BiciRace.com :: Vuelta a España

2006 Vuelta a España, Stage 2

Vuelta a España, Spain

Stage 2, Málaga - Córdoba, 176K

27 August

Bettini is Victorious, Hushovd in Oro

Paolo Bettini wins stage 2, photo: © Unipublic

Paolo, "Il Grillo", Bettini did what his compatriot, Leonardo Bertagnolli, last did in Córdoba in 2005, win the race. Resplendent in his tricolore as champion of Italy, Bettini made short order of sprint specialists Thor Hushovd (Credit Agrícole), Robbie McEwen (Davitamon Lotto) and Luca Paolini (Liquigas) in the streets of Córdoba.

Today’s stage was run over a 176 kilometer long largely pancake flat parcours between the Andalucían cities of Málaga and Córdoba. Race organizers threw in two category 3 climbs at kilometer 21 and 30, but coming so far from the finish, they would have little chance to split the peloton.

Mario de Sárraga, photo: © Unipublic

Mario de Sárraga (Relax) and David de la Fuente (Saunier Duval) marked the first breakaway of the Vuelta a España 2006. Unfortuanely for Sárraga, de la Fuente’s adventure came to a premature end when he suffered a mechanical issue 30 or so minutes into things.

With about 110 kilometers to the line de Sárraga’s lead had swelled to 13 minutes and the peloton began to slowly awaken to the fact that they better chase this guy down or risk losing out on the day. Milram and Davitamon Lotto spearheaded the chase for their sprint men: McEwen, Petacchi and Zabel and predictably de Sárraga’s advantage came tumbling down ever so slowly. In this part of Spain the roads are straight and flat, two characteristics that don’t favor a lone breakaway.

Peloton and the Bull, photo: © Unipublic

Benoit Joachim (Discovery) and Thierry Marichal (Cofidis) lept from the peloton with 30K and promptly bridged the gap to de Sárraga. Unfortuanely for the Relax rider his show of bravado had begun to show its effects as he lost contact with the two riders. Discovery evidently had little faith in the ability of Joachim to stay away as they were seen leading the charge into Córdoba along with Milram and Lampre. Ten kilometers to go and it was gruppo compatto.

Milram had two cards to play in the form of Petacchi and Zabel so they were making their presence known. Also in the mix was the little pocket rocket from down under, Robbie McEwen. Petacchi must still be missing that little something as he motioned for Zabel to go for it inside of one kilometer. Zabel kicked it, but couldn’t match the speed of Bettini as he nipped Hushovd and Paolini on the line. McEwen got it wrong and ended the day in fourth. Hushovd may have lost the battle, but he leads the war. His team’s time in the team crono, along with his second place today were enough to move the big Norwegian into the overall lead giving him the coveted maillot de oro.

Stay with BiciRace.com as we follow the international peloton through the land of Don Quixote for stage 3 of the Vuelta a España.

Results: 4:19'31"
1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick-Step
2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
3 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas
4 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
5 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak
6 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
7 Iñaki Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
8 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux
9 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
10 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram
11 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis
12 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná
13 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
14 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
15 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
16 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
17 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astaná
18 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
19 Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank
20 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile
21 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC
22 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
23 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak
24 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
25 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
26 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
27 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
28 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas
29 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel
30 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
31 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank
32 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
33 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram
34 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
35 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
36 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
37 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-GAM
38 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel
39 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas
40 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
41 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
42 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas
43 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile
44 Davide Viganò (Ita) Quick-Step
45 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak
46 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step
47 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step
48 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel
49 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel
50 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile
51 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir
52 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis
53 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
54 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
55 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step
56 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak
57 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step
58 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
59 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Crédit Agricole
60 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astaná
61 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance
62 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis
63 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner
64 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas
65 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
66 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
67 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
68 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
69 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
70 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis
71 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
72 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
73 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC
74 Chris Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
75 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
76 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná
77 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
78 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile
79 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
80 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
81 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak
82 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astaná
83 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná
84 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
85 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
86 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel
87 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astaná
88 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile
89 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
90 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel
91 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
92 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
93 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel
94 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française Des Jeux
95 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
96 José Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
97 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole
98 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak
99 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
100 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
101 David Navas (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
102 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel
103 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
104 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
105 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
106 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
107 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital
108 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
109 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram
110 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-GAM
111 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis
112 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas
113 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis
114 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank
115 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
116 Luis Fernández (Spa) Phonak
117 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
118 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
119 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital
120 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step
121 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
122 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas
123 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
124 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
125 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-GAM
126 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC
127 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom
128 Raul García de Mateo (Spa) Relax-GAM
129 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile
130 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel
131 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
132 Josep Jufré (Spa) Davitamon-Lotto
133 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
134 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak
135 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas
136 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
137 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astaná
138 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
139 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
140 Volodimir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC
141 David George (RSA) Relax-GAM
142 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française Des Jeux
143 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak
144 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
145 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
146 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
147 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
148 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
149 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile
150 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile
151 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
152 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC
153 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
154 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis
155 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
156 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
157 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax-GAM
158 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
159 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-GAM
160 Daniel Becke (Ger) Milram
161 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas
162 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná
163 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-GAM
164 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
165 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick-Step
166 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Milram
167 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick-Step
168 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner
169 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis

