The 57th Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 7 September to 29 September 2002. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2,957 km (1,837 mi), and was won by Aitor González of the Kelme-Costa Blanca cycling team.
Joseba Beloki, the second-place finisher of the 2002 Tour de France was part of the winning ONCE-Eroski team that won the opening team time trial of the race. Beloki held the lead until the fifth stage when he lost it to a teammate but on the sixth stage which was won by Roberto Heras. Beloki lost considerable time to other general classification contenders Óscar Sevilla, Aitor González and Heras. Sevilla took the leader’s jersey which he had worn for much of the previous edition of the Vuelta. After the first individual time trial, his teammate Aitor González was within one second of the jersey. On stage 15, González increased the pace of the group and put Sevilla in difficulty. Heras profited from this and attacked to take the stage win and the lead. Heras kept the lead until the final day when there was an individual time trial. Heras started the day with a lead of one minute and eight seconds over González but he lost this in the first 25 km of the time trial. González took the lead and won the Vuelta, Heras came second and Beloki recovered to eventually finish third overall. The Vuelta was also marked by three stage wins of Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini who retired from the race after his third stage win to prepare for the World Championships.
During stage 15 riders climbed the Alto de l’Angliru in rain. Team cars stalled on the steepest part, some unable to restart because their tires slipped on messages painted by fans. Riders were caught behind them and others had to ride with flat tires because mechanics could not reach them. David Millar crashed three times and protested by handing in his race number a metre from the line. The judges ruled he had not finished the stage and he left the race. He regretted his temper – he had been ninth – and apologised to his team.
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Grand Tour the 2002 cycling year begins today with the 57th the tour of Spain it will cover more than 3,100 kilometers over the course of three grueling weeks at racing eight flat stages to serve as the battlefield for the legendary sprinter Eric Sabo he’ll clash with mario Cipollini two individual time trials featuring names like David Miller of Britain and Colombia Santiago Botero for high mountain finish is certain to be the proving ground for a wide-open field of contenders and he’ll qussair Oh prepare to harass Oscar severe and your Shiva below key to name only a few but the first Golden Fleece will be awarded to today’s strongest team as we begin with a 30 kilometer team time trial through Valencia our lens coverage of the Grand Tours continues with the 57 the will Terez Spanier and that is up next [Music] on the scene today Valencia bathed in warm sunshine in the month of September the biggest feel of the year assembled 207 riders all set now to do battle in the Taurus pain I’m Phil Liggett joined by Paul showing and the return of Bob Rowland first a question to you Bob an unusual start today because a team time trial generally speaking traditionally the Grand Tours begin with an individual prologue time trial the vaulter however you’re broken from tradition they’re gonna have a team time trial to start this event gives a big advantage to team once’ who have dominated the team turning pearls throughout the years and their man Yoshi bubble okay well there’s just a couple of teams gone off down the road we’ll catch up with all of the action but before we do let’s now join Paul Sherwin who’s going to take us on a quick journey around Spain the 2002 buelton Spanish starts on the Mediterranean coast the town of Valencia where they have the first and opening stage the first week of the race is reasonably flat ending down toward the southern tip of the Spanish Peninsula the riders will all know the area around birth year but the biggest challenge comes on the 5th stage up to sierra nevada the riders will then move inland away from granada up to Fayed and then back down to the coastal town of malaga once more but then as they head back into the center they will be then facing a circuit race around cordoba followed by the state ten individual time trial once again moving up to the outskirts of Madrid the riders face the first taste of the mountains then a small stage in to Segovia before heading up to the Bay of Biscay and Santander along the coast up to Kazan and then they go into the big mountain stages the Alta atanga Luna and a mountaintop finish in Aviles a small transfer and they’re heading back down towards the mountains again in the estación de Colo Villa before then heading down into a via the walled city the penultimate stage takes up to the Warner Brothers Park and a final individual time trial on the last day into Madrid [Music] well thank you Paul we’re now looking at the first live pictures here five teams are on the road the fifty about to start is Goodell but was seeing the arrival of the first team off relax when applauded going to at the half distance at 14 minutes and 34 seconds so they are setting the trend now that the first team through they’re now officially the distance has been revised to just over 24 kilometres from the original 30 which were scheduled looking here at the fourth team to go up Milanese at MSS which includes klaus bowler who had a very good end to last year’s welter Espania and no doubt he’s hoping to challenge again at this year well that you can see all the teams really feel cueing up here setting up themselves in to be the normal style of an team time trial the course an excellent course it’s very flat that only thing that’s hampering the riders of the moment is the very strong winds coming in off the coast but for the moment I think all of the big names will come off in the last part of the course it would be interesting to see how US Postal Service can perform because I think Roberto Harris would like to try and win this race well looking out the start line here for goose picked a loose cardi and this is a team at which we expect to see riding well on the roads of Spain their on home ground here for some other way because of a past team remember and the led by our techit he’s there 71 dived leader the team a little David Etsy Berea who also rides well Eagle Flores tire him to impress now as it is I think with Iban Mayo and also here setting up the team for a good ride out Roberto they set up a second a stage winner in the past in the brother Hispania Bob interesting stop Bob wouldn’t mind me and pushed off by some of the starters today well we usually heard UCI officials who are not quite as good-looking as the women that seem to be the riders go use could tell having a bit of a difficult year so far this season they want to sort of get some redemption in this in this multi espana they haven’t really raced that well they didn’t win any stadium in the tour even though last year they got one with Roberto ly Seca and Julian Garros they the team director of uske tell said boys now is the time you’ve got a race well in this well past funny well the weather absolutely perfect there is no wind at all it is 30 degrees Celsius which is very very warm for the time of the year and the Spanish summer seems to be going pollen offers plenty of the earlier zuv Europe are getting heavy rains a Spain is bathed in hot sunshine and we’re going off towards the desert very early on this year as we have our big finish on stage five at the high point of the tour over eight and a half thousand feet of the climb of the sierra nevada so it’s an interesting concept paul important today I think for the teams with ambition is to make sure they put in a good time well it’s very important because it sets up the hierarchy very early on and then we turn over to the sprinters for the first few days and then we’ll have the first sort out at the at the top of Sierra Nevada which is a very difficult and long climb but after that again they’re plummeting back down to the Mediterranean coast and the stage finish in Malaga I think over the first 10 days will see a huge domination because Bob and I were talking a little earlier weren’t we’ve all about the fact that there are a lot of sprinters in this year’s race there’s a fantastic field of sprinters in this race I think about half the teams have a good sprinter guys like Cipollini guys like bizarre ball and and he’ll a dough from the Milan on Satine right now a lot of really great sprinters Pataki there’s all kinds of good guys that the very exciting finishes in this search now at the Domo farm feats team and that’s couse Manute it’s a left of our picture there and so this is the Domo team led by sprinter Jerome Bly Levens and Dave Bryant’s deed the wolf leaf hasta a kashi tina of kazakhstan a stephen client of belgium Koosman who – who saw their from the Netherlands Brownback tanking also the Netherlands and the Belgian riding the team as well Jurgen van gülen as they now