Jalabert fades, Dufaux shines, and Zulle hangs on in 19th-stage thriller
By Andrew Hood

Laurent Dufaux

In a thrilling, attack-riddled 217-kilometer (134-mile) 19th stage, the cast of characters in the 51st Tour of Spain played out their melodrama on the steeps of the Gredos Mountains west of Madrid.

Overall leader Alex Zulle (ONCE) proved he deserves top billing, retaining the overall lead by keeping pace with a series of vicious attacks on the climbs.

Laurent Dufaux (Festina-Lotus), so far outshined by the dominant ONCE team, attacked with a vengeance, won the stage, and moved up to second overall in the standings.

American Bobby Julich (Motorola) showed once and for all he's now one of the big boys while defending champion Laurent Jalabert (ONCE) tumbled off the A-list.

The only calm in Thursday's stage--with two Category 1 climbs and a final Category 2 climb before a quick descent into Avila--was the weather.

Cobalt-blue skies and warm temperatures proved to be the perfect elements for Dufaux's alchemy and a recipe for disaster for others, namely the 26-year-old Jalabert.

Jalabert started the day in second place overall, just 1:10 behind teammate Zulle, but the Frenchman entered the stage suffering from stomach ailments. When the leaders attacked on the day's first of three grueling climbs, Jalabert didn't have the strength in his legs to answer.

In an eerie replay of his similar fall from grace in this year's Tour de France, Jalabert limped into the finish line 25:06 behind and lost his chance of a possible podium finish, tumbling to 20th overall.

After several break attempts were absorbed in the early, flat sections of the fast-paced stage, Dufaux attacked on the steeps of the 1,570-meter (5,181-foot) Puerto de Serranillos with three other riders and later bolted away to win his first stage in this year's Vuelta in dramatic fashion.

Throughout the day, Zulle responded, showing the peloton he's recovered from missteps in Tuesday's climbing stage in the Spanish Pyrenees. Riding with Zulle was a group of about 20 of the peloton's elite climbers about one minute behind Dufaux, including Mapei's Tony Rominger.

So was Motorola's Julich, having the race of his career. The 24-year-old Julich rode strong over the climbs and moved up to ninth overall, finishing with the Zulle/Rominger group just 43 seconds behind Dufaux.

The day's star, however, was Dufaux. The Swiss climber looked fresh throughout the stage and bolted away from a four-man break in the final two kilometers to win the stage.

"Today was a great day for me. I felt my strongest in the Vuelta and I won the stage, which I wanted to do," said Dufaux, who blew kisses to the heavens as he finished ahead of Mapei's Daniele Nardello and Motorola's Andrea Peron, who crossed the line second and third, respectively.

Banesto's Jose Maria Jimenez, who finished fourth in the stage, again tried in vain to win a stage for the Spaniards in their national tour, but couldn't keep pace when Dufaux flashed to the finish.

"More important is that I'm in second overall," said Dufaux, who finished fourth in this year's Tour de France. "Tomorrow's another tough stage and I'm going to attack again. Anything could happen."

Indeed, even more pyrotechnics could light up the leaderboard in Friday's climbing stage. The 209-kilometer (129-mile) race takes the peloton back into the mountains for no less than five climbs.

This time the backdrop will be the Guadarrama Mountains, which greet the racers with two Category 3 climbs in the first 50 kilometers (31 miles), followed by a Category 1 climb at Puerto de Navacerrada that makes two appearances in the stage.

The first pass comes at the 95-kilometer (58-mile) mark, which will likely splinter the peloton. The course then drops more than 1,000 feet before hitting a Category 2 climb at 133 kilometers (82 miles), then drops again before climbing more than 3,000 feet to Navacerrada for the second pass.

It's a steep drop down to the finish at Segovia, one of Spain's three World Heritage sites and home to a 2,000-year-old Roman aquaduct towering over the city.

If that weren't enough, Saturday is the final time trial, a flat, 43-kilometer (26-mile) course that should cement Zulle's overall lead; that is, if he still has it.

Zulle rode with confidence Thursday, not losing sight of Dufaux's attack and worked without the help of any teammates in the second group of climbers that were just over one minute behind the Dufaux group at the day's final climb.

"It was very hard today. When Dufaux went out, it was a little bit dangerous," said Zulle, looking poised to win the first major stage race of his career.

Riding with Zulle throughout the climbs was compatriot Rominger, who retains his climber's jersey and jumps up to fifth in the overall at 8:51 back.

With the demise of Jalabert, Rominger--a three-time winner at the Vuelta (1992-94)--has a legitimate shot at finishing on the podium when the Vuelta ends Sunday with a ceremonial spin through the streets of Madrid.

While Zulle and Dufaux appear to have the top two positions locked, MG's Roberto Pistore at 7:10 back and Polti's Georg Totsching at 8:34 back have a more tenuous hold on third and fourth, respectively.

A strong time trialist who won the Avila time trial in the Vuelta's 10th stage, Rominger could gain time on the pair in Friday's stage and steal even more in the time trial Saturday.

"I think Rominger has goals for podium," said Zulle, who received a helping hand from Rominger on Tuesday's climbing stage. Zulle also denied there's a "Swiss Mafia" at work in the Vuelta.

"We're on different teams, no? But he's a Swiss and he helped me at Ampriu. But Tony's looking to finish on the podium and will ride for himself," he said.

Jalabert had the look of dejection as he crossed the line, knowing his Vuelta ended in another humiliation. Jalabert looked to be in good form in the Vuelta's opening two weeks. In fact, many were saying the defending Vuelta champion was stronger than ONCE teammate Zulle and was reluctantly holding back to help the Swiss rider.

Jalabert won two stages--the first, a field sprint in the opening week, and the second at Convadonga, called the Alp d'Huez of the Vuelta--and was riding strong until today.

When Dufaux attacked with Kelme's Fernando Escartin at the 143-kilometer mark, Jalabert was already well back in the peloton and not in position to follow.

As Dufaux and the two front groups barreled down the summit, Jalabert was still languishing on the steeps.

By the time Dufaux and company were being presented their trophies and throwing flowers to the crowd at the podium near the finish line, Jalabert was spinning slowly, still out on the flats 10 kilometers outside of Avila, one of Spain's most beautiful walled cities.

Jalabert--a popular rider with the peloton as well as with the Spanish racing fans who appreciate his deft skills in Castillian--now can only hope to recover enough to help Zulle through the closing stages.

Stage 19 results

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