Preview
Stages
The first few days are tough without being particularly hard – the second stage ends on a Cat 3 climb, while the short time-trial the day after that will open up some time gaps. However, the last two stages will be the most important for the overall; Stage 4 finishes atop the tough climb of Laguna de Neila and has been pivotal to the overall competition when included in recent years. Still, the final one will be a nail-biter for the team defending the lead, with many short, jagged climbs on the road to Burgos, culminating in a sharp uphill finish.
Stage 1 - 7 August – Burgos – Medina de Pomar, 162km
Stage 2 - 8 August – Lerma – Miranda de Ebro, 175km
Stage 3 - 9 August – Milagros – Aranda de Duero ITT, 9.6km
Stage 4 - 10 August – Vilviestre – Laguna de Neila, 159km
Stage 5 - 11 August – Sasamon – Burgos, 168km
Teams and Contenders
With four Spanish ProTour teams alongside domestic powerhouses Comunidad Valenciana racing in Burgos, the 27th Vuelta a Burgos is not being neglected, despite the hectic schedule. Euskaltel-Euskadi will be looking place highly overall with Tour of Switzerland winner Aitor Gonzalez or Samuel Sanchez, while counterparts Liberty Seguros have a similarly strong lineup, bolstered by Basque David Etxebarria and Michele Scarponi.
However, perhaps Saunier Duval have the most potent team primed here, including Constantino Zaballa, Inigo Cuesta, Joaquin Rodriguez and Juan Carlos Dominguez! Rounding off the lineups for the teams from the sport’s top professional tier, Illes Balears still cannot be discounted, as the Osa brothers and Xabier Zandio, in good shape after a fine Tour de France, could threaten. Last year’s dominant force Alejandro Valverde, still hampered by that niggling injury sustained in the Tour, was shortlisted for the race but has had to pull out.
Comunidad Valenciana seem to challenge wherever they race; it should be no different here, with Carlos Garcia and Ruben Plaza leading their charge. Elsewhere within the Spanish teams, Relax Fuenlabrada, overshadowed by even the smaller Spanish teams so far this year could, should pose problems with Josef Jufre and Luis Pasamontes, while Ezequiel Mosquera (Kaiku) and Jaume Rovira (Andalucia-Paul Versan) could show their abilities again here. At any rate, any good results in this 2.HC race will be valuable for the Continental and Professional squads in attendance.
Stage 1
The first stage of the Vuelta a Burgos (2.HC) saw Spanish neo-pro Carlos Castano take his first victory in professional cycling, after attacking with one other rider before pushing on alone, as circumstances dictated. His victory continues Andalucia-Paul Versan's good run of forms following David Fernandez's bunch-sprint victory in the Memorial Ricardo Otxoa last Sunday. Despite their having a largely youthful and inexperienced squad of homegrown riders, clearly the modest Continental team have no problems mixing it with the bigger guns.
The 162km route from Villimar to Medimar de Pomar held no major difficulties, with two Cat 3 climbs preceded by a Cat 2 early on in the day. After 28km, Castano attacked and was joined by Relax Fuenlabrada rider Luis Pérez three kilometres later. Following an initial period of inertia, their gap grew to a maximum of seven minutes, as the younger Perez garnered maximum King of the Mountains points. Just after the last categorised climb, with only twenty kilometres to race, Pérez suffered an unfortunately-timed bout of cramp and dropped back. Behind, the pack was now winding its chase up into full earnest, just under two and a half minutes behind.
While the Relax man, his sufferings rewarded with the Mountains jersey for tomorrow, fell well back through the bunch as if it were a siv – Pérez eventually finished last - Castano gutsily held on to record an impressive maiden victory. Meanwhile, the peloton finished 31 seconds behind, led in by Hamilton world champion Igor Astarloa (Team Barloworld-Valsir) in front of Kaiku's Ricardo Serrano.
Stage 1 - Burgos – Medina de Pomar, 162km