make their way around this rather steady stop no point of aerobics just here before you get out onto the highway I’d rather strange to see the name your own Bly labels pop up I was rather surprised when we saw him there as we go back to the finishing line to see the arrival of team Alessio because index our lecture I should say because it was a long time since we’ve actually excited the name your own Bly levels in the sport of international cycling and will be interesting to see if he still has those sprinting legs Bob well once a once upon a time a few years ago Lyle Evans who was winning a lot of races at the time beat mario Cipollini in a sprint and the Judy Talia said at the time that it was now easy to beat Cipollini he said to eat those words every year since we haven’t seen him in a lot of races they most certainly hasn’t won any for a while see if he can regain some form in this Volta a spaniel hitting the line now index Alexia not a very good time for them Pappas avid Ellie’s team 28:59 for sixth place at the moment Lyle Evans Bob you may recall is one of the few riders in the world who’s actually finished the Tour de France was then disqualified for that fight with Bobby julik about 50 Cal may team here now the face they love Oscar severe and this severe says he’s actually starting this race 7 kilos lighter that’s about 17 pounds lighter that the time he abandoned this year’s Tour de France so that could mean trouble for a number of the other riders in this year’s race if he’s carrying some 7 kilos less up the mountains to come in this year’s of welter Espania we take another short break I started to get down now to the cream of the top teams making the start as the teams continue to arrive this is now Seco right up amongst the leaders at the halfway chip with 14 minutes and 12 seconds Cipollini squats just gone through there the best time of 1403 but now can Seco do anything about that time of milla Daisy I’m not too sure they can they’re not gonna be far adrift from it though so this has been a good store for your battle Simoni but there won’t be a golden fleece waiting for him at the end of today’s stage so Seiko got towards the line sleeping now into third place riving the time of big mat and they’re going to beat big matters they come up to lie but only just 27 at 34 seconds for them well that’s a good form oh good right I think for the better Simone you’ll be very happy with that if starting well up to the top end of the overall classification you’ll take a back seat over the next few days until we get to the big mountains this is a team that has a Spanish leader Manuel at karate but also they’ve got two leaders so they’ve got a two-pronged attack here because I felt on Cox Hensley enough is the last listed rider in this team man I think once again one of the many riders who announced their retirement but he seems to have come back to something of some sort of form Bob he did really good joob battalion’s year winning the hardest stage at the top of the castle coy that’s a very mountainous multi espana gives him a good race good form Africa to get some final results before the season is over he’s had a great career as a as a stage racer in particular and I’m sure he loves the profile is let’s see how well do my trick he can do in this very important evening time trolley very difficult to hold the form for two grand tours in a year like this but the kalmyk team have had to do that very many times over the past in there is miguel indurain on the right hand side and i don’t think he’s been riding his bike too much but still keeping himself in of all that with the sport of professional cycling but I tell you one thing when Miguel was racing he was such a cool man when it came to the Tour de France he was always on form and always enjoyed the individual time trials as we look here at the Katmai cost the blanket team good news is the team survives after all the money properties had this year and will continue in the sport and that is good news but to pay and keep their superstars they’ve reduced their team in size now and so a few of the riders will be released but the team will continue to be I’m sure a major factor in the world’s major tours next year so – what will this team a lamp retaking and as Paula said they’ve got Tonkov here probably as the recognized team leader but I think one that Manuela karate who wrote so well in the Giro d’Italia this year as well is looking for the chance to jump into a high position and for the Sprint’s of course the return of yang who is not quite the man he used to be but he’s still swindling and this is now the arrived lo tomó farm frites at twelve and a half kilometres aquazap only the team of Cipollini still best time this is not going to alter the fact here either as they come through now just off the leaderboard in fourth place with 14 minutes and 9 seconds Cowell may here in fact are looking like a very well drill squad there as we look at Oscar Sevilla and Santiago Butera looking to try and get themselves at the top end of the leaderboard and over the last five team time trance we’ve had at the world – aye Spaniard has really been very much a Spanish affair when back to 1989 it was their very famous biacchi team who won there in 89 it was Kihara RAL then it was Lotus which was also the Festina scene because they raced his Lotus in Spain and Festina in the rest of Europe in 1991 it was on say got themselves the win and then in 1992 the last time we had a team time trial at the world’s eyes Vanya it was the gator a team of Gianni Bunya but I have to say Bob looking at Kel may here they really do give a nick pret an impression of very high speed of Ackerman he knows that they have to do a good time in this team turn draw for Oscar savvy and not to be too far behind probably the more stronger on say team in the team time is the team’s heading up the leaderboard a halfway have slowed a little bit and the slow ones have gone quicker so far now as far as we know there is no wind blowing today officially there isn’t but of course once you’re riding in formation you do feel that when there’s the situation at the finishing line at the moment Phonak pushed back by four seconds now by that very fine ride by aqua saponin now the US Postal Service team Roberto Harris a first and a third in the history books already in the tour Spain for him but I think and Paul showing things like me this is the man to beat in this year’s tour well they’ve got a great one too in the squad as well because don’t forget Jose Luis Rubio is riding superbly towards the end of each season there was kaya guard who’s we signed with US Postal for next year and Tony Cruz is in there as well this is a team like team on se which invests an awful lot of time and money cure during the season to prepare for Team time trials and that may well pay today but for them they’re going to have to do something very special if they’re going to beat the next team to start which would be the the yellow clad team of team on say-so US postal making the way out onto the course now twenty four and a half kilometres it is and they’re looking for a good time here I don’t think that worry too much if it’s not the best time but their one arrival the time of the Kelm a team because they have challenges long term in this year’s Tour de France a tour of Spain rather we spend too much time on the roads this year so that it now as we come up to the line 27:45 so it’s still mario Cipollini who will be crowned race leader if we go down to them as the winning team well that is not going to be for too long and I’d say in about 26 minutes time we will see this team post the fastest time team on say the winners of the team time trial of the Tour de France this year and a team who back in 1990 also took the team time trial at those welter ice-pan it now you see how they’re riding off nice and slowly that is a very sensible start because very often riders tend to get a little bit too excited don’t leave bobbing the first kilometer if you start too quickly it really blows the engine out of a lot of the other riders the lesser riders on the team and you need a full nine men team time absolutely and when you see this first corner is very close to the start line if you’re the last man in position you have to sprint twice as hard as the guys in the front to keep on equal terms with them it’s one of the most beautiful images in all of cycling the uniforms all the same of the team time trial it’s one of the most painful as well because each rider knows that they have to be able to pedal as fast as the strongest guy on the team that’s a daunting prospect but on say they know like you said Paul they need all nine guys to contribute and that’s why they’ve won a number of team time bells over the years it’s formidable team that’s well involved with Madeira in their road so out in the tour’s you young rider yachts cruise back on form rush go to good times alright Acevedo it amounted this team is a team to be feared this year there’s doubt about it and below key well sighs the manager is poping that he can steer this man to his first big stage race