In a dangerous torrential downpour on the final climb of the day, Roberto Heras gained 2:50 on Oscar Sevilla in the Vuelta a Espana to take an overall lead of 35 seconds. Heras also beat Joseba Beloki today by 1:35. It is very likely that he would have beaten Lance had they been racing against each other today. Go Posties.
I kept up with that stage today on cyclingnews, I KNEW Heras would win. Its still far from over, he lost another one of his postie boys Victor Hugo Pena! BTW Did you read about the Brit David Millar who stopped 1METER before the finish in protest of the hard stage! What a punk! ...his race came to a finish at the top of the Angliru, when he stopped a metre before the finish line in protest at the extreme conditions of the stage. The organisers treated this as an abandon, and Millar exited the race despite lying in 9th overall. Extreme conditions?! I mean THIS is a reason to stop, not a little rain and steep climbing, thats apart of the race... U.S. Postal's Michael Barry of Canada rides on despite crashing earlier during the 174 kilometer (108 mile) 8th stage of the Tour of Spain, Vuelta a Espana, cycling race from Malaga to Ubrique, southern Spain, Saturday, Sept. 14, 2002. (AP Photo/Denis Doyle)
That is a pretty gruesome picture, but any wreck that you can ride away from isn't too bad on the grand scale of things. So many of those guys break their collar bones when they hit the pavement. I try to put those things out of my mind... too frightening.
mr_oily - Millar crashed on the climb before the Angliru and his stopping came as a result of that. After all, he was 9th before the stage began, so if he was still in contention (i.e. hadn't crashed) coming up the climb, I doubt he does it. It was a great race to watch, even as the pictures broke up all the way up the mountain. As long as Heras can put some time into everyone else on the next mtn. stage, he should win the Vuelta...otherwise, the time trial will decide it all.
Damn, oily. Now I know what a true "strawberry" looks like after seeing that guy's ass. Thanks for giving me an image that will never leave my mind, now.
