2002 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	7–29 September
Stages	21
Distance	2,957 km (1,837 mi)
Winning time	75h 13' 52"
Results
Winner  Aitor González (ESP) (Kelme–Costa Blanca)   Second  Roberto Heras (ESP) (U.S. Postal)   Third  Joseba Beloki (ESP) (ONCE–Eroski) Points  Erik Zabel (GER) (Team Telekom) Mountains  Aitor Osa (ESP) (iBanesto.com) Combination  Roberto Heras (ESP) (U.S. Postal)

The 57th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 7 September to 29 September 2002. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2,957 km (1,837 mi), and was won by Aitor González of the Kelme–Costa Blanca cycling team.^[1]

Joseba Beloki, the second-place finisher of the 2002 Tour de France was part of the winning ONCE–Eroski team that won the opening team time trial of the race. Beloki held the lead until the fifth stage when he lost it to a teammate but on the sixth stage which was won by Roberto Heras. Beloki lost considerable time to other general classification contenders Óscar Sevilla, Aitor González and Heras. Sevilla took the leader's jersey which he had worn for much of the previous edition of the Vuelta. After the first individual time trial, his teammate Aitor González was within one second of the jersey. On stage 15, González increased the pace of the group and put Sevilla in difficulty. Heras profited from this and attacked to take the stage win and the lead.^[2] Heras kept the lead until the final day when there was an individual time trial. Heras started the day with a lead of one minute and eight seconds over González but he lost this in the first 25 km of the time trial. González took the lead and won the Vuelta, Heras came second and Beloki recovered to eventually finish third overall. The Vuelta was also marked by three stage wins of Italian sprinter Mario Cipollini who retired from the race after his third stage win to prepare for the World Championships.

During stage 15 riders climbed the Alto de l'Angliru in rain. Team cars stalled on the steepest part, some unable to restart because their tires slipped on messages painted by fans.^[3] Riders were caught behind them and others had to ride with flat tires because mechanics could not reach them. David Millar crashed three times^[4] and protested by handing in his race number a metre from the line. The judges ruled he had not finished the stage and he left the race.^[5][6] He regretted his temper – he had been ninth – and apologised to his team.^[3]

Route

List of stages^[7][8]

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	7 September	Valencia – Valencia	24.6 km (15 mi)		Team time trial	ONCE–Eroski
2	8 September	Valencia – Alcoy	144.7 km (90 mi)			Danilo Di Luca (ITA)
3	9 September	San Vicente del Raspeig – Murcia	134.2 km (83 mi)			Mario Cipollini (ITA)
4	10 September	Águilas – Roquetas de Mar	149.5 km (93 mi)			Mario Cipollini (ITA)
5	11 September	El Ejido – Sierra Nevada	198 km (123 mi)			Guido Trentin (ITA)
6	12 September	Granada – Sierra de la Pandera	153.1 km (95 mi)			Roberto Heras (ESP)
7	13 September	Jaén – Málaga	196.8 km (122 mi)			Mario Cipollini (ITA)
8	14 September	Málaga – Ubrique	173.6 km (108 mi)			Aitor González (ESP)
9	15 September	Córdoba – Córdoba	130.2 km (81 mi)			Pablo Lastras (ESP)
10	16 September	Córdoba – Córdoba	36.5 km (23 mi)		Individual time trial	Aitor González (ESP)
	17 September				Rest day
11	18 September	Alcobendas – Collado Villalba	166.1 km (103 mi)			Pablo Lastras (ESP)
12	19 September	Segovia – Burgos	210.5 km (131 mi)			Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
13	20 September	Burgos – Santander	189.8 km (118 mi)			Giovanni Lombardi (ITA)
14	21 September	Santander – Gijón	190.2 km (118 mi)			Serguei Smetanine (RUS)
15	22 September	Gijón – Alto de l'Angliru	176.7 km (110 mi)			Roberto Heras (ESP)
	23 September				Rest day
16	24 September	Avilés – León	154.7 km (96 mi)			Santiago Botero (COL)
17	25 September	Benavente – Salamanca	146.6 km (91 mi)			Angelo Furlan (ITA)
18	26 September	Salamanca – La Covatilla	193.7 km (120 mi)			Santiago Blanco (ESP)
19	27 September	Béjar – Ávila	177.8 km (110 mi)			José Vicente Garcia Acosta (ESP)
20	28 September	Ávila – Warner Bros. Park	141.2 km (88 mi)			Angelo Furlan (ITA)
21	29 September	Warner Bros. Park – Madrid (Santiago Bernabéu Stadium)	41.2 km (26 mi)		Individual time trial	Aitor González (ESP)
	Total		2,957 km (1,837 mi)

Jersey Progress

General classification (final)

Aitor González (pictured in 2005), won the general classification.

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Aitor González	Kelme–Costa Blanca	75h13'52"
2	Roberto Heras	U.S. Postal	2'14"
3	Joseba Beloki	ONCE–Eroski	3'11"
4	Óscar Sevilla	Kelme–Costa Blanca	3'26"
5	Iban Mayo	Euskaltel–Euskadi	5'42"
6	Ángel Casero	Team Coast	6'33"
7	Francesco Casagrande	Fassa Bortolo	6'38"
8	Félix García Casas	BigMat–Auber 93	6'46"
9	Manuel Beltrán	Team Coast	8'29"
10	Gilberto Simoni	Saeco–Longoni Sport	9'22"
11	Haimar Zubeldia	Euskaltel–Euskadi	9'49"
12	Claus Michael Møller	Milaneza–MSS	10'16"
13	Fabian Jeker	Milaneza–MSS	11'45"
14	David Plaza	Team Coast	11'50"
15	Guido Trentin	Cofidis	15'27"
16	Rui Sousa	Milaneza–MSS	16'36"
17	Pablo Lastras	iBanesto.com	19'33"
18	Tadej Valjavec	Fassa Bortolo	23'11"
19	Carlos García Quesada	Kelme–Costa Blanca	24'01"
20	Danilo Di Luca	Saeco–Longoni Sport	30'35"
21	Mikel Zarrabeitia	ONCE–Eroski	31'57"
22	Luis Pérez	Team Coast	39'42"
23	Pietro Caucchioli	Alessio	43'54"
24	Vladimir Miholjević	Alessio	50'13"
25	Christian Vande Velde	U.S. Postal	52'50"

References

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)