win it’s come so close at the Tour de France but he’s never won one mountains got in his way called Lance ansan who is near of course in this year’s wealthier spaniel now lamprey have gone through as we swing back to the midway point now lamprey have gone through and this should be team Telecom and it is with the second best time or one of only two teams to get inside 14 minutes and it looks like we’re now gonna watch the third team to bait the 14-minute barrier so there’s good news for example Paul is ahead of Cipollini steam 1337 well over the first four days out on the open road our example would have a very good chance of getting himself the leader’s jersey in this bike race because I think Zabul is on forming a man we also need to think about for a world championship Jersey in about two weeks time after the end of the Vuelta a Espana there at the back is Roberto Harris you can see wearing 221 the team leader of US Postal Service using an incredibly small gear obviously trying to emulate the team leader Lance Armstrong but the rest of the team getting themselves into that aerodynamic position each one taking turns there’s Jose Lucia Riviera Riviera riding very well after the Tour de France and leading up now to the Vuelta a Espana well looking pretty cool in their Nike space-age suits at the moment as they now really put the pressure on Matthew white they’re finally they’re getting a big tour here off the US Postal team in recliners and here’s their time it’s not too bad they had a pretty good intermediate time it looks like they’re going to be in fourth place just 16 seconds down on the Aqua saponin team 27:20 then from Domo full slot for them at 54 kilometres an hour now we’re going to the fourth last team to go team number 20 faster water low and this is a team which carries francesco casa grande he’s been a little bit in the quiet section of the racing this year but people are listing him amongst a possible winner of this tour and if you’re worried about where the sprinters department is we’ll look no farther than Alessandro Petacchi who is on Form and has shown an X or below clean pair of wheels in the recent tour of Holland so zorbel is a little bit worried about the whereabouts of Pataki at least he will be tomorrow not so much so today telecom still heading towards the finish a possible best time for them or kill me when they get there as fast a facile Bertolo they start their run around the twenty four and a half kilometer course so we then will have only three teams late at time in the mountains which is very hard to do but I think that at the end of the day Sevilla will be very pleased with that time that kill me did well it could give him a gold jersey by the end of the day we’ll see I’m not sure who finished the line in first place there as we look now to calm at the map 18 now this team’s I say shrouded a little bit of mystery because as map a start has started without any arathi who was who has passed all of the UCI tests but the team has pulled him out of de squad eight riders only starting because they signed him in and now they’ve signed him out well the rules are if the rider is signed in the night before the race you cannot be replaced after the five o’clock signing in time so there’s no chance they had of replacing him overnight in the past we have seen her my fellow commentator Bob rod replaced at the start of the Tour de France but on that occasion the stage that Bob crashed in wasn’t an actual official stage of the tour so Nathan Dalberg came in gratis name is still up on the the graphic there but he has not been allowed to start pulled out by his team and that is a story that we shall follow over the next few days as they a few people I think u.s. coastal conceding 11 seconds so they’re stars today at the moment as they go through in 1346 well they’re just two teams left to start on the starting gate now Ibanez no calm and Team Coast team of last year’s winner and girl Lewis Cass arrow and it’ll be interesting to see just how he performs over the three weeks of the Vuelta a Espana you get a chance here just to see that asthmatic white there this skinsuit these riders are wearing by the way has been specifically designed to improve the aerodynamics as we look at the intermediary point Cal May with the fastest time team telecom second US Postal Service in third place well it couldn’t be a better day out on the course I think the times she Lian are confirming that they’re all coming home in excess of 52 kilometres that you might not give it absolutely everything when the team depends on it as Ibanez TOCOM to here on every member of the team it really puts a lot of pressure on the body first day every team rider does not want his leader to start at the deficit of a Grand Tour they lost 39 seconds there to come in Tonkov already in 40 seconds behind Oscar Sevilla that’s something that you don’t want to happen that’s why you see the team break apart so fast five guys only finished with the lamprey squad as we get ready to watch the vanessa team start they also need to do a great team time trial so that their rider Juan Miguel DeMuth kado has a good chance to stay near Sevilla before we get to the mountains Mikado had a wonderful tour last year best of the squad he finished in a fifth place and it was a great performance he was nearly six minutes in the end off the race winner casado but he’s a year older now and he is very definitely no longer a secret weapon for Ibanez dokkan so the one a good time for him today we’re expecting telecom to come in next and it could be close to the leaderboard they divided pretty clearly out there they were only conceding a few seconds two seconds less than two seconds to the race leader’s Kelvin who are in with the best time and sending a few shockwaves I think down the row here because we could see a calm a rider in at the grid at Indy gold jersey as leader by the end of this day but still to start the last team with I hell casino the winner last year hasn’t done much racing at all this year and he’ll be in the final squad to go in Team Coast very quickly into formation here Ibanez go calm and then a pretty solid team at the team time drop not quite as solid as this squad though on say who should be coming up now to the check and just look at this calmate in 1335 and on say any combination of the their camp put them together in a team time trial formation and this is the result they’re going to come through here with the best time it’s going to be close though I’m not too sure Paul with about 10 seconds to go it could well be just the best time as we pull back and reveal the line I hope for their sake 13 August 1332 but the proximity of factors just got off the faculty group there and I think that may well be goodbye for him because they will not wait in the second part of this course for anybody who has a physical problem and that was definitely a physical problem there as we look at the achievable akhi just sitting at the back of the group here that in fact goes to show just how good a performance team Cal may have actually put in so far only being beaten by the once’ squad by a mere two seconds we go back to the finishing line and team Telecom looking to try and be the next best time in will have they continued good progress because there were two seconds only behind Cal May at the halfway point teams have tended to pick up speed over the closing kilometers there’s the time of Kell May it’s going to be very very close we are still talking perhaps two seconds a question of which way big Ralph al Doc there doing his most best for Eric Zabul I would expect to see his own will try and take the lead across the line and think perhaps of a golden jersey for a day or so but as they come up to the line now and he’s just slipped away so what really mattered 26:39 the three-second bar.com man well Ibanez showed up commerce – looking very well drilled I think on say we’ll have built on that advantage that they had at the halfway stage because this is a very experienced team they’re looking a bit ragged right now but that explains just why they have put in the fastest time because this is as bob said an excruciating discipline of the sport a very difficult one when your legs are almost bursting for the full length of this 24 and a half kilometres time trial tests for the whole of the team here of on say the next team to come up to the finishing line will be the team of Roberto Harris u.s. postal service but as we go back out here we get a chance to see who is putting in another good time here at half distance and this is going to be map a quick step and they are riding let’s not forget with eight riders afterwards the with before the start of head eratic he was pulled out by them they’ve gone through as we now swing to the finishing line here for the arrival of US postal very close to conferred his time by a single second of the half way confidence it in with the third best time as they now continue to come up to line remember I want her ass over in first place if they could get in there it won’t be a Jersey I don’t think because Cal may are going to take that