Termin-Aitor

Gonzalez wins Tour of Spain in sizzling last leg

The Kelme-Costa Blanca team rider trailed overnight leader and compatriot Roberto Heras by one minute eight seconds at the start of the day.

But he left his rivals for dead by clocking 47 minutes 54 seconds for the 41.2 km time-trial which ended in Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium.

Heras, who was aiming to clinch his second Vuelta victory in three years, had to settle for second overall after finishing a distant 14th in 51:16.

Completing a Spanish podium sweep, Joseba Beloki was third overall.

The writing was on the wall midway through the time-trial as Heras, better known as a climber, struggled to go the pace.

Gonzalez, who won three stages in the three-week race, including both individual time-trials, dominated Sunday's action and had 1:23 to spare over runner-up Angel Casero.

He said: "I am delighted to finally have won overall, it is an unbelievable sensation."

U.S. Postal's Heras said: "We had worried something like this might happen. Gonzalez was much stronger in the mountain stages than we expected and I think that was where I lost the race overall, not so much in the time-trials."

Not heavily fancied before the race, Gonzalez, 27, was expected to be shaded by team mate Oscar Sevilla, but his compatriot had to settle for fourth overall.

Spaniard Aitor Osa took the King of the Mountains title, while German Erik Zabel, despite not winning any stages, secured victory in the points competition.

Gonzalez's next big challenge is the world time-trial championship on October 10 in Zolder, Belgium.

Gonzalez races to first major tour success

MADRID (Reuters) -- When the Tour of Spain began three weeks ago in Valencia, this year's overall winner, Aitor Gonzalez, was not even considered as an outside favorite for victory.

With just one top-10 placing in a three-week stage race prior to this September -- sixth in this year's Giro d'Italia -- it was assumed the 27-year-old's role would be to help Kelme-Costa Blanca team mate and leader, Oscar Sevilla.

However, Gonzalez nursed secret ambitions for his first ever Tour of Spain.

"I came to this race to win it," he insisted in an interview published in Sunday's El Pais. "Although in three weeks a lot can happen and a lot of different factors come into play."

Kelme-Costa Blanca were similarly hopeful that the fifth-year pro could take their second Tour of Spain triumph in three years.

"I always knew Aitor could succeed," team director Vicente Belda commented. "But we didn't play up his chances so he would avoid riding under pressure."

However, Gonzalez's ever-aggressive racing style and superb time trialing skills have brought the Spaniard into the public eye.

Winning stage eight to Ubrique by tearing off from the peloton on a dangerous downhill earned him a mere handful of seconds advantage over his rival.

But it was his convincing time trial victory in a thunderstorm in Cordoba that enabled him to come to within one second of the gold jersey, behind team mate Sevilla, and gain almost two minutes advantage over Roberto Heras.

Controversial attack

He was widely criticized for a controversial attack on the Angliru, which effectively caused Sevilla to crack and served as a launch-pad for Heras to make his own lone move.

But Gonzalez's improved performance in the mountains of the third week, as well as a last-minute attack in Avila, allowed him to stay within striking distance of leader Heras.

His dominant performance in the final 41.2-kilometre time trial, which ended in Real Madrid's Bernabeu stadium, secured him his third stage victory and allowed him to claim the coveted gold jersey when it counted.

Following Heras and Oscar Sevilla, Gonzalez, who was born in the Basque region, but whose family moved to the province of Alicante when he was a child, is the latest rider to be "discovered" by the Kelme team in recent years.

Alicante, where Gonzalez's father runs a chicken farm, is also the region of Spain where sportswear company Kelme have their headquarters, and the team were therefore interested in signing the young time trialist from the area.

Gonzalez's first seven months as a pro in 1998 were spent in the Telecom-Flavia squad, Kelme's affiliate team in Colombia.

On returning to Spain he took his first two wins abroad, in minor stage races in Portugal and France in 2000, and his steady progress as a time trialist then earned him his first victory on home soil in the Tour of Murcia in 2001.

Gonzalez rode his first Tour last July, in which he finished second on the stage to Pontarlier behind Dutchman Erik Dekker in the 14-man break which gained over half an hour on the main peloton, but was forced to abandon two days later.

Giro triumph

His first major triumph, however, came in this year's Giro, where he first won an uphill stage to Orvieto at the end of a 243-kilometer stage.

Lying fourth overall after the first stage of the Dolomites in the third week, Gonzalez made the mistake of not eating enough the following day and cracked on the final climb, dropping to ninth behind the new race leader, Italian Paolo Savoldelli.

However, he then returned to top level for the final time trial in Monticello Brianza, winning it by 43 seconds over Ukrainian specialist Sergui Honchar and a sixth place on the final overall.

Having succeeded in both the Giro and Vuelta, the ambitious and articulate Gonzalez -- whose nickname, rather predictably, is "Speedy" -- is now aiming for the Tour de France, although it may well not be with the same colors as he won the Vuelta.

A team change, to Telekom, is strongly rumored to be in the offing.

Gonzalez's contract with Kelme ends this December and the German squad are on the lookout for a new leader following last year's announcement that Jan Ullrich will no longer race for them in 2002.

The Spaniard will have another chance to impress a prospective team when he competes for his country in the time trial in next month's World Championships in Belgium.

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