Giro: Bettini still in Pink, Cooke battles on.
Di Luca and Cunego in a Tight Sprint, Stage 3
Early Escape, stage 7 Giro
Michael Barry "there were a few obstacles: garbage cans, cars, spectators, that we had to avoid."
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya, Spain
Stage 2, Cambrils - Cambrils, 186.8K
17 May
Day for the Rookies in Catalunya
![Map](javascript:ImagePopup("../../map/2005/VoltaCiclistaCatalunya2.jpg", 500, 300, "Stage Map");){kind=link}
![Gasparotto Wins](javascript:ImagePopup("../../photo/2005/VoltaCiclistaCatalunya/2/raceFotoFinish.jpg", 550, 405, "Gasparotto Wins"); "Gasparotto Wins, photo: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya")
Gasparotto Wins, photo: Volta Ciclista a Catalunya
The seaside town of Cambrils in Catalonia was the site of the start and finish of stage 2 of the Volta a Catalunya. Before anyone could enjoy the beautiful coastal landscape though, the riders had to negotiate their way around the 186.8km course. Greeting the riders at the beginning and end of the course was a nice little category 2 climb (Alto de la Teixeta). Also sprinkled in were the category 3 (Alto de Porrera) and the category 2 (Coll de Fatxes).
What started out as a ploy for a little publicity for their sponsors turned out to be the move of the day. Little known José Antonio Lopez Gil (Kaiku), Benoît Poilvet (Credit Agricole) and Xavier Florencio (Relax-Fuenlabrada) took a flyer and stayed away to the very end. Lopez said "adiós" at kilometer 2 and was later joined at kilometer 9 by Poilvet and Florencio. The three were given a lot of leeway since none of them is a threat to the overall.
The gap got bigger and bigger until culminating at 9 minutes with approximately 60 km left to race. Herminio Diaz-Zabala, the director of the Liberty Seguros-Würth boys, decided enough was enough. He sent strongman, Carlos Barredo, off in pursuit of the 3 escapees. Joining Barredo was the Fassa Bortolo rider, Kanstantsin Siutsou.
Both Florencio and Poilvet were reeled in just under the 1km to go banner, but Lopez wasn't about to go without a fight. Bravely, Lopez dug one last time, but it wasn't to be. The exhausted Lopez was caught and promptly spit out the back to make way for the celeste Liquigas-Bianchi machine. The Liquigas boys gave their 23 year old neo pro sprinter, Enrico Gasparotto, a textbook lead out which he nicely capitalized on taking the win ahead of Claudio Corioni, Thor Hushovd and Fred Rodriguez.
- Paco
Results: 4:48'39"
1 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
2 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
3 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
4 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
5 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française Des Jeux
6 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner
7 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze
8 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel
9 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
10 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank
11 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth
12 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku
13 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank
14 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak
15 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak
16 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth
17 Angel Edo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
18 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
19 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
20 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
21 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
22 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Illes Balears
23 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
24 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas-Bianchi
25 Sebastien Portal (Fra) Crédit Agricole
26 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Lampre-Caffita
27 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
28 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole
29 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak
30 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step
31 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
32 Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner
33 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
34 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel
35 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel
36 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
37 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
38 Israel Nunez (Spa) Kaiku
39 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick-Step
40 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
41 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel
42 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
43 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step
44 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
45 Jonathan Gonzalez (Spa) Illes Balears
46 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
47 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
48 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
49 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Domina Vacanze
50 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
51 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile
52 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) Domina Vacanze
53 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick-Step
54 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Phonak
55 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile
56 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel
57 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears
58 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile
59 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
60 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
61 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel
62 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears
63 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears
64 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
65 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
66 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak
67 Serge Baguet (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
68 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
69 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC
70 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux
71 Oscar Mason (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
72 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
73 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
74 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel
75 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
76 Devis Miorin (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
77 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
78 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick-Step
79 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Kaiku
80 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank
81 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
82 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak
83 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Team CSC
84 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
85 Ivan Ravaioli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
86 Eladio Jiménez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
87 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Kaiku
88 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
89 Francisco Lara (Spa) T-Mobile
90 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole
91 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku
92 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
93 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
94 Moisés Dueñas (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
95 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
96 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