GC:
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 4:27'00"
2 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick-Step 0.02
3 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 0.07
4 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC
5 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC
6 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC
7 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
8 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC
9 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC
10 Volodimir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC
11 Fabian Cancellara (Swi) Team CSC 0.11
12 Luca Paolini (Ita) Liquigas 0.12
13 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.14
14 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
15 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
16 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
17 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
18 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 0.15
19 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram
20 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram
21 Daniel Becke (Ger) Milram
22 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 0.16
23 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel
24 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel
25 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel
26 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel
27 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel
28 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel
29 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel
30 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel
31 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.17
32 André Greipel (Ger) T-Mobile 0.18
33 Thomas Ziegler (Ger) T-Mobile
34 Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) T-Mobile
35 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile
36 André Korff (Ger) T-Mobile
37 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
38 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile
39 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile
40 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile
41 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná 0.19
42 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astaná
43 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astaná
44 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná
45 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná
46 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astaná
47 Luis León Sánchez (Spa) Astaná
48 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astaná
49 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná
50 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.20
51 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
52 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir
53 Juan José Cobo (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
54 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
55 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
56 Mark Renshaw (Aus) Crédit Agricole
57 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole
58 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Crédit Agricole
59 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole
60 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole
61 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
62 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas
63 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas
64 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas
65 Charles Wegelius (GBr) Liquigas
66 Davide Viganò (Ita) Quick-Step 0.22
67 Matteo Tosatto (Ita) Quick-Step
68 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step
69 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step
70 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step
71 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step
72 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick-Step
73 José Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
74 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 0.23
75 Iñaki Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.25
76 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
77 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
78 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
79 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
80 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
81 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
82 Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank
83 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank
84 Denis Menchov (Rus) Rabobank
85 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
86 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
87 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank
88 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank
89 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
90 Michael Rasmussen (Den) Rabobank
91 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears
92 René Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner 0.26
93 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
94 Markus Fothen (Ger) Gerolsteiner
95 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
96 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
97 Sven Montgomery (Swi) Gerolsteiner
98 Danilo Napolitano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.28
99 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
100 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital
101 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital
102 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
103 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 0.29
104 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas
105 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
106 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 0.31
107 Rony Martias (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
108 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
109 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
110 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
111 Xavier Florencio (Spa) Bouygues Telecom
112 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto 0.32
113 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
114 Chris Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto
115 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
116 Josep Jufré (Spa) Davitamon-Lotto
117 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 0.33
118 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak 0.34
119 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak
120 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak
121 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Phonak
122 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak
123 Luis Fernández (Spa) Phonak
124 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak
125 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak
126 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
127 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance
128 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
129 Cyril Dessel (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
130 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
131 David Navas (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
132 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
133 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance
134 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance
135 Bernhard Eisel (Aut) Française Des Jeux 0.35
136 Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
137 Frédéric Finot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
138 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux
139 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française Des Jeux
140 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux
141 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 0.36
142 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak
143 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis 0.37
144 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis
145 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis
146 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis
147 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis
148 Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Fra) Cofidis
149 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis
150 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 0.40
151 Matteo Carrara (Ita) Lampre-Fondital
152 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux 0.41
153 Wim De Vocht (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 0.43
154 Freddy Bichot (Fra) Française Des Jeux
155 Nacor Burgos (Spa) Relax-GAM 0.44
156 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-GAM
157 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-GAM
158 Raul García de Mateo (Spa) Relax-GAM
159 Jesús Hernández (Spa) Relax-GAM
160 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-GAM
161 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-GAM
162 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française Des Jeux 0.45
163 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 0.47
164 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 0.48
165 Ángel Gómez Gómez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
166 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Milram 0.51
167 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick-Step 1.01
168 David George (RSA) Relax-GAM 1.15
169 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis 1.29
170 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 2.57
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