BiciRace.com :: Vuelta a España

2006 Vuelta a España, Stage 21

Vuelta a España, Spain

Stage 21, Madrid - Madrid, 142.2K

17 September

Zabel Shows Clean Pair of Wheels

Erik Zabel wins the final stage of the Vuelta, photo: © Unipublic

Grandpa Zabel, err, Erik Zabel (Milram) did today what he been able to do so many previous times in his illustrious career: win the sprint for stage victory. Slotting into second and third places were the big Viking, Thor Hushovd (Credit Agricole) and Aurélien Clerc (Phonak Hearingsystems).

Spirits were light at the stage start with the riders congratulating each other for having completed yet another arduous 3 week grand tour.

Thor Hushovd, photo: © Unipublic

In spite of the considerable fatigue the peloton was feeling, the pace was quite high as they hammered along in a nice tight formation. The first intermediate sprint came and went and Thor Hushovd managed to snag more points sealing victory in the sprint classification in the process.

The peloton rides through Madrid, photo: © Unipublic

A half hour or so later the first escape of the day happened. Sébastien Rosseler (Quick Step) and Kjell Carlstrom (Liquigas) slipped off the front of the Relax led peloton, but were quickly absorbed shortly thereafter. The earlier part of the stage saw the riders pass through the Fuenlabrada suburb of Madrid, which is of course the home of the Relax-GAM squad so naturally they were giving it their all for the sponsors.

Astaná leading the way, photo: © Unipublic

Upon arriving in the cosmopolitan Spanish capital, Astaná was seen heading affairs as they sped down the Paseo de la Castellana. In total, they would do 6 circuits of this main boulevard before calling it a day. Cofidis and Relax took over the reins from Astaná and began driving a furious pace at the front.

The ill-fated eascape, photo: © Unipublic

Chris Horner (Davitamon), Oscar Pereiro (Caisse d’Epargne), F. Bessy and Luis Pérez (Cofidis), Pierre Drancourt (Bouygues Telecom), A. Vallejo and J. García (Relax) got clear of the peloton and managed a very narrow 20 second advantage. Hushovd evidently fancied his chances and got his CA boys on the front of the chase to drive the pace. The gap was brought down to 15 seconds, but went back up to around 20 seconds with 20K to go.

16K to go AG2R, Milram and Credit Agricole got to the front to put an end to the break. Their efforts were rewarded and it was gruppo compatto with 10K to go.

CSC working for O'Grady, photo: © Unipublic

It was time now for the suicide breaks to give it a go. A Bouygues Telecom rider took a flyer but was quickly neutralized. Next to go at 5K was Kevin de Weert (Quick Step), but he too was brought back into the fold. Strangely, the pace at the head of the peloton was being driven by none other than Carlos Sastre. He was working feverishly to set things up for his CSC fastman, Stuart O’Grady, but it was not to be.

Into the final kilometer Milram was at the front but had to deal with an 11th hour jump by Pedro Horrillo (Rabobank). They brought him back just about the time Hushovd started his sprint for the line. Zabel got on his wheel and turned his big ring over look he was 23 years old again.

The final GC: Valverde, Vinokourov, & Kashechkin

Zabel won the battle, but Vinokourov won the war. This certainly has to be a nice consolation for having been excluded from the Tour de France. Next stop Salzburg, Austria. Thank you for following Bicirace.com’s daily coverage of this year’s Vuelta a España.
- Paco

