Vuelta a lesser race with Indurain absent
By Andrew Hood

The cycling world gave a collective nod to five-time Tour de France champion Miguel Indurain, who pulled out of the Tour of Spain in Friday's 13th stage.

Nearly everyone, from racers to journalists to team coaches and fans, lamented Indurain's loss and said the Vuelta a España isn't the same race without the popular Spaniard as a member of the peloton.

"He'll always be the best to me. A bad day or a bad race doesn't make a difference. He's always shown he's the best and days like yesterday can't change what he's done," said overall leader Alex Zulle (ONCE).

"For me, Miguel always is, and always will be, the best," said Zulle, who stands 1:13 ahead of ONCE teammate Laurent Jalabert.

After failing to get the lead in Tuesday's time, Indurain struggled through Thursday's climbing stage and pulled out Friday after falling back four minutes to Zulle in the only major stage race he's never won.

"The only thing you can say is thank you," said Jose Miguel Echavarri, Indurain's mentor and team manager at the Banesto squad. "His decision to quit is an historic one. Great racers are born, they win, then they say 'adios.'"

Hundreds of fans gathered outside of Indurain's hotel Thursday to pay homage to their national hero. The Vuelta was enjoying great national and international attention this year because the soft-spoken Indurain was racing here for the first time since 1991.

Indurain, 32, flew on Saturday to a southern Spanish beach town to rest with his wife and son. He said he caught a small cold in Tuesday's blustery and cold time trial, which hampered his performance in back-to-back climbing stages.

"Without the health, I can never function," said Indurain in a news conference following the stage. "(Tony) Rominger attacked in the first climb and my legs just didn't have it. It was very humid and cold and I felt I wasn't going very well."

He started Thursday's climbing stage only one minute behind Zulle, but lost another minute over the final kilometer up the steep Category 1 finish outside of Oviedo.

Friday, he fell quickly off the pace when the main pack of riders hit the Category 1 El Fito climb. Rominger attacked and the others followed, but Indurain fell back. Looking flat and uninspired, Indurain sat in his seat as rider after rider streamed past.

With the Covadonga beyond-category climb--called the Alp d'Huez of the Vuelta a España--looming ahead, Indurain quickly referred to his course map, tucked into his jersey. He pulled off the course as he passed the Banesto team's hotel at the 135-kilometer marker and quickly disappeared into his room.

"I had weak legs and the humidity was affecting me more on the climb," Indurain said. "I said to (teammate) Marino Alonso to continue, and I knew I wasn't going to make it."

Indurain was asked by Banesto officials to race in the Vuelta in what could be his last year racing. Indurain wanted to retire at the end of this season after a planned win of a record sixth Tour de France, but the script turned sour when the soft-spoken Spaniard struggled through the Tour's climbing stages and finished 12th overall.

Although he recovered in August to win the Olympic time-trial gold medal, Indurain entered this year's Vuelta hesitantly. He hadn't raced here since 1991 and was mobbed by fans everywhere he went.

"My intention was to make a good Vuelta. Once I decided to do it, I prepared as best I could. It had been going very well. At first, I felt very well, I had been attentive in the race and it was going very nicely," Indurain said.

"I didn't want to abandon, but after El Fito there was Covadonga, a climb much harder. I tried to do it, but it wasn't to be. You have to be at the top of your form to compete at this elite level," Indurain said.

"If it's going good, the suffering is worth it, because you are motivated to win," he said. "The plan was to ride strong in the Tour (de France), and the Olympics and the Vuelta were secondary goals."

For Indurain, the future remains uncertain. He's won the Tour five times, the Giro d'Italia twice. He wanted a record-sixth Tour victory to put him in a class by himself.

Only three others--Jacques Anquetil, Eddy Merckx, and Bernard Hinault--have won cycling's most important race five times, and Indurain's singular motivation has been winning the Tour.

"I won't make a decision about my future until later this year," he said. Also, Indurain said he hasn't decided whether he'll race in October's world road race cycling championships in Lugano, Switzerland.

"Later I will see if I feel strong enough to return to try to be the world champion. If I do, I will prepare to win it," said Indurain, who's finished second twice in the world road race championships, but never won it.

As the peloton started Saturday's stage, there was a pall over the crowd. Caught up in Indurain-mania, Spanish racing fans lost some of their passion for the Vuelta without their beloved Indurain at the start line.

"The Vuelta without Indurain isn't as important," said Rominger, who won the Vuelta three years straight from 1992-94. "The truth is that Indurain's abandonment is a bad thing for the Vuelta. ... Without Indurain, the Vuelta will only be a fight to see who wins between Zulle and Jalabert."

Andrew Hood is in Spain covering the Vuelta for Outside Online.