku 0.03 10 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 0.07 11 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0.26 12 Jorge Garcia (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 14 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 15 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 16 Christophe Rinero (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 17 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 18 Gustavo Dominguez (Spa) Orbea 19 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 20 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga (Spa) Kaiku 22 Peio Arreitunandia (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 23 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Team L.P.R. 24 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Team L.P.R. 25 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 26 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Kaiku 27 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 28 David George (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 29 José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 30 David Herrero (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 31 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32 Joseba Albizu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 33 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Team L.P.R. 34 Daniele De Paoli (Ita) Team L.P.R. 35 Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 36 Dailos Diaz (Spa) Orbea 37 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 38 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 39 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 40 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 41 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 42 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 43 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 44 Félix Cardenas (Col) Team Barloworld-Valsir 45 Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 46 Jure Golcer (Slo) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 47 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.24 48 Hubert Dupont (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 49 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 50 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 51 Luca Nardello (Ita) Team L.P.R. 52 Santo Anza (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 53 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 54 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) Orbea 55 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 4.37 56 Julio Lopez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 14.49 57 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 58 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Team Barloworld-Valsir 59 Alexandr Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 60 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 61 Gorka Arrizabalaga (Spa) Orbea 62 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 63 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Kaiku 64 Carlos Zarate (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 65 Ludovic Martin (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 66 Arkaitz Duran (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 67 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 68 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 69 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 70 Raul Garcia De Mateo (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 71 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 72 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 73 Ruben Perez (Spa) Orbea 74 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Agritubel 75 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) Kaiku 76 David Plaza (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 77 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 78 Gilles Canouet (Fra) Agritubel 79 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Agritubel 80 Xabat Ochotorena (Spa) Orbea 81 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 82 Cedric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 83 Antton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 84 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 85 Nicolas Dulac (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 86 Bo Hamburger (Den) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 87 Benjamin Jhonson (Aus) Agritubel 88 Jose Almagro (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 89 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) Orbea 90 Lubos Pelanek (Cze) Relax Fuenlabrada 91 Alessandro D'andrea (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 92 Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 93 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 94 Aaron Villegas (Spa) Orbea 95 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team L.P.R. 96 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Team L.P.R. 97 Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 98 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 99 Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 100 Renaud Dion (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 101 Eric Berthou (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 102 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir Points 1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 25 pts 2 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 20 3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 16 4 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 14 5 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 12 6 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 7 Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team L.P.R. 9 8 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 8 9 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Kaiku 7 10 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 6 11 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 5 12 Jorge Garcia (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 4 13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 3 14 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 2 15 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 1 Mountains San Pelayo, km 101 3 1 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 pts 2 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 1 Jata, km 113 1 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6 2 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 4 3 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 2 Metas volantes Ispaster, km 50,5 1 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 3 pts 2 Hubert Dupont (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 2 3 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1 Sopelana, km 138,1 1 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3 pts 2 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 2 3 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 1 Teams 1 Kaiku 11.57.08 2 Team Barloworld-Valsir 0.04 3 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.23 4 Saunier Duval-Prodir 5 Team L.P.R. 6 Comunidad Valenciana 7 Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0.49 9 R.A.G.T. Semences 3.47 10 Orbea 11 Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 12 Relax Fuenlabrada 15.12 13 Agritubel 17.44 General classification after stage 1 1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 3.58.53 2 