but is going to be desperately close in fact this might be it on the line 26:35 they’ve done it by a second what a reversal unbelievable this is why you have to invest a lot of time into the discipline of team time trial they improved over the second half they went in just inside of kill me there by just a mere second and I have to say your hand Brunel will be absolutely enthralled with that permission there and I think care pop and looked as if it was Toni Kroos he went across the line in first place there American Toni Kroos a very fast burn and went across the line first now he is leader of the tourist beam on the road right now but on say his duel to finish and they are flying down riders GT Serrano who’s having difficulty hanging on to the back here just wishing the end of this time trial as fast as possible because it looks as though he’s just about on his limit right now when Frankie did very well to stay in contact just going through that succession of curves just a few moments ago there you can see the time to beat of US Postal Service 26 minutes 35 seconds as on say now go inside the final kilometer it’s going to be very close but they should in fact be able to do it because their time there was just 25 10 and at this speed they should cover the last kilometer in at time of 105 that would put them five seconds faster the US postal on the line if my calculations are correct all right well sorry about the picture break up there that’s because of those nasty-looking trees on our picture but we’re back out in the open space now as you watch Ivan esto briefly because we’ve gone back to the finish to see the arrival now of the on say team as they course across the center of the city of Valencia now there’s the time of US Postal 26:35 and there’s no way now that auntie isn’t going to reach that and better it because they’ve got plenty of time in hand here as they now sprint up towards the line remember this really is the team to beat throughout this wilter Espania they’ve got some good names on it this year many of them having had the experience of the Tour de France and now have come here with a vengeance in the tour of Spain so on say pushing up against US postal are going to better it and they’re going to give us a new leader in the tour by the end of this day I think or the first leader even as they come up the line I’ll say our best time 26:21 14 seconds quicker than US Postal so as there you go top of the leaderboard there are now only four teams to come to the finishing line before we see who is the first leader of the show this team has not had a great season many people said the team should have made the Tour de France they didn’t and Alex Ola was going to ride form a former winner of the Tour Spain he’s decided not to start he is going to concentrate on preparing for the upcoming World Championships where I would suspect here go more for the time trial in the road race because that’s a discipline he is very very good at there is the situation at the finish with the best time not to be beaten now done by on say US Postal have again that left an early mark on a tour Spain with a fine second place and that will put right up amongst the leaders Antonio Cruz’s best of the US Postal because he was first across the line three kilometres to go Bob let’s not forget antonio cruz a very fast burner we might see him indeed get into the gold leaders rosy of the taurus paint as the time bonuses for the flat stages come into play but we’ve listed about 18 good sprinters in this race so tomorrow i’m passing all the final kilometer over to bob roll because there’s going to be so many riders fighting out for the bonuses with the chance of a golden jersey for a few days not just mario Cipollini in an example they’ve got your own Bly Levens Yuans were add up we’ve got Jeremy hunter cimetidine there’s so many of them Pataki you can go on and on and I think we’re going to see a terrific finish to the first stage of the tour tomorrow and live coverage remember it will continue on Oh Alan now for the next three weeks and I hope you’ll enjoy following the fortunes of the riders in Tour champion angle kisser Oh he was number one he’s right at the front of the moment isn’t going to pull off a golden jersey on day one for sure but he won’t worry too much because he took it on day 23 I think it was last year when he finally won the race in the time trial so they crossed the line only eighth best 27 minutes dead for them so the winners will be on say with 26 21 in second place US Postal 26 minutes and 35 and third place little bit of a surprise will be Cal May 26 minutes and at 36 seconds so the team time trial is over broad coverage certainly isn’t so stay around with us as we’ll get lined up now for the presentations and we’ll just take a short break as you look now at the result of stage one of this year’s we fall back to the podium then here they are Paul and that the man in yellow familiar position at the end of the team tire driver on say and for Joshi babul Aki life can only get better well it can only get better then all has been worked out completely – stripped so far but let’s not forget last year ueshiba burlock he just blew apart in the mountains it is so difficult to ride for two grand tours and stay at the top forum for such a long period of time the team set him up perfectly and I would think he’ll be very happy at getting the first Maya Murray are there he is he looks like static the fact that the team has won and the team I would have to say Bob put in a super perfil as soon as we saw them out on the course they looked as if they were fast viously were going right from the start right into line and they did a great job one thing you see in team time trials is the teams that have the GC contender somehow are able to put the most effort into the team time trial and come out at the top postal second-place kill me in third place all of those teams having a GC contender pull so obviously regret to harass and kill me our man Oscar Sidious oh it’s going to be a great Volta espana this year the team won’t say the team of the day giving it over to you Sabo below he came across the line first and I think see him get the first leaders jersey of this worthless valiant the Golden Fleece bracelet there is an in fact awarded for three days last year the riders say goodbye to Valencia the first big day of road racing after that record-breaking average speed for a team time trial in a Grand Tour yesterday and the big loser indeed was your Berto Simoni because his Seco team conceded a minute and 15 seconds to the race winning on say squad and that’s a lot for it’s an awful lot of time to lose but Roberto Simoni actually said afterwards that he felt that the team had finished roughly where he expected them to do but I think he will climb a lot closer towards the top of the overall standings when this race gets up to Madrid I do think though that it is going to be a Spanish battle and we always expected that to be so and once again team once’ came out and proved that they were one of the top teams in the world at the discipline of team time trying they also put a lot of pressure onto the shoulders of the team because you’re Shiba by Loki you can see right in the middle they’re already taking the yellow jersey on the very first day but another team who rode very well is not necessarily a Spanish team but got some very strong Spanish speakers in their US Postal Service and Roberto Harris’s team just losing 14 seconds Phil I think they’ll be exceptionally happy with that because Harris wants to keep as close as possible as you can to the once’ squad and they did that yesterday right now Bob roll is not really a sprinter stage today there’s quite a big climb in the middle of the course there’s a category one climb towards the start of the race also a category three times they get category three climbing to get closer to the finish but I don’t think that the course is hard enough to break up this race because we have three very strong teams totally dedicated to the chances of their sprinter team Telekom for Erick Sabo map pay for Oscar Freire a and aquas a pony for Mario super Mario’s Speedwagon Cipollini I think you’re gonna see a Clash of the Titans as the sprinters get to the line together big field sprint today we’ll see which one came out on top yesterday it was the Argonauts of own say that delivered the Golden Fleece to your shaver below key today I think we’ll see the big man of the peloton the linebackers the sprinters come to the floor all right well with no bonuses on the tourists bein as was the case last year of course you have to earn every second on the race route just take us through briefly the race route today Paul I’ll tell you one thing Phil I think the thing that’s really gonna dominate the race today is the temperature because it’s up around 35 degrees centigrade 95 degrees Fahrenheit it’s a hundred and forty-four kilometer ride just slightly away from the Mediterranean and they go through the finishing town of al-khoei with 27 kilometres to go and was rather a tough climb on that circuit and we’re now looking