1 º 112 CASTAÑO PANADERO, Carlos ESP AND 3h53'55"
2 º 91 ASTARLOA ASCASIBAR, Igor ESP TEA a 31"
3 º 73 SERRANO GONZÁLEZ, Ricardo ESP KAI a 31"
4 º 44 HERRERO LLORENTE, David ESP EUS a 31"
5 º 83 PALUMBO, Giuseppe ITA ACQ a 31"
6 º 117 FERNÁNDEZ DOMINGO, David ESP AND a 31"
7 º 98 SALOMONE, Antonio ITA TEA a 31"
8 º 115 DEL RIO ARTEAGA, Ion ESP AND a 31"
9 º 68 JUFRE POU, Josep ESP REL a 31"
10 º 18 ZABALLA, Constantino ESP SAU a 31"
11 º 7 ZANDIO ECHAIDE, Xabier ESP ILL a 31"
12 º 93 CARRARA, Matteo ITA TEA a 31"
13 º 33 ETXEBARRIA ALKORTA, David ESP LIB a 31"
14 º 8 TAULER LLUL, Antonio ESP ILL a 31"
15 º 14 DOMÍNGUEZ, Juan Carlos ESP SAU a 31"
16 º 13 DE LA FUENTE, David ESP SAU a 31"
17 º 81 ANZA, Santo ITA ACQ a 31"
18 º 12 CASERO MORENO, Rafael ESP SAU a 31"
19 º 41 ALBIZU LIZASO, Joseba ESP EUS a 31"
20 º 2 COLON MAS, Antonio ESP ILL a 31"
21 º 65 PASAMONTES RODRÍGUEZ, Luis ESP REL a 31"
22 º 21 CASTRESANA DEL VAL, Angel ESP MRB a 31"
23 º 62 ELÍAS GALINDO, José Miguel ESP REL a 31"
24 º 43 GONZÁLEZ JIMÉNEZ, Aitor ESP EUS a 31"
25 º 101 FAJT, Kristjan SLO TEN a 31"
26 º 6 OSA EIZAGIRRE, Unai ESP ILL a 31"
27 º 3 OSA EIZAGUIRRE, Aitor ESP ILL a 31"
28 º 105 DAVIS, Scott AUS TEN a 31"
29 º 66 GARCÍA MARÍN, Jorge ESP REL a 31"
30 º 108 FRATTINI, Cristiano ITA TEN a 31"
31 º 57 CASERO MORENO, Angel Luis ESP COM a 31"
32 º 55 GARCÍA QUESADA, Carlos ESP COM a 31"
33 º 92 BEUCHAT, Roger SUI TEA a 31"
34 º 107 TONETTI, Gianluca ITA TEN a 31"
35 º 31 BARANOWSKI, Dariuzs POL LIB a 31"
36 º 116 MARTÍNEZ, Francisco José ESP AND a 31"
37 º 37 NAVARRO GARCÍA, Daniel ESP LIB a 31"
38 º 32 CARUSO, Giampaolo ITA LIB a 31"
39 º 63 FLORENCIO CABRE, Xavier ESP REL a 31"
40 º 38 SCARPONI, Michele ITA LIB a 31"
41 º 76 GALPARSORO MARTÍNEZ, Dioni ESP KAI a 31"
42 º 84 KOBZARENKO, Valery UKR ACQ a 31"
43 º 78 MOSQUERA MIGUEZ, Ezequiel ESP KAI a 31"
44 º 16 RODRÍGUEZ OLIVER, Joaquín ESP SAU a 31"
45 º 61 DUEÑAS NEVADO, Moisés ESP REL a 31"
46 º 64 LAGUNA GARCÍA, Óscar ESP REL a 31"
47 º 46 SÁNCHEZ GONZÁLEZ, Samuel ESP EUS a 31"
48 º 94 CAVALLARI, Stefano ITA TEA a 31"
49 º 74 OARBEASCOA ISPIZUA, Rubén ESP KAI a 31"
50 º 52 PASCUAL LLORENTE, Javier ESP COM a 31"
51 º 58 PLAZA MOLINA, Rubén ESP COM a 31"
52 º 1 ARRIETA, José Luis ESP ILL a 31"
53 º 51 CABELLO LUQUE, Francisco ESP COM a 31"
54 º 11 CUESTA LÓPEZ, Iñigo ESP SAU a 31"
55 º 15 GÓMEZ GÓMEZ, Angel ESP SAU a 31"
56 º 86 POSPYEYEV, Kyrylo UKR ACQ a 31"
57 º 34 HERNÁNDEZ, Jesús ESP LIB a 31"
58 º 53 LATASA LASA, David ESP COM a 31"
59 º 56 BERNABEU ARMENGOL, David ESP COM a 31"
60 º 111 ROVIRA POUS, Jaume ESP AND a 31"
61 º 95 LILL, Darren RSA TEA a 31"
62 º 45 LAISEKA JAIO, Roberto ESP EUS a 31"
63 º 27 RENDERS, Jens BEL MRB a 06'01"
64 º 22 DE GRUYTER, Klass BEL MRB a 06'01"
65 º 28 WUYTS, Peter BEL MRB a 06'01"
66 º 85 PICCOLI, Mariano ITA ACQ a 06'01"
67 º 106 SERINA, Corrado ITA TEN a 06'01"
68 º 113 RUIZ SÁNCHEZ, José ESP AND a 06'01"
69 º 5 NAVAS CHICA, David ESP ILL a 06'01"
70 º 35 RAMÍREZ ABEJA, Javier ESP LIB a 06'01"
71 º 71 LÓPEZ GIL, José A ESP KAI a 06'01"
72 º 75 PALOMARES V., Adrián ESP KAI a 06'01"
73 º 77 ARANAGA AZKUNE, Andoni ESP KAI a 06'01"
74 º 4 LEONET IZA, Iker ESP ILL a 06'01"
75 º 118 PASTOR, Juan Antonio ESP AND a 06'01"
76 º 114 GOMES COLINAS, Víctor M ESP AND a 06'01"
77 º 54 PASCUAL RODRÍGUEZ, Javier ESP COM a 06'01"
78 º 17 LOBATO ELVIRA, Rubén ESP SAU a 06'01"
79 º 24 LAIDOUN, Julien FRA MRB a 06'01"
80 º 25 DAY, Benjamin AUS MRB a 06'01"
81 º 96 LONGO BORGHINI, Paolo ITA TEA a 06'01"
82 º 23 HUNT, Jeremy GBR MRB a 06'01"
83 º 103 PODGORNIK, Dean SLO TEN a 08'55"
84 º 102 KLEMENCIC, Zoran SLO TEN a 08'55"
85 º 87 ZRIMSEK, Jure SLO ACQ a 08'55"
86 º 36 REDONDO RAMOS, José A ESP LIB a 08'55"
87 º 48 PÉREZ MORENO, Rubén ESP EUS a 08'55"
88 º 72 CESAR VELOSO, Gustavo ESP KAI a 08'55"
89 º 47 ALBIZURI ARANSOLO, Beñat ESP EUS a 08'55"
90 º 82 D'ANDREA, Alessandro ITA ACQ a 08'55"
91 º 42 ANTON HERNANDEZ, Igor ESP EUS a 08'55"
92 º 67 PÉREZ ROMERO, Luis ESP REL a 08'58"
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