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Heras prepares to go on attack again Posted: Monday September 23, 2002 12:06 PM
AVILES, Spain (Reuters) -- Spaniard Roberto Heras will go on the attack again on Tuesday after winning his second Tour of Spain stage on Sunday to take the overall lead. "The time I took on the Angliru isn't bad," Heras, who leads the race by 35 seconds over Spaniard Aitor Gonzalez, told reporters. "But now there is only the Covatilla to put more distance between us. "Aitor Gonzalez has the Madrid time trial in his favor, and he beat me in the Cordoba time trial, but I think the difference in Madrid [a 41 kms test which concludes the race on Sunday] will be smaller. Heras's weak point may be his U.S. Postal team. Three of his eight team mates have already left the race. Two, Canadian Michael Barry and Norwegian Steffen Kjaergaard, have dropped out because of injuries, while Colombian Victor Hugo Pea was expelled for holding on to a team car on Sunday. Of Heras's remaining team mates, only American Christian Vandevelde has shown strongly on the climbs. "I have been waiting a long time to have such good condition and now I plan to use it well," said Vandevelde, who so far has always been by Heras's side on the lower slopes of the mountain climbs. Kelme divided Heras's domination of the mountains may enable him to pull ahead on the 9.5 kms climb to the Covatilla ski station, although neither Gonzalez nor his Kelme-Costa Blanca team mate and nine-day leader Oscar Sevilla, now third overall, have given up. Kelme are currently riven by internal divisions between Gonzalez and Sevilla, after Gonzalez's acceleration on the Angliru on Sunday caused his teammate to crack. "The way he rode wiped me out," Sevilla said. "I suddenly realized that Gonzalez had gone, I dont know why he was in such a hurry, none of our rivals had begun to attack." Gonzalez defended himself on Spanish radio by saying that he had not realized that Sevilla was not able to follow him, and that if he had done any damage it had been without realizing it. But the team is now split between the two leaders. Kelme team director Vicente Belda argued that Gonzalez would have to do some explaining to his team mates on Tuesday. "I was as surprised as anybody by his attack, it wasn't what we had planned by any means, Belda said. Nor can Tour runner-up Joseba Beloki be forgotten. While unable to follow Heras, the Spaniard showed increasing strength by finishing second behind the U.S. Postal rider on the Angliru and moving up a spot to fourth overall. "I am getting better every day, even if I'm not in as good condition as during the Tour," said Beloki. "I think I can now get on two podiums in the same year." Should he do so, Beloki will be the first rider to finish on a podium in both the Tour de France and the Tour of Spain since the Vuelta changed dates from April to September seven years ago. Heras's challenge is even more ambitious. Victory for the climber in Madrid, his second in the Tour of Spain, would mean U.S. Postal have become the first team to win two three-week races in the same year since Miguel Indurain took the Tours of Italy and France for Banesto in 1993.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. |
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