at live pictures on absolute scorching day in Spain the temperature set to saw well into the mid 90s Fahrenheit today in fact because of the heat the judges have allowed drinks to be distributed right from the start today and two riders not waiting behind for anybody after ten kilometres have attacked and they’re now leading up by a little over 9 minutes in fact the gap is coming down there once at 11 and the lanes Lerman Nieto of the relax when the broader team you might remember the man that shaves his head dressed in red from last year’s talk in the end he finished second from the end in the overall classification but was very much in our pictures there he is now setting the pace and the man with him riding for swathe I can workout Paul is his first dev welter medic clown of the coppered his team well they’ve gone out very early on and there’s been no reaction at all in the main field and I actually think that a move like this is really going to be good for the sprinters because there is a very tough climb halfway through the course today at just a 77 kilometres of racing covered and I think because there’s a breakaway off the front like this then the the sprinters will get a chance to accompany the majority of the climbers over that ascent and we will see a sprint Royale towards the finish alright well there are two leaders as I say the last tie in check was at 56 kilometres 9 minutes 22 was the gap then let’s just have a look what the teen times are did for the overall classification not surprising all of these riders on the on say team because they won the team time trial yesterday but lucky was first over the line he’s got the golden jersey all riders on equal time little bit further down and it’s all the members of the US Postal team who come in at number eight they’re 14 seconds back and looking further down or once we see the end of the US postal they make the top 15 riders overall and yesterday the one on say ride and not finishing with the team was indeed Jana Ruska and so he’s dropped into the middle of the overall to lead in at that competition as the latest time check 922 it’s hovering around the 10-minute mark starting to move up again it appears as they now go what is a beautiful part of Alicante region of Spain here or on the eastern side remember and only a couple of days away from a pretty sharp climb up over the Sierra Nevada but today Bob were not very far away now from the alto de Portillo other riders in the breakaway now are on the lower slopes of the category one climb it’ll give us a good chance to look at this climb see what the sprinters are gonna face later on there’s a good graphic of it cabeza they look at it that’s the head of the bike race and that’s our two breakaway companions around nine minutes ahead you will get a chance to see this pole climb as these guys go up but see what the sprinters are gonna face well this is a five sorry Paul this is a five miles climb which rotate the riders up to two and a half thousand feet well the first part of the climb is actually a fairly steady climber averages out around about 11% there’s a slight decline halfway up which gives the riders a bit of respite then it kicks up again and it’s really quite difficult towards the summit that Peaks out at 770 meters but very often Bob it’s the case isn’t it with the Spanish climbs they’re never really quite as steep as the Tour de France climbs but they do go on for an awful long time that is a tradition in Spanish climbing in this way they’ve built the roads on here and the shape of the mountains as well they’re a lot more gradual but quite a bit longer you can see now that there’s no shade at all for these two riders in the break would be quite hot on this client for the peloton actually it looks quite a tough climb here at the start has received climbs a third-year professionalist man for pufferty she joined the team last year he’s never won a race but he’s certainly featuring well today the pair getting together right out at the start a lot of the riders including Oscar Freire has said that they didn’t think this was necessarily a stage for the sprinters but the way it’s going Bob to ride as being the carrots I think it possibly will run out that now whether there won’t be a chase or a lot of attacking in the peloton probably but this looks like quite a really hard climb for these two riders in the top home be facing the same thing but it probably regroup on the run into the finish town it still a ways out from the finish about the halfway point of the race course so I think it will come back together we’ll have to see how hard the next climb is which is only measured as a category three but you never know this is gonna catch I think the peloton but a little bit of a surprise well there’s 77 kilometres covered when the riders get to the top of this climb and these two are up guys having attacked after just 11 kilometres of racing now really are starting to fill the pain in their legs the man is doing the best job there on the front is mederic land a coffee dis rider and I think by the fact that in fact Nieto has taken all of the hot spots prints out on the course so far today I think we will see the young Frenchman going over the top of this climb in first place and there is the main field now and although I don’t think they will attack on this climb there’s an awful Aang gree pace starting to appear because you can see as they go back over each other there you can see that the cars underneath there and I do think that they will pick the pace up until they get to the bottom of this climb because they will know exactly how difficult it at the bottom part of the climb and that’s when you can always have accidents and I’m sure we’ll see the yellow jerseys of Yoshi Berber Loki’s on se team coming to the front and watch out for this man because not too far away from the red guard on the front there will be Alberto Simoni who was said quite consistently this morning that he wants to win this world to ice-pan yo and he’s still smarting a little bit because of the problem that he had during the butcher of Italia earlier this year and there was an incident at the back here this looks like Xavier Jean the rider from the big Matt Ober team and Frank Nieto having problems in the leading group of miles and already they’ve sliced into that lead of the two men up front and they’re brought it down to just on eight minutes at the start of the climb right in the middle there your ship of a locker with a teammate up alongside him to pace him at the front end of the main field and the pink jersey there just on his shoulder in fact was Eric Savile who was looking for a to open up his account here at the welter ice Vanya these climbed in Spain are very difficult at this time of the year because let’s not forget men like Eric have been racing since almost a month of January these are the two leaders right now at one stage they had an advantage of 11 minutes and 4 seconds and that has been slashed now to inside of seven minutes so it just goes to show how much the race thing is and this is why you have to ride in the front one or two riders at foot actually this has happened because one or two riders have actually shifted their gears and somebody’s chain has probably come off and this is why the big leaders always want to ride at the front isn’t it Bob even on these small climbs which may not decide the results overall but it really does cause an awful lot of nervous tension well also when you have a peloton when we started with 206 riders that’s a huge group of guys and if you’re in the middle of that you start to lose time there’s big gaps that open up and you have to use that much more energy to catch back up to the front you saw the look you right at the front of the bike race that’s an astute move and that’s why honest they can get into the jersey and the start of these big stages all the time they’re very astute they’re well coached they’re always there right where they need to be and there they are right on the front at the moment on-site commanding the field and well she was setting himself a huge target here to try and lead this race from start to finish I’m not sure he can do that looks as though we’ve got Dave Rylands off to the right there in the dome Oh colors now he’s a very good client Paul and the rider I still fear we haven’t seen the best of yet well I think he’s a rider who can ride high in the overall classification he’s obviously also thinking for to the World Championships and Zolder there is Oscar severe on the right hand side as well and a remarkable seven kilos lighter than he was at the Tour de France and that probably something to do with the digestive problems that he was having and another man who looks a very slim here at the Vuelta a Espana is in fact David Miller who is also claiming that he’s lost weight since the end of the Tour de France and I think we’ll see David come out of the pack on one particular stage because I have a feeling is not maybe looking at a high overall standing but trying to get himself as many stage wins as possible I don’t know I think Dave wants a top 10 finish