BiciRace.com :: 2006 Vuelta a Andalucía

2006 Vuelta a Andalucía, Stage 5

Vuelta a Andalucía, Spain

Stage 5, Olvera (Cádiz) - Sevilla, 172.6K

16 February

Boonen Redeems ... Barely

Boonen Over Petacchi, photo: Quick-Step

Today's last stage of the 2006 Vuelta a Andalucía would be Tom Boonen's (Quick-Step) last chance to redeem himself of the two consecutive thrashings dished out to him by Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) and he did not disappoint.

The parcours would cover 173 kilometers between Olvera and Sevilla. 87 riders took the start line under cold and dreary conditions very atypical of Andalucía's normal sunny weather. The action was heavy from the gun due to the category 3 Alto de Guadamanil barely 8K from the start. A half an hour into the race seven riders made their way off the front: Manuel Ortega (Andalucia-Paul Versan), Alessandro Petacchi (Milram), Tom Boonen (Quick-Step), Erik Dekker (Rabobank), Leif Hoste (Discovery Channel), Jon Bru (Kaiku) and Anton Luengo (Euskaltel-Euskadi). The escape worked well together but only garnered up to a maximum of 52 seconds.

By kilometer 56 only Dekker and Hoste remained out of the original seven. Dekker and Hoste were sharing the work load, but it would be a tall order staying away for over another 100K. Hoste edged Dekker at the final climb of the Alto de Carmona at kilometer 98. Their advantage now stood at about 1'30".

The frantic jostling for position produced a massive crash with 10K to go. Miraculously, only one rider, Francisco José Terciado (Relax-GAM) was forced to retire. The peloton though was splintered into various gruppettos.

Boonen with Podium Girls, photo: Quick-Step

With about 2K to go Dekker and Hoste gave up the ghost as both the Quick-Step and Milram squads were at the front setting an infernal pace for Boonen and Petacchi. The last lead out man took his final pull and it was now a mano a mano duel between the two riders. As all good sprinters do, both riders threw their bikes in desperation over the line, but it was Boonen's that made it over the line first.

Carlos García Quesada (Unibet.com), who hails from nearby Granada, retained his miniscule lead over Rodrigo García (Kaiku) and his brother, Adolfo García Quesada (Andalucia-Paul Versan) to take what he considered the finest victory of his five-year professional career. BiciRace.com wishes Carlos our strongest enhorabuena!

Results: 3:50'10"
1 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
2 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram
3 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel
4 Baden Cooke (Aus) Unibet.com
5 Graeme Brown (Aus) Rabobank
6 Iñaki Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
7 Rodrigo García (Spa) Kaiku
8 Koldo Fernández De Larrea (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
9 Luciano Pagliarini (Bra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
10 Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel
11 Carlos García Quesada (Spa) Unibet.com
12 Guido Trenti (USA) Quick-Step
13 Beñat Albizuri (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
14 Adolfo García Quesada (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan
15 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com
16 José Bonilla (CRi) Comunidad Valenciana
17 Jon Bru (Spa) Kaiku
18 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel
19 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
20 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com
...

Final GC:
1 Carlos García Quesada (Spa) Unibet.com 20'08".23
2 Rodrigo García (Spa) Kaiku
3 Adolfo García Quesada (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan 0.07
4 Iñaki Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.15
5 Luis Pasamontes (Spa) Unibet.com 0.18
6 José Bonilla (CRi) Comunidad Valenciana
7 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
8 Manuel Lloret (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 26.19
9 Manuel Calvente (Spa) Agritubel 27.31
10 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel 27.35
11 Juan Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Unibet.com 27.36
12 José Luis Martínez (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana 29.41
13 Jesús Del Nero (Spa) 3 Molinos Resort 30.10
14 Anton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 30.23
15 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Milram 31.19
16 Roger Hammond (GBr) Discovery Channel
17 Tom Boonen (Bel) Quick-Step
18 Juan Olmo (Spa) Andalucia-Paul Versan
19 Jon Bru (Spa) Kaiku 31.26
20 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
...