2004 La Vuelta a Espana

gntlmn

Hey! I know who you're talking about without having to look that one up. This rider did not ride the Tour de France that year. This Vuelta was his proving ground. He didn't know if he had what it takes to win a grand tour, and this particular Vuelta was when he discovered that he is probably capable of winning the Tour de France. He has never ridden a Vuelta again since then. Instead, his exploits are well known to all the cycling world, and I think everyone reading this knows who I'm talking about.

Here's the current GC for the 2004 Vuelta:

General classification after stage 16

1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 58.35.32
2 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 0.05
3 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.45
4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 2.02
5 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 3.45
6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 6.12
7 Floyd Landis (USA) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 8.30
8 Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 8.44
9 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 8.51
10 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 8.59
11 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 9.43
12 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 11.21
13 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 13.58
14 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Saeco 14.06
15 Aitor Gonzalez (Spa) Fassa Bortolo 16.35


I agree with you about Perez. He is riding magnificently. He should definitely be a threat for the overall GC with many mountains left to climb. All he has to do is to keep riding as well as he has the last two mountain stages, and he will win. That's easier said than done, but it will be interesting to follow this.

How old is Perez?

gntlmn

Isn't it sad that the heroic efforts of all these cyclists don't get any mention in today's "New York Times", except for one rider who dropped out early and who is being accused of doping? I suppose if one wants publicity, it's easier to get it by taking a few forbidden pills before a stage than it is to win the stage.

Virenque

Hehe yes its true that bad stories interest people more than good stories, but Im happy that doping affairs are well covered! Just that will make people think about it, talk about it and that can consequencly make better future of cycling and other sports!

gntlmn

I hear you there.

As for today's breaking news, it seems that Perez is the one to watch in the Vuelta this year. I think he will be the winner in the end. He's riding so well now. I expect him to continue to pour it on to the end.

Today, Perez gained 38 seconds on Heras, leaving Heras wobbling at the end of the stage, unable to match Perez' final attack. Temperatures today were around 35 C, sweltering. Valverde slipped farther back on this stage, and now it's a neck and neck between Perez and Heras in the GC. Heras still has the yellow jersey, but Perez is a close second.

By the way, Phonak has just announced that it has suspended Tyler Hamilton. Phonak mgmt says they believe Hamilton, but if he cannot prove his innocence and rebut the charges of doping, his contract will be terminated immediately upon final word that the results of doping stand against him.

So, from many people expecting Tyler to win the Vuelta, to his current position that he may be ejected from the sport for a couple of years, it's been a tough Vuelta for Tyler, even worse after dropping out early than it was when he was suffering with the rest of the peloton during the race. Now is his biggest trial ever in his career.

Not wanting to dwell too much on scandal, I will do some research on Perez and post it here. I want to know more about this climbing sensation. He's really putting the screws to Heras. Heras is no match.

gntlmn

First, here's the top 15 on GC after stage 17, today's stage in the heat.

1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 63.28.41
2 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.13
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 2.15
4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 2.16
5 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 5.55
6 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 7.56
7 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 10.08
8 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 11.09
9 Manuel Beltran (Spa) US Postal Service p/b Berry Floor 11.51
10 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 12.25
11 David Blanco (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 14.09
12 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 17.23
13 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros 19.53
14 Francisco José Lara (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 19.54
15 Miguel A. M. Perdiguero (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 21.50


It's still a very close race between the top 4.

Perro Loco

` 2 years ago perez was next great Spanish rider. His fiance was killed in an auto accident and he has had a mediocre few years until now. I did not know this until recently, but have read several reports this past week on the various news scources- velonews, cyclingnews.com etc.

He clearly looks like the strongest rider at the moment, unfortunately he probably lost time early on being a domestique.

Virenque

Yes, its going to be interesting until the end! Valverde lost a lot today, I hope he will come back! I agree, Perez is the strongest at the moment and he will be big surprise if he will take the gold jersey until the end! And after all dissapointings with Hamilton and Sevilla, that will look like "help from God" for Phonak hehe

gntlmn

Yes, in this race with Hamilton. But even though he may have lost time, when you consider he's only about a minute off from Heras now in the GC, and that he might be wearing the yellow jersey if it weren't for his domestique efforts, then that makes it even more likely that he will win. He's not getting any help from his team in the mountains. Heras still has Nozal helping him. And yet Santi Perez keeps bettering the Heras/Nozal duo. Now that Hamilton is suspended, I think it is perfect timing for him if he wins this Vuelta because it may set him up to be team leader next year in the Tour de France. I think he senses that, and he'll be hard to beat to the end of this Vuelta.

If I were a betting man, I'd put my money on Santi Perez to win final GC.

I did just read that he had lost his fiancee in 2002, which is I believe the same year he turned pro. He is 27 years old now, prime age for grand tours. He has also had time to recover from his tragic loss.

Craig Walsh

Maybe it is a T-Mobile thing.

Bad luck and T-Mobile seem to go hand in hand.

gntlmn

I wonder if Santiago Perez kind of dogged it up l'Alpe d'Huez this year at the Tour de France. He finished back 4:16 from Lance Armstrong, the winner. The way he's riding now in the Vuelta, you'd think he would have been closer. Maybe it was because he was domestique for Tyler in the TdF, as he was at the early stages of the Vuelta this year, and he wanted to conserve energy. He had no chance at the GC anyway. But his showing in the TdF made it pretty hard to realize how good he is now. Maybe Tyler's absence will work to his advantage.

gntlmn

Time's running out for Vuelta contenders--only 2 more stages, Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will be another mountainous stage followed by the mostly flat ITT on Sunday. Each day is going to be key at least for the top 4 contenders. Here's the gc after today's stage:

General classification after stage 19

1 Roberto Heras (Spa) Liberty Seguros 72.13.01
2 Santiago Perez (Spa) Phonak Hearing Systems 1.13
3 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 2.15
4 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears-Banesto 2.16
5 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros 6.08
6 Carlos Garcia Quesada (Spa) Comunidad Valenciana-Kelme 6.16
7 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC 7.56
8 Angel Gomez (Spa) Paternina-Costa De Almeria 10.21
9 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Vini Caldirola-Nobili Rubinetterie 12.21
10 Luis Perez (Spa) Cofidis, le credit par Telephone 12.25

Perez is riding very strong in the mountains, but he had a very poor showing in an earlier ITT, the one Hamilton won. He lost quite a bit of time to Heras who is not known as a good TT man. If Santi was resting then to support Hamilton as domestique, perhaps the result will be different on Sunday. But if not, he must make his move in the mountains tomorrow. Out of the bunch, Valverde is probably the best TT man, and he is very close to 2nd. If he has 2 more good days, he could win. And remember, earlier he almost pulled out of the Vuelta after a crash when he hurt his knee.

keydates

Yep. It's going to be close.

gntlmn

Now's when I wish I had live TV coverage. I think I would be glued to the set this weekend. Oh well, at least I'll get more fresh air. Heh heh.

Virenque

Did you try to use www.lavuelta.tv ? The quality must be very poor, bot better than nothing..