this year and his team are saying he can make the top five but you can never tell where David Miller we have to wait and see what happens as a rider you can’t really predict his future and I don’t think he’s quite sure himself what he’s gonna do until it gets out there on the bike back up to the leaders now it looks as though they’ve come together again and the arrow at the back what on that finishing loop and that may well be when we’ll see one or two riders disappearing from the front group I do think right now that a lot of the big sprinters like Cipollini and our examples should be able to get themselves back up to the front end of the main field on the descent of this very difficult climb and although it was only rated at 11% it looks an awful lot steeper than that to me Bob it looks very steep a lot of switchbacks I would not like to now have looked at the graphic and then be presented with this there’s the needle DeLuca right in the front of the bike right there for the team psycho zoom Timon his teammate guarding the front there and Francesco Casagrande on the far left-hand side of the road for the right side of our screen and there’s Sava daily towards the back end of the field it looks like well here’s because he’s riding alongside your own Blyleven said you know Paul there was a rumor he wasn’t going to start the race he said he wasn’t he was feeling ill and that to be in this position on the first climb he looks to be as though he could well be leaving us here very early on indeed went 107 there is Yvan Cuarenta and maybe he’s decided that he’s going to ride the Vuelta a Spangler to look after the sprinter and try and get a run for unto a stage victory but it’s as amazing that this man who is one of the fastest men in the world on a flap stage is really in severe difficulty of any slope in Europe yes you’re absolutely right he hates the climbed every year we see this man race we seem to spend a lot of time behind the bunch watching his teammates to either get him back into it anyway at the front are looking very solid here with Don chesco Casa Grande and the gold and but lucky on the front the gap the last time two World Championships and of course thinking forward to next year as well because there is Cuarenta on the left-hand side there and in fact to Paulo Silva Delhi leaving this team next year to sign up for alongside yan Ulric who has been offered a new contract by team Telecom not the same price though at the moment now then Bob it’s an indication as to who the strongmen are and as far as we can see we’ve not lost to apart from Salva Delhi just wondering if mario Cipollini is surviving in this front group because if he is he will be a man looking for his first ever welter stage win by the end of the day one would expect to see at X arbol here because hablan these sort of climbs and is quite a good climber as well yeah well I’m very well-rounded sprinters Mario maybe a bit pure pure speed compared to Zabul and Fiat but he should be able to stay in the front group on this climb they’re not racing flat out at the front and the Sprinter should be able to come back we saw some groups off the back but Cipollini seemed to be a well place at the back of the front group there we’ll see how hard this second part of this climb is the front part was quite a bit harder than I think the riders anticipated I think it shows you here’s our breakaway now they’re coming across the top the king of the mountain points would be up there it looks like Nieto is gonna allow the Frenchman from Kofi to ticket and put a deal that’s the end of the climb there and they’ll be down through the descent on the other side hopefully we’ll get a time gap as well the Vuelta a Espana is really a climber stage race we have a category climb the first day out on the open roads of the race and it just gives all the advantage to the climber guys you have to be able to climb well to win this this particular Grand Tour is compared to the other two which is more of a all-around errs type of course evidently and Armstrong winning the doodle in the Tour de France is really well being the first car to be climbed that’s 16 points for class so these two riders Paul have got themselves little presentations to await at the finish line today it looks as though clam might be our first leader in the king of the mountains competition there you can see the peloton showing a few tired legs the season rolls to a close I think huge splits in the bunch they should regroup but now were away from the flatlands of the first 50 kilometers were now going into the undulations which will take us to a little uphill finnaly has the form and surprisingly attic solid didn’t seem too worried by the fact that he’d lost his big lead out man the Fantini are almost on the 11th hour of the start of the race he just said he’s very confident his team can do all that’s required to help him build on his 18 wins this season he won 29 races last year so he must be going off the board well I wouldn’t mind going off the ball and having a number of victories like that under my belt but mario Cipollini on the other hand does have giovanni Lombardi these guys seem to be riding uphill for an awful long time here through the finishing town of al-khoei and they’re not too far away from the finishing line right now and I think by the time they get the next time check we will be looking at a difference deficit for the main field of around about two and a half minutes because Bob just looking at these two guys you could see now the pain of having been at the front of this bike race for almost a hundred kilometers you can see the fatigue in the legs creeping in their lactic acid replacing the oxygen that you start with these guys are really struggling they’re holding on though they’ve done a great ride to stay out in front of this bike race for this long it looks like a pretty tough finish for the sprinters but I still think it’s gonna stay together at this point well it’s been a hard slog up to the line I thought we’ve gone through but clearly we have now as the clock starts on the left and ice crowd here enjoying a beautiful late summer’s day in eastern Spain now we’ll get a very accurate time check as they pass through that finishing banner been a great breakaway by these riders sadly we still can’t see it working out and I’m sure many of you watching who understand the sport will probably agree with us because here we see the teammates now of all the sprinters keeping the tempo on at the back and Bartko and this is now al dag the former champion of Germany he lost his title this time around to danilot Honda and Honda by the way he’s riding extremely well in the hessin run far at the moment he’s just won a stage in that event so telecom managing to keep a good team in action on home soil as well as sin and the boys over here too now will we see the chase because they’re breathing down their necks and there they are 80 kilometres to go to the finish and they’ve got them in sight for the first time today since the 10th kilometer and it’s jazz tell who have started the countermove but I think the sprinters have all got their fingers and their legs crossed right now because they’re hoping it’s not gonna be too hard on this climb and hoping they can go over the summit of the climb still in contact with the main field the two leaders are just surviving but only just because there is the big shadow of the main field starting to pull themselves back it’s always difficult when you’ve been on a long breakaway like this to to hope that you’re going to survive but for the two men at the front it is all over after a very long breakaway of around about a hundred and fifteen kilometres a complete change on the front end of the main field as jazz tell launched the attack they’ve been launching these attacks for a couple of minutes right now this is Dario guard they of Fernandez who’s gone off the front and he’s the first man who will see these riders since this very early morning start to the race but it was Fernandez who literally ripped the field as he started the climb and a very steep hairpin Bend he’s right up to the two leaders but so is the advance party from the head of the peloton out so they’ve been caught in fact at 126 kilometres today so they’ve been in the lead for 116 kilometers and but unfortunately Bob it’s not gonna win them too many prizes at the finish well they hope they’ll get over the top of this little climb here and at least at the back of the peloton the riders going very fast from behind two breakaway guys are dead tired right now but if they can get a little bit of a rest they won’t lose too much time before the finish but you can see anthill Nikko coming through the peloton like a ton of bricks now hopefully appeal to stay on the back and then get down to the finish line but yes their chances are over for today and it looks like it’s going to go over to the sprinters the whole group is still contained we’ll see how much further this climb is and how difficult it becomes well it’s in outer and I must say that the splinters if they do win this will deserve it because