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Vuelta Travelogue - Quintessential Spain
Stage 21, September 18th,
Madrid – Madrid, 136.5 Km
Quintessential Spain
From the rich tapestry that is Spain you can choose your own Quintessential Spain. And in that tapestry La Vuelta a Espana has woven its own place within this unforgettable culture.
Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros-Wurth) crossed the finish line in Madrid to achieve a record setting fourth Vuelta a Espana (2000, 2003, 2004, 2005).
Roberto Heras' fourth Vuelta Championship ( Image © Unipublic )
The parade stage rolled slowly into Madrid , where the sprinters were determined to get a stage win.
The relaxed peloton ( Image © Unipublic )
Angel Vicioso was the last attacking rider to fail as the peloton went under the 1 km banner. The bunch flew down the false flat finish before a hairpin turn at 600 meters to go. Around the final corner Leon Van Bon led out the peloton with Alessandro Petacchi 5 riders back, but he had only one teammate left from the Fassa Bortolo train. Marco Zanotti (Liquigas) opened the sprint early; Petacchi motored past the fading Zanotti and held off Erik Zabel for the stage win. Stage 19 winner Heinrich Haussler finished third.
The stage winner ( Image © Unipublic )
Special Note: The Spanish Cycling Federation (RFEC) has suspended Roberto Heras (Liberty Seguros-Würth) for two years after testing positive for EPO. The test was administered before stage 20 (the ITT) of the 2005 Vuelta a Espana. Russian Denis Menchov (Rabobank) who finished second, will be recorded as Vuelta 2005 champion.
The International Cycling Union (UCI- cycling's governing body) informed the Liberty Seguros-Wurth team of the positive doping test on October 27, 2005. Liberty immediately suspended Heras.
After the suspension ( Image © Unipublic )
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