Results: 3:40'47" (38.64 1 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 2 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 3 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak 4 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 5 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 6 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) 7 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 8 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 9 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 10 Davide Viganò (Ita) Quick-Step 11 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 12 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 13 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis 14 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis 15 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile 16 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná 17 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel 18 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-GAM 19 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 20 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 21 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 22 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) 23 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astaná 24 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse 25 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 26 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 27 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 28 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 29 Mario De Sárraga (Spa) Relax-GAM 30 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 31 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 32 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 33 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 34 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 35 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak 36 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 37 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux 38 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 39 José Alberto Benítez (Spa) 40 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel 41 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 42 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 43 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step 44 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 45 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-GAM 46 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astaná 47 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française Des Jeux 48 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Milram 49 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 50 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná 51 Raul García de Mateo (Spa) Relax-GAM 52 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux 53 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel 54 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse 55 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 56 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse 57 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 58 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 59 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 60 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile 61 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank 62 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astaná 63 José Angel Gomez Marchante 64 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole 65 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 66 David Navas (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 67 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel 68 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 69 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 70 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 71 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 72 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile 73 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 74 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 75 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 76 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 77 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 78 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 79 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná 80 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná 81 Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank 82 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 83 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 84 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis 85 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis 86 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 87 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC 88 Chris Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 89 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 90 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse 91 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis 92 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française Des Jeux 93 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 94 Volodimir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 95 Luis Fernández (Spa) Phonak 96 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel 97 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 98 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak 99 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile 100 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak 101 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis 102 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astaná 103 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 104 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse 105 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse 106 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick-Step 107 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis 108 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 109 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step 110 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-GAM 111 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram 112 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 113 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-GAM 114 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) 115 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 116 David George (RSA) Relax-GAM 117 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 118 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis 119 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas 120 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 121 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 122 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 123 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 124 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step 125 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick-Step 126 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux 127 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 128 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Milram 129 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 130 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole 131 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse 132 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 133 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step 134 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Crédit Agricole K/h)