they’ve had to withstand some rather nasty moments on this stage there’s a lot of attack came as soon as we turned that little right-hand corner at the bottom of this climb here men were launching themselves out of the front in fact what it has done is taken a lot of the sprinters teams away from the front end of the main field there at the moment clambering along and I tell you what the coffee de Strider there on the right hand side class done a very good job he’s accelerated what he wants to do is try and stay in at the front end of the main field and maybe if he can get himself some more king of the mountains points he shouldn’t have any problem being the king of the mountains today but if he can get himself a few extra points here he could keep that king of the mountains Jersey for a couple more days but you can see the main field just grouping together at the front ends and all of the sprinters men off in that long line at the rear end of that peloton a nurse David shibori of going off on the front well he’ll always be on the attack while little David and he’s now gone down to chase this rider from fuenlabrada or is it Seiko has gone clear here to various teams in very similar colors but there’s too often going for the Sprint at the top of the climb now could well be somebody like Fabio Saki here it was come clear and they’re going to take the points out so Paul’s theory has gone into the wind there unfortunately for a little clan because he was unable to score points it’s only third category the first six riders over the line will get the points and six for the wind down to want the silver and well written by these boys now as we head under this banner here which is saying nine kilometres to go just over five miles we know we’ve seen the finish now it’s uphill it would be in favor of breakaways gaining seconds over the field so on a day Bob when we thought that below ki wouldn’t have too much silver holding onto his golden jersey he’s under pressure well that’s absolute panic being throwing the peloton right now by Oscar Sevilla from the kalmyk team only 15 seconds behind on GC who might be the virtual leader on the road right now it’s incredible to see on a descent sevilla attacking and getting a gap on the hole on say team now about this nine second gap that wasn’t gonna work but at the moment is looking pretty good because here are the two leaders they start a new member over the top of the last little crime no vowel was the rider who attack quickly joined by David Etta Barea but I bet they didn’t think that this group of four would get off the front on the chase down the mountain and look as though they could well join them up with one of the race favorites in here Oscar severe roads so well last year as well in this event had a very disappointing tour I think because he sort of deflected his training because of all the problems he was having with did he have a team to race for was he ever gonna see a salary check coming in because they weren’t paying him and the time he got to the tour I don’t think mentally he wasn’t ready for that race but there’s no doubt he is ready for this race and as Paula said he shed a lot of weight and this is could be a very very good psychological move today well it wasn’t an ideal preparation for him for the Tour de France because the debate was right up until about 15 days to go whether or not his team would continue to finish the season and the were negotiations going on and one of the big teams looking to try and sign him up was team Telecom these are the two leaders right now they’re just holding on to a slight advantage over the chasing group of four Oscar severe will not get any help at all there from the man in second place Jose Acevedo he’s the once’ rider who obviously is being sent up there as the policeman to try and slow down the success of this breakaway but I can see a situation right now Bob where the whole of this race comes together in the last three or four kilometres seven kids seven seconds to severe and 13 seconds to the main field versus of incredibly long descent all the way to the finish in al-khoei and it’s a it’s a it’s a strategically a point where a small group could get a bit of an advantage but I think as we get down to the highways towards town defeat but I think they will see a big recruitment if anybody else had broken away besides Oscar Sevilla I think they would have stand a bit a bit of a better chance but now that once’ is chasing at the front of the peloton flat-out we’re going to see a very exciting finale here I think an absolutely right we’re not going to see too much indication as to who’s going to win the Tour Spain three weeks away in Madrid but this is a very very key move by Oscar Sevilla in a chase group of four as we now pass under another one of the banners here and it says six kilometers to go for the two leaders well we’ll have to fit in at one more very short commercial break and then rejoin us was that on says hotel could be switching camps well that’s a very cheeky move by Oscar severe which is why you have to be alert on every stage of a Vuelta a Espana or Tour de France or a Giro d’Italia and that is the clever move as a kind of move we’ve seen a man like you shall better Simoni making in the Giro d’Italia and you can see at the front end of the main feel it is absolute pressure now as small groups are forcing themselves off the front of the main field because of the pressure of the chase after Oscar severe who will not have any friends at all in this group Phil nobody is helping him to try and consolidate as advantage because they now realize that he has got a chance of taking the new jersey and the front though it’s the guard of mario Cipollini coming forward right now they’re going to go through all kinds of hell to try and pull back this breakaway as we go under three kilometres to go to the finish line we get a chance to see whether or not mario Cipollini and eric’s our bulls men can pull this race back together in the final few kilometers this is a doer struggle now by these riders and I think they may have made the move of the race out there coming across to this group and a brave move it was certainly at the time but just look now Cipollini must be feeling good to send his teammates to the front they are at three kilometers to go Bob it’s not many seconds of ticked by since the six leaders went through that bridge that’s Mario Sierra who’s a fare climber himself but Oscar suvir’s putting in a very impressive ride he must have great form right now if you can hold this peloton off to the finish that would be a real surprise and aunty will have to take a huge notice of that also revert to harrass of the postal team Sevilla is flying well the shooter is also flying pretty well here now as Banesto were launching an attack and there’s plenty of men looking to shadow him – looks like Oscar Paterno has hooked up as well so he’s playing when here in defense of severe the on say of putting the lighters into the mix as well and all of a sudden gone are the teammates of mario Cipollini this is not a race for the sprinters anymore now it’s a race to save time of serious panic at the front end of the main field santiago Botero not firing on all cylinders yesterday in the team time trial but today doing the job of the left tenant of oscar severe who is just off the front there the main field could almost reach out and touch but on a run into the finish like this it is so very difficult to close down the last 40 or 50 meters there is your Sheba Valachi very close to the front another move coming across the front here from Ibanez no calm everybody wants to move right now there is still a slight breath of air between the leading group of six but the main field is just there on the horizon to Kent in detention for Oscar Freire who isn’t too far off the front of that bunch either at one kilometer this is going to be a sensational finish it’s all going to come back together it has all come back together map a have done the job the team of oscar freire of the world champion have clawed back to oscar severe it’s a one compact group now the main field inside 1,000 yards of the finishing line looking over the shoulder the sprinters now want to know where their men are they’re they’re trying to make sure they can organize this sprint it’s a difficult sprint to sort out but on the front I also saw right in there Giovanni Lombardi which can only mean one thing super mario Cipollini has managed to get himself up there chipolina is up into fourth place looking back you can see Eric’s has opened a gap far behind him in fact they’ve opened a gap right now this is gonna be a big battle well it going a big battle but the line will be one winner here now because mario Cipollini i think has got himself onto the wheel here of Erichs arbol and that shut it all down now Ono’s adobo rider in fact who started the sprint now this has gone for Seco now leading them out here so Cipollini Ascari’s get yourself out of a little bit of a mess now because they’ve got some very good spreads as I say go but not the best men Asura’s Pataki is in third place