Indurain drops out; Zulle and Jalabert dominate tough climbing stage
By Andrew Hood

Miguel Indurain

A struggling Indurain pulled out with 12 miles to go in the tough 159-kilometer (98-mile) 13th stage to Lagos de Covadonga, 3,400 feet high in the Picos de Europa mountains.

With Indurain out of the picture, overall leader Alex Zulle and ONCE teammate Laurent Jalabert attacked in the final kilometers on the steeps of the beyond-category climb.

Jalabert and Zulle rode shoulder-to-shoulder as they slowly pulled away from a lead group of 15 riders over narrow, twisting 15-percent grades. Defending champion Jalabert won the stage while Zulle eliminates his top rival in his quest to win the first major stage race of his career.

"I'm very happy with the stage. I'm happy for Jalabert and I'm happy for myself," said Zulle, who's now 1:13 in front of second-place Jalabert.

"I feel very strong and I want to keep the lead all the way to Madrid," said the 28-year-old rider, who finished second to Indurain in the 1995 Tour de France but had a poor 1996 race.

Jalabert was equally effusive following his second stage win in this year's Vuelta. He thanked Zulle for giving him the victory.

"The first idea was to eliminate the rivals; next was to win the stage," said Jalabert, who wears the overall points jersey. "We had a lot of confidence that we would win the stage."

For Indurain, the future is not so bright. The Banesto rider, who started the day in second place, 2:04 behind Zulle, said he won't decide about his future until the end of this season.

"I won't make a decision about my future until later this year," said the 32-year-old, who suffered over the Category 1 Alto Mirador del Fito, 118 kilometers into the stage, falling back four minutes behind Zulle and the lead group of riders.

Indurain also said he hasn't decided whether he'll race in October's world road cycling championships set for Lugano, Switzerland, but admitted he wasn't up to form to challenge for the only major stage race that's eluded him during his storied career.

"If I was suffering on the Fito, I knew I wouldn't make it up the Covadonga," said Indurain, referring to the beyond-category climb at the end of the Vuelta's 13th stage. "It's better to give up than lose so much time."

Indurain wanted to retire at the end of this season after winning a record sixth Tour de France, but the script was ruined 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.

Still, he looked strong through the Vuelta's opening week, staying within striking distance leading up to Tuesday's time trial. Indurain couldn't capture the lead, however, when Zulle posted a strong second-place finish behind stage-winner Tony Rominger (Mapei).

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

Today, he fell quickly off the pace when the main pack of riders hit the Category 1 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 beyond-category climb looming just ahead, Indurain quickly referred to the course map tucked in his jersey. He pulled off the course as he passed the Banesto team's hotel at the 135-kilometer mark and quickly disappeared into his room.

Could it be the end of the Indurain era? That remains to be seen, but for the ONCE team, the news was welcomed, but with respect.

"He suffered a lot in the past two days. Unfortunately for him, Indurain is having a bad moment with his physical condition," said Jalabert, who equally suffered through this year's Tour de France, which he pulled out of in the second week. "All the world cannot be 100 percent all the time ... if he wants to, he'll have to work very hard to come back as strong as he once was."

Overall leader Zulle is relieved that Indurain is out of the picture. All the Swiss rider has to do is stay on his bike for nine more days to secure the top place at the podium in Madrid September 29.

"Indurain has won the Tour five times. He's a great champion, but he was our top rival. Yesterday, after the stage I was more relaxed. Now that he is out, I am very, very, very much more relaxed," said a smiling Zulle.

Zulle said he and Jalabert didn't know Indurain was out of the race until they were well on their way up the final climb.

"We realized he was back. Word got around that he wasn't with us on El Fito. We didn't know until much later that he had pulled out," Zulle said. "Today was a very important day for ONCE."

Indeed, the ONCE team is dominating the race. The nearest threat is Laurent Dufaux of Festina-Lotus, sitting in the third overall at 5:24 back. AKI's Stefano Faustini is in fourth at 6:26, while ONCE's Melchor Mauri is in fifth at 6:51.

ONCE has five riders in the top 15, including Jalabert in the red points jersey and Zulle in the yellow leader's jersey.

Rominger took the white climber's jersey Friday after finishing fourth in the stage. American Bobby Julich (Motorola) wore the jersey for more than a week, and continues to ride a strong Vuelta. He sits in 11th overall and finished 16th in Friday's stage, just 2:39 behind Jalabert's winning time.

Early in the stage, a four-man break went out at the 10-kilometer mark and one of them--Polti's Mirko Celestino--held the lead all the way to the final kilometers on Covadonga.

The four-man break had a 3:32 lead as they started up the Category 1 climb at El Fito. The others dropped back, while Celestino and AKI's Dimitri Konyshev worked together. Celestino dropped Konyshev in the final stretch and quickly powered down the steep descent, more than three minutes ahead of the main pack of riders.

As the peloton headed up the climb, Rominger made an early attack and all the major players answered. Zulle, Jalabert, Fernando Escartin (Kelme), Davide Rebbelin (Polti), and three Motorolans--Max Sciandri, Axel Merckx and Julich--all gave chase.

Sitting back was Indurain, struggling as the others pulled away.

With Celestino already over the top, Konyshev finished second on the climb at 50 seconds back, then Kelme's Jose Rodriguez at 1:34, and Rominger and company at 2:20. Indurain didn't pass for another two minutes and slowly rode down the descent before quitting the race.

Celestino held his lead until 10 kilometers to go when Jimenez, working with Polti's Mauro Gianetti, caught him. A lead group of about 15 riders were hot in pursuit.

As the course hit grades as steep as 15 percent, the climbers moved to the front. First to make a move were Jalabert and Zulle, who attacked with eight kilometers to go.

The only riders who could answer were Rominger, Polti's Georg Totsching, Kelme's Marcos Serrano, and Faustini. Slowly, Zulle and Jalabert built up a lead--10 seconds, 12 seconds, then 24 seconds with four kilometers to go. They passed Jimenez and then Gianetti. Gianetti, who finished third in the stage, couldn't keep up and fell back, but stayed ahead of the pursuit.

Looking back at Rominger and company still languishing on the last steep section, Zulle and Jalabert upped the tempo even more as the course flattened out over the final three kilometers.

Powering ahead together, they approached the line and Zulle let Jalabert finish a bike-length ahead.

Just before crossing to victory, Jalabert looked back to his teammate and good friend, Zulle, and gave him the thumbs-up signal. They had realized their goals; they vanquished their top rival, they won the stage, and secured the leader's jersey.

As they celebrated their victory, others straggled in. Next were Gianetti, Rominger, Tostching, Serrano, Rebellin, Faustini, and Dufaux, all within 45 seconds.

Within two minutes, four more came across one at a time, followed by the Julich group at 2:39. More than half the field didn't cross until 20:31 later.

The Vuelta continues Saturday with the 14th stage, 202 kilometers (125 miles) from Cangas de Onis to a national park. After two tough climbing stages, the peloton gets a chance to recover. The stage is comparatively easy, with two Category 2 climbs and two Category 3 climbs.

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

Stage 13 results