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 5 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 6 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 7 Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team L.P.R. 8 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 9 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Kaiku 0.03 10 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 0.07 11 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0.26 12 Jorge Garcia (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 14 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 15 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 16 Christophe Rinero (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 17 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 18 Gustavo Dominguez (Spa) Orbea 19 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 20 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21 Javier Ruiz De Larrinaga (Spa) Kaiku 22 Peio Arreitunandia (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 23 Aitor Hernandez (Spa) Team L.P.R. 24 Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Team L.P.R. 25 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 26 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Kaiku 27 Eladio Jimenez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 28 David George (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 29 José Adrian Bonilla (CRc) Comunidad Valenciana 30 David Herrero (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 31 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 32 Joseba Albizu (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 33 Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Team L.P.R. 34 Daniele De Paoli (Ita) Team L.P.R. 35 Adolfo Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 36 Dailos Diaz (Spa) Orbea 37 Javier Pascual Rodriguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 38 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 39 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 40 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 41 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 42 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 43 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku 44 Félix Cardenas (Col) Team Barloworld-Valsir 45 Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 46 Jure Golcer (Slo) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 47 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3.24 48 Hubert Dupont (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 49 Christophe Laurent (Fra) Agritubel 50 Mikel Artetxe (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 51 Luca Nardello (Ita) Team L.P.R. 52 Santo Anza (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 53 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 54 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) Orbea 55 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 4.37 56 Julio Lopez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 14.49 57 Mario De Sarraga (Spa) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 58 Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Team Barloworld-Valsir 59 Alexandr Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 60 Iban Mayoz (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 61 Gorka Arrizabalaga (Spa) Orbea 62 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 63 Jorge Azanza (Spa) Kaiku 64 Carlos Zarate (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 65 Ludovic Martin (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 66 Arkaitz Duran (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 67 Alessio Galletti (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 68 Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 69 David Muñoz (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 70 Raul Garcia De Mateo (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 71 René Andrle (Cze) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 72 Sergio Barbero (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 73 Ruben Perez (Spa) Orbea 74 Nicolas Crosbie (Fra) Agritubel 75 Gustavo Cesar (Spa) Kaiku 76 David Plaza (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 77 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 78 Gilles Canouet (Fra) Agritubel 79 Mickaël Buffaz (Fra) Agritubel 80 Xabat Ochotorena (Spa) Orbea 81 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 82 Cedric Coutouly (Fra) Agritubel 83 Antton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 84 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 85 Nicolas Dulac (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 86 Bo Hamburger (Den) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 87 Benjamin Jhonson (Aus) Agritubel 88 Jose Almagro (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 89 Jesus Del Nero (Spa) Orbea 90 Lubos Pelanek (Cze) Relax Fuenlabrada 91 Alessandro D'andrea (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 92 Mariano Piccoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 93 Juan Jose Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 94 Aaron Villegas (Spa) Orbea 95 Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team L.P.R. 96 Elio Aggiano (Ita) Team L.P.R. 97 Angel Luis Casero (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 98 Alessandro Donati (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 99 Nicolas Reynaud (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 100 Renaud Dion (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 101 Eric Berthou (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 102 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir Points classification 1 Angel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 25 pts 2 Yon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 20 3 Joaquin Rodriguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 16 4 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Team Barloworld-Valsir 14 5 José Alberto Martinez (Spa) Agritubel 12 6 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 10 7 Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team L.P.R. 9 8 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 8 9 Adrian Palomares (Spa) Kaiku 7 10 Stefano Cavallari (Ita) Team Barloworld-Valsir 6 11 Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 5 12 Jorge Garcia (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 4 13 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 3 14 Yoann Le Boulanger (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 2 15 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 1 Mountains classification 1 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 6 pts 2 Ruben Oarbeascoa (Spa) Kaiku 4 3 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 3 4 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 3 Metas volantes classification 1 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax Fuenlabrada 5 pts 2 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 3 3 Hubert Dupont (Fra) R.A.G.T. Semences 2 4 Ryan Cox (RSA) Team Barloworld-Valsir 1 5 Alessandro Bertuola (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1 Teams classification 1 Kaiku 11.57.08 2 Team Barloworld-Valsir 0.04 3 Liberty Seguros-Würth Team 0.23 4 Saunier Duval-Prodir 5 Team L.P.R. 6 Comunidad Valenciana 7 Euskaltel-Euskadi 8 Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0.49 9 R.A.G.T. Semences 3.47 10 Orbea 11 Acqua & Sapone-Adria Mobil 12 Relax Fuenlabrada 15.12 13 Agritubel 17.44