and the is the man that Eric zorbel is feared an awful lotta tea breaks now and so as it looks as though it could be a first win here for faster portolo as Pataki is making the run for the line but he’s gone too soon this is going to be a desperate finish and it looks to me like a mill and AZ rider who is going to line this could be angle a doe is going to hit the line no he’s lost it on the line and it’s gone across to a rider from Seco now I would suspect Paul that that is possibly Sachi but we’ll wait and get confirmation we think it’s Fabio Saki who’s crossed the line and that is really a throne a cat among the pigeons because the top sprinters totally made a mess of that well it was so difficult just catching up with inside of one kilometer to go they were all over the road and they were trying to control all of the attacks Cipollini and factors just come across the line he was at the back end of the main field there but what an unbelievable running towards the finish line it was almost the day for Oscar severe but coming up there and you can see it was all down to the last search for the line there I’m pretty sure it was Fabio Saki who came through there a superbly timed sprint for him giovanni Lombardi was pretty close to the front end as well angles Aldo second up there and one of the Phonak riders – getting himself pretty close to the front end of the main field now Saki we think and I’m pretty sure looking at him here it is Fabio Saki that’ll be his fourth win of the year got good spinning form at the moment and pipping @xr bow on the line and the Phonak rider who is crossing the line there well almost certainly that’ll be a swim tooten burg and if that force win on that sort of finish is a terrific performance to him and look they’re in the top ten there you can see the Miami River the golden tunic there because your Sheba burlock II was very close to the front as well being very attentive at the front end of the main field but you can see the chaos of this sprint riders all over the place it certainly wasn’t an organized sprint this afternoon the team to the Sprint is getting very caught out there our example was without ever any men around him for today’s stage but he obviously proved this was an Eric Savile sprint and I think as we come up to the final search for the line will find that Erik zarbor managed to get himself across the line there in second place but it will certainly go down to the photo between second and third no I don’t know no it’s a clear second for Zabul Avila win for the Italian Fabio sake first blood for the sprinters we weren’t expecting him to do that watch the sprint again it was in fact the danilot de luca of Seco who got the sprint an example taking second place and in third place the former world champion Oscar cameras in here we are now it got danilot on the podium this by the way is seventh win of the year and he’s had a great August to finishing placed in the huge classic and the San Sebastian classy he won by the way the Grand Prix Fred meant gurney and Fred is a great friend of American cyclists and lives in the United States but this is the man now have we de’cine this picture earlier we’d have been able to spotted him but unfortunately this is our slow-motion camera that always comes in after the result is no but there’s no doubt who it is now poor absolutely no doubt at all Daniela De Luca now he also is a good tip for a world title at the end of at the end of the well tyrany he timed that to absolute perfection it was a tough sprint finish and he caught out a man by the name of Eric zarbor who’ve managed to get across the line in second place Oscar Kamen’s n was the man who came up there in third place and former world champion for Switzerland and the man who really I regard as the team captain on the road the team Phonak angle ada was up there for the maya MSS villa nazi team and paulo Busoni from Taccone sport put up there in fifth place but I think what was more important was the seventh place finish of leaf today because but one moment with about five kilometers to go he was no longer the leader of this bike race and he used his team to absolute perfection and pull himself back into the bike race with a bit of help I would say from Ibanez no calm and he’s having a bit of trouble there Phil putting the golden tunic over his shoulders but your Shiva by Loki still the leader of the Vuelta I was to go by to the classification general let’s have a look at inland that to message of the tour Spain we’re now on stage number four and by the time the riders return to the ocean today they’re going to find it rather hot and forecast temperature of 97 degrees Fahrenheit for the 203 survivors of this year’s talk I’m filling at joined of course by Bob Lowell and Paul Sherwin Bob yesterday was a great day for the sprinters and a great day for one man in particular mario Cipollini a man we’ve seen time and time again bolt out of the pack after a perfect lead out from his team aquas opponent won a stage his first ever in the Volta espana and I think that will please him a lot now he’s won stages and all three Grand Tours took a long time for him to get this one after four tries he’s finally got a stage in the welter espana most teams in cycling today aspired to two-pronged attack GC and stage wins but Aquos a pony Cipollini steamed they are dedicated to one purpose only and that’s getting mario Cipollini as close to the line as possible his teammate Giovanni Lombardi hand-delivered him to the line no one could come around I think we might see some more of that today is it it’s a flat stage but Cipollini back on top of the podium where he loves to be well as no doubt he’s done something he’s never done before that’s when the stage of the Tour Spain so he really has a very complete victory list in the big tours now but today you know it’s the calm before the storm because there are two big mountain stages looming on the horizon but today Paul might be another Cipollini win well it could be you know in fact he was saying at the start this morning that he’s got the same legs that he had at the Giro d’Italia just three months ago and he’s looking for another stage win before we get to the big mountains it’s a fairly flat course again done I think the most difficult part of today’s course for the riders is going to be the heat over this part of the southern tip of Spain it’s 149 kilometers from Agrius down to raucous Del Mar and it’s totally hand flat well I have to say that it is a glorious day and everybody’s on the beach at the moment down at the finish line but they’ll be up on the line very shortly to see the arrival let’s remind ourselves as to the overall situation it’s very tight at the top as you can well imagine and all of the leading of the same team courtesy of that team time trial a couple of days ago that opened the tour but lucky what he’s facing up to his fourth day in the golden jersey his teammates line up behind him best of the rest is now though Jose Gutierrez and Mikkel may cost the blank he’s a sprinter follow boys are both beat danger man Harris is ninth 14 seconds back the lead of u.s. postal and further down he’s got his teammates behind him as well in Jose Gutierrez and Santiago Patera had a flat tire sterday East 13th completing the top 15 juan de los angeles let’s go to the action [Music] and this is the man who is creating the action today it is Dario g’day oh and the rides for Jazz tell not surprising because he’s racing through the region of his sponsorship today so I guess Paul it was a pretty predictable move and it came almost at the top of the flag well he came straight out of the starting gate and affrighted one stage had built himself up an advantage of 11 minutes and 14 seconds but since then in fact there’s been a fair reaction at the front end of the main field and it’s really come from the AK was a pony team of mario Cipollini and yes he does go into the area where the team is sponsored by the cost of Dalal maria and in fact there’s a hot spot sprint their metal volantis as they call it in the tour of spain at 126 kilometers so he’s gonna hope to survive until then but I have a feeling Bob that the way the main field is going right now they should pull him back we talked before the end yes he’s got a pretty good gap now around about nine minutes but he let it go up to about 12 minutes 11:55 I think at one point and at that at that time both once’ and mario Cipollini Aquos opponent team sent riders to the front of the peloton started chasing i think one of the tactics he might think about using next time at least his teammates anyways he’ll be pretty tired after all day out in the front today is to keep the gap under 10 minutes that seems to be the magic number before an all-out chase from the field starts to ensue if you can keep it around 955 and let it wait long enough before the chase begins in the peloton you have a better chance actually than getting a lead over ten minutes so we’ll see what happens he’s putting in a good effort here though but they’re chasing in earnest now in the peloton so it might not be very long before he’s caught