Saunier Duval-Prodir

Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears

d'Epargne-Illes Balears 0.03

Saunier Duval-Prodir

d'Epargne-Illes Balears

d'Epargne-Illes Balears

(Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir

d'Epargne-Illes Balears

d'Epargne-Illes Balears
d'Epargne-Illes Balears

0.19
0.21

Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears

0.30
0.35
0.40
1.03
d'Epargne-Illes Balears
1.03
2.08
3.21

GC:
1 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná 81.23.07
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.12
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná 3.12
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 3.35
5 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 6.51
6 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 8.09
7 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 8.26
8 Vladimir Karpets (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 10.36
9 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel 10.47
10 Luis Pérez (Spa) Cofidis 11.32
11 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 12.52
12 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel 15.10
13 Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir 17.23
14 Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Fondital 18.40
15 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 18.56
16 Sergio Paulinho (Por) Astaná 19.44
17 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 24.18
18 Evgeni Petrov (Rus) Lampre-Fondital 27.51
19 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 28.04
20 Chris Horner (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 29.04
21 Lars Bak (Den) Team CSC 30.36
22 Xabier Zandio (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 32.09
23 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Discovery Channel 34.45
24 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 42.46
25 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-GAM 43.20
26 Iñigo Chaurreau (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 45.03
27 Iñigo Cuesta (Spa) Team CSC 46.21
28 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC 46.30
29 Stéphane Goubert (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 50.47
30 Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel 50.49
31 Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Astaná 50.50
32 Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 51.57
33 Eric Leblacher (Fra) Française Des Jeux 55.05
34 Haimar Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 56.12
35 Iban Mayo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 56.48
36 Daniel Moreno (Spa) Relax-GAM 1.02.23
37 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 1.02.55
38 Dario Cioni (Ita) Liquigas 1.04.33
39 Jurgen Van Goolen (Bel) Discovery Channel 1.06.40
40 Hubert Dupont (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.08.18
41 Frédéric Bessy (Fra) Cofidis 1.14.34
42 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Astaná 1.16.47
43 Sébastien Minard (Fra) Cofidis 1.19.25
44 José Luis Arrieta (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.24.48
45 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis 1.25.18
46 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) Team CSC 1.29.24
47 José Antonio Redondo (Spa) Astaná 1.29.48
48 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.30.24
49 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 1.30.54
50 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile 1.30.58
51 Raul García de Mateo (Spa) Relax-GAM 1.35.57
52 Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.37.01
53 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Team CSC 1.37.05
54 Volodimir Gustov (Ukr) Team CSC 1.37.59
55 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole 1.38.39
56 Mikel Astarloza (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 1.39.33
57 Torsten Hiekmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner 1.40.19
58 Ángel Vallejo (Spa) Relax-GAM 1.40.24
59 José Antonio Garrido (Spa) Quick-Step 1.41.37
60 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.42.03
61 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank 1.43.19
62 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 1.45.00
63 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Fondital 1.45.53
64 David Millar (GBr) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.45.54
65 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 1.45.55
66 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel 1.46.03
67 Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Rabobank 1.47.15
68 Sébastien Joly (Fra) Française Des Jeux 1.47.52
69 Rubén Pérez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 1.49.21
70 David George (RSA) Relax-GAM 1.50.19
71 David De La Fuente (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 1.50.42
72 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank 1.51.49
73 Florian Stalder (Swi) Phonak 1.52.53
74 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step 1.54.28
75 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 1.58.08
76 Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun) Crédit Agricole 1.59.57
77 Michael Barry (Can) Discovery Channel 2.02.32
78 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.02.59
79 Joan Horrach (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 2.03.10
80 Leonardo Duque (Col) Cofidis 2.04.11
81 Stephan Schreck (Ger) T-Mobile 2.05.03
82 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole
83 Walter Bénéteau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.09.04
84 Steve Morabito (Swi) Phonak 2.09.29
85 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis 2.09.37
86 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis 2.10.14
87 Jorge García (Spa) Relax-GAM 2.10.30
88 David Cañada (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.14.29
89 Alexandre Usov (Blr) Ag2R Prévoyance 2.16.00
90 Luis Fernández (Spa) Phonak 2.16.33
91 Scott Davis (Aus) T-Mobile 2.17.09
92 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.20.53
93 Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.21.25
94 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 2.22.35
95 Kevin Hulsmans (Bel) Quick-Step 2.22.46
96 Fabio Sacchi (Ita) Milram 2.26.39
97 Enrico Franzoi (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.26.59
98 Assan Bazayev (Kaz) Astaná 2.27.42
99 Ian McLeod (RSA) Française Des Jeux 2.30.12
100 Alessandro Spezialetti (Ita) Liquigas
101 José Alberto Benítez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 2.30.28
102 Mario De Sárraga (Spa) Relax-GAM 2.31.27
103 Geoffroy Lequatre (Fra) Cofidis 2.32.02
104 José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 2.35.16
105 Jean-Patrick Nazon (Fra) Ag2R Prévoyance 2.35.38
106 Pedro Horrillo (Spa) Rabobank 2.36.24
107 Claudio Corioni (Ita) Lampre-Fondital 2.36.43
108 Pierre Drancourt (Bel) Bouygues Telecom 2.37.58
109 Fred Rodriguez (USA) Davitamon-Lotto 2.38.40
110 Olivier Kaisen (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.39.11
111 Magnus Backstedt (Swe) Liquigas 2.41.06
112 William Walker (Aus) Rabobank 2.41.17
113 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak 2.41.52
114 Aurélien Clerc (Swi) Phonak 2.42.15
115 Dario Andriotto (Ita) Liquigas 2.42.17
116 Sébastien Rosseler (Bel) Quick-Step 2.42.30
117 Davide Viganò (Ita) Quick-Step 2.42.51
118 Marco Velo (Ita) Milram 2.43.37
119 Aaron Kemps (Aus) Astaná 2.44.51
120 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas 2.45.40
121 Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 2.45.45
122 Jérémy Roy (Fra) Française Des Jeux 2.45.48
123 Francesco Failli (Ita) Liquigas 2.47.04
124 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick-Step 2.47.17
125 Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile 2.48.44
126 David Navas (Spa) Ag2R Prévoyance 2.52.29
127 Sebastian Siedler (Ger) Milram 2.56.11
128 Fabien Patanchon (Fra) Française Des Jeux 2.57.52
129 Kevin Van Impe (Bel) Quick-Step 2.57.58
130 Robert Förster (Ger) Gerolsteiner 2.58.24
131 Alberto Ongarato (Ita) Milram 2.59.32
132 Mads Kaggestad (Nor) Crédit Agricole 3.11.10
133 Enrico Poitschke (Ger) Milram 3.20.10
134 Cyril Lemoine (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.23.05

Points classification
1 Thor Hushovd (Nor) Crédit Agricole 199
2 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná 163
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 147
4 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 107
5 Erik Zabel (Ger) Milram 104
6 Stuart O'Grady (Aus) Team CSC 104
7 Francisco José Ventoso (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 99
8 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná 95
9 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 93
10 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 68

Mountains classification
1 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel 129
2 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Crédit Agricole 117
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 98
4 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná 84
5 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná 82
6 José Miguel Elías (Spa) Relax-GAM 70
7 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 67
8 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 63
9 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 60
10 David Arroyo (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 58

Combination classification
1 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) Astaná 8
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears 8
3 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Astaná 15
4 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 21
5 José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 24
6 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 25
7 Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel 28
8 Egoi Martínez (Spa) Discovery Channel 31
9 Igor Antón (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 39
10 Manuel Beltrán (Spa) Discovery Channel 43