Zulle escapes brush with fate, retains overall lead;
Colombia's Rincon wins toughest climbing stage
By Andrew Hood

ONCE's Alex Zulle was watching his Vuelta a España lead slip away on the steep final two kilometers of Tuesday's beyond-category stage finish high in the Spanish Pyrenees.

Second-place Laurent Jalabert (ONCE) was forging ahead with an attacking third-place Laurent Dufaux (Festina-Lotus), and the 28-year-old Swiss racer's penchant for bad luck seemed to be returning.

With Colombia's Oliverio Rincon (ONCE) blazing ahead alone to take the stage win, a struggling Zulle slipped back 12 seconds to the Jalabert and Dufaux attack and looked to be in serious trouble of losing a lot of time--if not his precarious lead--to defending champion Jalabert.

Then came an unlikely savior: Compatriot Tony Rominger (Mapei), wearing the white climber's jersey, pulled up alongside and helped the struggling Zulle catch Jalabert and Dufaux in the final kilometer.

Rominger wasn't pure heart, however. The three-time Vuelta champion (1992-94) wanted to catch Jalabert and Dufaux and try to take one of the top three positions in the stage. Still, the older rider helped save the day for Zulle, something Rominger said is important for Swiss cycling.

"It's important that Zulle wins the Vuelta. It will be very helpful to Swiss cycling if Zulle and riders like Dufaux can be strong in the future," Rominger said. "I am almost finished and we need new, young riders to be successful."

Zulle lost a few seconds to Jalabert on time bonuses in the 165-kilometer (102-mile) 17th stage, but the perennial also-ran Zulle looks in good position to ride into Madrid the victor with only five stages remaining in the Tour of Spain.

"Today I had a lot of problems with the air," said Zulle, who keeps the maillot amarillo, or leader's jersey, at the 1,930-meter (6,369-foot) summit, the highest point in a Vuelta riddled with climbing stages.

"Rominger attacked very smartly and he really helped me catch them. I want to say thanks to Tony," Zulle said. The ONCE rider has never won a major stage race but has finished second twice, once in the 1993 Vuelta behind Rominger and again in the 1995 Tour de France behind Miguel Indurain.

"Dufaux attacked very strongly, he just exploded. I raced today out of my head," Zulle said. "I recovered later, thanks to my fellow Swiss, Rominger."

Zulle remains 1:10 ahead of Jalabert and 5:17 ahead of rival Dufaux in the overall. American Bobby Julich (Motorola) continues to have a strong Vuelta, finishing 20th in the stage and remaining 10th overall at 12:47 back.

In the day's melodrama, Jalabert said he was only going with Dufaux's attack to protect Zulle's lead and repeated that he won't attack on his good friend and teammate.

"Like I've been saying, I am happy with a second place in the Vuelta. Last year, Alex helped me win here and this year I'm going to help him win," said Jalabert, who finished second in the stage, more than 30 seconds behind Rincon but just ahead of Dufaux. Rominger took fourth while Zulle was eighth, 42 seconds back.

"Everyone in the world was going after Alex today, but now he has every chance to win the Vuelta," Jalabert said. "We saw that several riders were dropping back, and when Dufaux attacked I followed him."

The pace was brutal over the grueling climb with a 6-percent average grade climbing more than 900 meters (2,970 feet) in just nine kilometers (5.6 miles).

The peloton's elite climbers quickly caught a two-man break--Mapei's Daniele Nardello and Banesto's Angel Luis Casero--at the start of the climb in the Colorado-esque Spanish Pyrenees.

Nardello and Casero broke early in the stage and held a 1:51 lead through the Category 2 climb at the 109-kilometer mark. After heading through the narrow, winding Esero Canyon with towering walls, the pair's lead was down to 27 seconds at Benasque at the foot of the climb.

Six kilometers from the summit, ONCE had a strong presence among the lead group, with Rincon, Jalabert, and Zulle climbing out of the saddle with MG's Roberto Pistore, Festina-Lotus' Dufaux, Mapei's Rominger, Kelme's Marcos Serrano and Fernando Escartin, Banesto's Jose Maria Jimenez, and MX Onda's Daniel Clavero all in tow.

Polti's Georg Totsching attacked early but was soon caught by an attacking Jalabert, Dufaux, and Zulle with five kilometers to go, while Rominger and several others slipped off the pace.

Four kilometers from the summit, Zulle's difficulties started and Rincon's moment in the Spanish sun was underway.

An agile climber, Rincon darted past Jalabert and Dufaux, while Zulle had trouble keeping up. The 28-year-old Colombian was gone and never looked back.

"I felt strong when Dufaux attacked and went with him and just kept going. They couldn't stay with me and I thought I could stay out and win," said Rincon, a fifth-year pro taking his second career Vuelta stage win.

"I am very happy with my victory today. I have had some bad luck in the major stage races, but I am having a good Vuelta this year," said Rincon, whose best Vuelta finish was fifth overall in 1994, but who stands at 30th overall this year.

Rincon's victory marks a renaissance of sorts for Colombian riders in Europe's major stage races.

Compatriot Chepe Gonzales won the 11th stage in this year's Tour de France and Kelme's Hernan Buenahora rode with strength through the climbing stages of this year's Giro d'Italia.

Colombian cycling has seen a decline since the glory days of the 1980s, when several Colombian climbers made their mark on the peloton.

Luis Herrera won here in 1987, and Fabio Parra became the first and only Colombian to finish on the Tour de France podium when he was third overall in 1988.

"There are a lack of Colombians racing in Europe these days," Rincon said. "It's not easy to win in Europe, but I hope to see more Colombians winning in the future."

The Spaniards, meanwhile, are lamenting the lack of stage wins in this year's Vuelta. A Spaniard has yet to win a stage in this year's race, though 10 Italians have been atop the podium during the Vuelta's 17 stages. Sponsors are clamoring for a larger Spanish presence, but race director Enrique Franco Alvarez defended this year's event.

"We're having one of the best Vueltas in years. I would like to see a Spanish racer win a stage, but you can't say the Vuelta hasn't been a good race," Alvarez said in an interview in the Spanish sports daily Marca.

The 22-stage Vuelta continues Wednesday with a flat stage ideal for the sprinters remaining in the peloton. Unless a break holds, look for another frenetic field sprint at the end of the 219-kilometer (135-mile) race from Benasque to Zaragoza, called the most Spanish of all Spanish towns.

Two more challenging climbing stages follow on Thursday and Friday before the final time trial Saturday in Segovia. The Vuelta concludes Sunday with a ceremonial spin through Madrid.

Stage 17 results

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