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Cardenas grabs Vuelta win at Sierra Nevada

Published: Sep. 23, 2003
Photo: AFP

After a few narrow misses, the Vuelta a España King of the Mountains Felix Cardenas (Labarca-2) finally got a stage win on Tuesday, but he didn’t make any friends in the process.

Just like he did to Roberto Heras (U.S. Postal Service) going up La Pandera on Sunday, Cardenas sat on the wheels of Kelme’s Oscar Sevilla and Alejandro Valverde up the grinding 30km climb to Sierra Nevada before making a strong solo attack with 1km to go to reel in local hero Juan Miguel Mercado (iBanesto.com) to snag the victory.

Heras, meanwhile, used Tuesday’s 16th stage to make the most of what was his last real chance to try to shake race leader Isidro Nozal (ONCE). The 2000 Vuelta champion grabbed back 53 seconds to claw within 3:09 and made a serious move toward second-place overall, but Nozal is looking more and more like he’ll be the 2003 Vuelta champion.

Heras gained time, but less than he had hoped
Heras gained time, but less than he had hoped
Photo: Graham Watson

Heras attacked with 5km to go at the steepest sections of the Sierra Nevada climb but simply ran out of asphalt. Nozal was well-protected by ONCE teammate Igor Gonzalez de Galdeano and Marcos Serrano.

A long and winding road
Following Monday’s final rest day, George Hincapie (U.S. Postal) and Wladimir Belli (Lampre) didn’t take the start in Jaén, leaving 163 riders in the Vuelta. Hincapie pulled out after Sunday’s stage to prepare for October’s road world championships.

“It made sense for George to leave the race because he wants to be as fresh and motivated as he can for Hamilton,” said U.S. Postal sport director Johan Bruyneel. “George is very strong now and you saw it Sunday up La Pandera. I think he has good chances at the worlds.”

Despite the showdown waiting at the end of the stage, 14 riders managed to slip away early. Cardenas's Labarca squad worked hard to keep them close and the move disintegrated when Toni Tauler (Kelme) and Pedro Diaz Lobato (Paternina) attacked the group with 95km to go. Lobato would stay at the front until he was swallowed up in the final kilometers heading up Sierra Nevada.

Midway through the race, the peloton seemed to get slap-happy, with riders mugging for the camera, chatting to each other and enjoying some time in the Iberian sun. The peloton screamed and whistled when Labarca 2 riders tried to up the pace following the feed zone after Tauler and Lobato got more than nine minutes on the field.

Things got serious as the peloton neared Granada and the base of the 30km climb to Sierra Nevada. U.S. Postal, led by Floyd Landis and Manuel Beltrán, hammered the lower sections of the climb to quickly thin the field.

Cardenas wins stage, seals KoM jersey
Sevilla is back on track after suffering a fall in the Vuelta’s third stage into Santander which left the popular Spanish rider with a huge bruise on his left thigh.

Kelme put everything into delivering “El Niño” the victory today and Sevilla didn’t waste any time, shooting off the front of the lead group with about 24km to go. Hot on his wheel was Heras, anxious to take any chance he could to put Nozal into the red zone.

ONCE worked well to smother the early move with Gonzalez de Galdeano marking Heras. Heras was forced to bide his time until the final steep sections before launching another attack and rode the meat of the climb with Nozal glued to his wheel.

“I saw that Oscar had intention of going ahead, but ONCE wouldn’t let us get away,” Heras said. “We knew the lower sections weren’t good for attacks, but when I saw Sevilla attack, I followed. But ONCE was strong today.”

Sevilla tried several more attacks until finally a move stuck. Mercardo had attacked earlier with Jose Gutierrez (Kelme) and Sevilla, Cardenas and Daniel Atienza (Cofidis) bridged out to form a lead group.

With about 14km to go, Valverde, Leonardo Piepoli (iBanesto.com) and Txema del Olmo (Milaneza-MSS) bridged up to join the Sevilla group.

With 8km to go, the Sevilla-Mercado group had about 1 minute on the Heras-Nozal group, now down to about 20 riders, where Levi Leipheimer and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) were both well-placed.

Mercado – anxious to win for his team and in front of his hometown fans in nearby Granada -- made a solo move with 7km to go. Piepoli wasn’t about to chase and Sevilla and Valverde, who had been doing most of the pulling against a strong headwind, couldn’t react. Cardenas stayed with Sevilla.

Mercado looked to have the stage in the bag with 1km to go, but Cardenas profited from Valverde’s and Sevilla’s work. He stayed on the Kelme riders’ wheels before attacking hard, passing Mercado with 400 yards to go and grabbing victory.

“I have looked for the victory during all the Pyrenees, I was third, I was fifth. Now I’ve won. It’s very important for me and for the team,” said Cardenas, who also sealed the King of the Mountains jersey. “I raced with a ‘cold heart.’ I was on Sevilla’s wheel and followed Mercado. I attacked when I had to attack.”

Mercado slammed his fist on the handlebars after crossing six seconds later while Sevilla had to be satisfied with third place at 18 seconds back.

“It’s necessary to take risks and we have to be happy for the work we did today. We had the ‘dead weight’ of Felix to carry. It would have helped a lot to have a climb a little more difficult,” Sevilla said. “We had to fight two battles, both from behind and in front.”

Nozal nearing Madrid
With the Sevilla-Mercado group riding for victory, Heras made one last stab at Nozal on the final 5km with ramps as steep as 8 percent. Rasmussen followed Heras when he attacked the leaders, quickly dropping Nozal and leaving Galdeano gasping for air in the 2,500-meter mountain air.

With 2km to go, Heras widened his gap to 40 seconds on Nozal and was getting closer to catching the Sevilla group. But Heras simply ran out of steep road. He shot through to take eighth at 1:02 back while Nozal came in safely in 24th at 1:55 back.

Nozal: One day closer to Madrid
Nozal: One day closer to Madrid
Photo: Graham Watson

Heras moved within six seconds of second-place Galdeano, but vowed to keep fighting for overall victory.

“We knew that the last seven kilometers were hard, especially with the altitude. We knew we could cause more pain there in this part than earlier in the stage,” Heras said. “Now I am close to second, but I am going to fight on in this Vuelta. It’s not easy, but we’re going to try. We still have Abantos and Navacerrada.”

Nozal is getting closer to Madrid and faces only five days of racing and holds a solid three-minute lead over Heras.

Wednesday’s 188.4km 17th stage shouldn’t present any major problems, with a rolling course until the Category 2 Alto de San Jerónimo with 11.8km to go into Cordoba.

To see how today's stage Jaen to Sierra Nevada unfolded, just Click Here to bring up our Live Update window.

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