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Stages:
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Prol.+21 |
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Kms:
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3.750 |
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Riders:
|
180 |
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Teams:
|
20 |
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Kms/hour:
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39,246 |
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Retired:
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62 |
Click to enlarge |
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The 50th edition of Vuelta a España was the first
one which was not celebrated in April and May; for the first time and as a
consequence of the changes in the international timetable, Vuelta a España
started to be celebrated in September.
The fifty-year old Vuelta showed an incredible supremacy on the part of Laurent
Jalabert who kept the Yellow Jersey from the 3rd stage until the very last
one and who also became the winner in five of the twenty-two stages, besides
the one which the German Dietz let him reach in Sierra Nevada.
This edition starts in Zaragoza with the outstanding absence of Fernando Escartín,
left aside of the team when his director, Juan Fernández, found out that he
had commited himself to Kelme Team for the following season.
This drop brought serious consequences for Abraham Olano- fellow team member
of Escartín- because he was forced to fight almost on his own against the
powerful Once Team which placed three riders in the final podium: Jalabert
( first), Bruyneel (third) and Mauri (fourth); all of them shielding Olano
who was second.
The funny anecdote is protagonized by Adriano Boffi, winner in the 19th stage
in Calatayud, in Aragón, thirty-seven years after his own father Pierino,
did the same in Vuelta a España 1958 in Zaragoza.
This has been a Vuelta marked by the absence of Spanish partial victories.
None of our riders was able to achieve even a flat stage. Just an , in those
days, emerging Abraham Olano chalked up the three time trial stages.