97 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
98 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC
99 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
100 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis
101 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
102 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
103 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
104 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Liquigas-Bianchi
105 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
106 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
107 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française Des Jeux
108 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank
109 Aitor Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
110 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile
111 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
112 Agustin Alonso (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
113 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
114 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank
115 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis
116 Rafael Casero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
117 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
118 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
119 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
120 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
121 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
122 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto
123 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française Des Jeux
124 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
125 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears
126 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis
127 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
128 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
129 Javier Pascual Rodríguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
130 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
131 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo
132 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile
133 Alessandr Spezialetti (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
134 Juan Gomis (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
135 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth
136 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
137 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita
138 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
139 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
140 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
141 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
142 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis
143 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis
144 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears
145 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
146 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis
147 David Arroyo (Spa) Illes Balears
148 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
149 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile
150 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis
151 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
152 Maryan Hary (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
153 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
154 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick-Step
155 Fernando Serrano (Spa) Kaiku
156 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Quick-Step
157 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux
158 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
159 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
160 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) Lampre-Caffita
161 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
162 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC
163 Oscar Laguna (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
164 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
165 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
166 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Crédit Agricole
167 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile
168 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
169 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) Team CSC
170 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
171 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Rabobank
172 Ivan Santos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
173 José A. Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 0.44
174 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
175 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 1.23
176 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 9.38
177 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku
178 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 12.07
179 Enrico Grigoli (Ita) Domina Vacanze
GC:
1 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak 5.10.22
2 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak
3 Robert Hunter (RSA) Phonak
4 Santos Gonzalez (Spa) Phonak
5 Floyd Landis (USA) Phonak
6 Santiago Botero (Col) Phonak 0.03
7 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel 0.07
8 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Discovery Channel
9 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel
10 Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel
11 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel
12 Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.08
13 Serguei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile 0.15
14 Jan Ullrich (Ger) T-Mobile
15 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile
16 Francisco Lara (Spa) T-Mobile
17 Tobias Steinhauser (Ger) T-Mobile
18 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) T-Mobile
19 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile
20 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) T-Mobile
21 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Illes Balears 0.16
22 Jonathan Gonzalez (Spa) Illes Balears
23 Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears
24 Aitor Osa (Spa) Illes Balears
25 José Ivan Gutierrez (Spa) Illes Balears
26 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears
27 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears
28 David Arroyo (Spa) Illes Balears
29 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis 0.17
30 David Moncoutie (Fra) Cofidis
31 Stéphane Augé (Fra) Cofidis
32 Christophe Edaleine (Fra) Cofidis
33 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis
34 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis
35 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.18
36 Gianluca Sironi (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
37 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Liquigas-Bianchi
38 Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
39 Marco Righetto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
40 Peter Wrolich (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.19
41 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
42 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
43 Sebastian Lang (Ger) Gerolsteiner
44 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
45 Ronny Scholz (Ger) Gerolsteiner
46 Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
47 Devis Miorin (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.22
48 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.23
49 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
50 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
51 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Crédit Agricole
52 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Domina Vacanze 0.25
53 Alessandro Cortinovis (Ita) Domina Vacanze
54 Jörg Ludewig (Ger) Domina Vacanze
55 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
56 Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
57 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank 0.27
58 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank
59 Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner
60 Jukka Vastaranta (Fin) Rabobank
61 Gerben Löwik (Ned) Rabobank
62 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
63 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
64 Remmert Wielinga (Ned) Rabobank
65 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth 0.29
66 Koen De Kort (Ned) Liberty Seguros-Würth
67 Luis Leon Sanchez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
68 Daniel Navarro (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
69 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Liberty Seguros-Würth
70 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
71 Jesus Hernandez (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
72 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 0.30
73 Bingen Fernandez (Spa) Cofidis
74 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.32
75 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
76 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
77 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
78 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
79 Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
80 Matthieu Sprick (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
81 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
82 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
83 Julian Sanchez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
84 Maryan Hary (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
85 Anthony Charteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
86 Pierrick Fédrigo (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
87 Juan Fuentes (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 0.35
88 Gianluca Bortolami (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
89 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
90 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
91 Alessandr Spezialetti (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
92 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita
93 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
94 Oleksandr Kvachuk (Ukr) Lampre-Caffita
95 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 0.38
96 Carlos Garcia (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
97 Eladio Jiménez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
98 David Latasa (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
99 Javier Pascual Rodríguez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
100 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
101 Juan Gomis (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana
102 Wilfried Cretskens (Bel) Quick-Step 0.44
103 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Quick-Step
104 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step
105 Michael Rogers (Aus) Quick-Step
106 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick-Step
107 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick-Step
108 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Quick-Step
109 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 0.46
110 Josep Jufre (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
111 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
112 Moisés Dueñas (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
113 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
114 Inaki Isasi (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.47
115 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
116 Gorka Gonzalez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
117 Iker Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
118 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
119 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
120 Ricardo Serrano (Spa) Kaiku 0.52
121 Rodrigo Garcia (Spa) Kaiku
122 Ezequiel Mosquera (Spa) Kaiku
123 Aitor Silloniz (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
124 Fernando Serrano (Spa) Kaiku
125 Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.53
126 Oscar Laguna (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada
127 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team CSC 0.54
128 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Team CSC
129 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
130 Jakob Piil (Den) Team CSC
131 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
132 Thomas Bruun Eriksen (Den) Team CSC
133 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 0.55
134 Serge Baguet (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
135 Preben Van Hecke (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
136 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
137 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto
138 Sebastien Portal (Fra) Crédit Agricole 0.56
139 Ivan Ravaioli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
140 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
141 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
142 Rafael Casero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
143 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
144 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
145 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
146 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.59
147 Sergio Ghisalberti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 1.07
148 Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
149 Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.21
150 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
151 Rémy Di Gregorio (Fra) Française Des Jeux
152 Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française Des Jeux
153 Francis Mourey (Fra) Française Des Jeux
154 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
155 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
156 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux
157 Oscar Mason (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.30
158 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze 1.41
159 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.43
160 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 1.44
161 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis 1.50
162 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 2.05
163 Israel Nunez (Spa) Kaiku 2.07
164 Dionisio Galparsoro (Spa) Kaiku
165 Angel Edo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.13
166 Max Van Heeswijk (Ned) Discovery Channel 2.30
167 Cédric Herve (Fra) Crédit Agricole 2.35
168 José A. Lopez (Spa) Kaiku 2.45
169 Luis Perez (Spa) Relax-Fuenlabrada 3.09
170 Agustin Alonso (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 3.16
171 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 3.17
172 Allan Johansen (Den) Team CSC 3.48
173 Fumiyuki Beppu (Jpn) Discovery Channel 4.11
174 Ivan Santos (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 4.14
175 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo 4.54
176 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak 9.38
177 Andoni Aranaga (Spa) Kaiku 10.30
178 Francesco Chicchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 12.39
179 Enrico Grigoli (Ita) Domina Vacanze 14.14
Stefano Garzelli - "I have heard of Danielson and I know that he is very strong in the climbs. Together with Paolo, they will be a very terrible twosome!"
Koldo Gil Going for Win, Giro Coverage
Pedro Delgado Interview - "In my opinion, of the directors I know, I like Vicente Belda the most."
Chat with the Director Sportivo, "Very beautiful and "rigida"( how do you say in English?)"
Tom Danielson Interview, Before the Giro d'Italia, "We looked at Lance a lot for that stage. And if I was able to do it, then I was going to try to do it. Lance had a lot of faith in me, and kind of stressed me out a little bit..."
Joseba Beloki Interview, "I'm not a real attacking kind of rider, but to attack one needs to have both confidence and physical strength to spare."
He was often criticized by the nay-sayers for not getting over the big mountains. True, he never made it to Paris. But, he knows his talents. He got paid to win races and get publicity for his sponsors., "The End of an Era"