ONCE rebounds, Zulle retains lead; Bugno wins stage as warm-up for world championships
By Andrew Hood

In a stage that looked more threatening on paper than in reality, the ailing ONCE team rebounded from stomach problems to control Friday's climbing stage and secured Alex Zulle's hold on the Tour of Spain's overall lead.

And the Spanish riders were skunked again when the peloton caught Banesto's Jose Maria Jimenez and Kelme's Fernando Escartin with only seven kilometers to go in the 210-kilometer (130-mile) stage riddled with five climbs.

Italy's Gianni Bugno (MG-Technogym) pulled away with six kilometers to go to win his first stage in this year's Vuelta, while Mapei's Tony Rominger finished second and Scrigno's Massimo Apollonio crossed the line third.

ONCE was at the head of the peloton throughout the day, paced by Frenchman Laurent Jalabert, who fell to 19th overall after losing more than 25 minutes in Thursday's disastrous stage.

Several of the ONCE riders were stricken Thursday with a stomach illness, including Neil Stephens, who finished last in yesterday's stage and pulled out of the race today. Only Zulle averted problems in ONCE's "Black Thursday."

Today, second-place overall Laurent Dufaux (Festina-Lotus) tried to attack on the first Category 1 climb at the 95-kilometer mark, but ONCE wouldn't let Zulle's only remaining threat get away.

"I wanted to try to attack today, but the ONCE team was much better organized than yesterday," said Dufaux, who won Thursday's stage and moved up to second at 4:22 back. "Today's route looked more difficult than it was," he said. "I'm happy with second place. I won a stage and I will finish on the podium. I achieved my goals in this Vuelta."

Zulle is all but sure to win his first major stage race with only Saturday's time trial--a strong discipline for the 28-year-old Swiss--and Sunday's ceremonial spin into Madrid to conclude the 22-stage Vuelta a España.

For Bugno, Friday's victory will help in the 32-year-old's campaign to be named to the Italian world championship 12-member team. Bugno has had an off season and wasn't on the Italian Olympic team and skipped this year's Tour de France.

But Bugno, who won back-to-back world championships in 1991-92, wants desperately to race in the world championships set for October 9-13 in Lugano, Switzerland, just 60 miles from his hometown in northern Italy.

"I hope I am named to the team. This victory today is very important for me to show the coaches that I am in excellent condition," said Bugno.

Bugno even wrote a letter pleading his case published this week in Italy's leading sports daily. Claudio Chiappucci and Maurizio Fondriest also tried similar ploys this week as selection time is nearing for the highly competitive Italian team.

"I am racing here to prepare for the worlds. I am so far back in the general classifications (56th overall at 1:41:16 back) that I only wanted to win a stage," said Bugno, who lost in a sprint finish Tuesday to AKI's Dimitri Konichev in Zaragoza.

Bugno dedicated his stage victory to Spain's Miguel Indurain, who pulled out of the Vuelta in the 13th stage. "I want to salute Indurain, who was a phenomenal rival of mine in the 1991 and 1992 Tours (de France) and who is a great friend," said Bugno, who finished second behind Indurain in 1991 and third in 1992.

"I hope he returns next year," said Bugno, who won the 1990 Giro d'Italia. Indurain's future remains uncertain. After a disappointing 1996 campaign when he failed to win his record sixth Tour de France, Indurain is contemplating retiring. The 32-year-old Indurain said he won't make a final decision until the end of the season.

It was announced yesterday that Indurain won't be on the Spanish world championship team. National team coach Pepe Grande said Thursday Indurain is still recovering from a chest cold and won't be in Lugano to defend his time trial championship.

For Bugno, the road to Lugano could go through Segovia. Riding with the main group of riders throughout the day, Bugno attacked just after the peloton caught Jimenez, Escartin, and AKI's Konichev, who pulled ahead after topping out on the day's final Category 1 climb.

The Motorola team was working the front of the peloton, preparing to attack when Bugno countered on the right side of the group. Motorola's Kevin Livingston was setting up an attack for teammates Bobby Julich and Axel Merckx when Bugno countered.

He shot ahead of the main group, hammering away in his biggest ring. Bugno built up an eight-second lead with five kilometers to go and never looked back.

"I thought they would catch me and it would be a field sprint," said Bugno, who recently signed a two-year contract with Mapei. "I was very lucky today."

With Bugno celebrating--ever the playboy, Bugno was making eyes for one of the presentation girls on the podium--Spanish disappointment continued. No Spaniard has won a stage in this year's Vuelta and the top Spaniard in the general classification is Jimenez in 10th place, more than 15 minutes behind the leader.

The peloton rode together over two Category 3 climbs early in the stage, where Rominger secured his climber's jersey for the Vuelta by winning the first and finishing second in the next.

Heading up the first of two passes on Category 1 Puerto de Navacerrada at the 95-kilometer mark, Spain's Marcos Serrano (Kelme) pulled ahead of a group of 20 attacking riders. Konichev followed and the two built a 2:43 lead heading up a Category 2 climb at the 134-kilometer mark.

At the top of the climb, Jimenez caught the pair and trio had a 2:13 lead heading into the second pass of Navacerrada just 25 kilometers from the finish. Konichev couldn't hold pace with Jimenez while Serrano fell back and Kelme's Escartin attacked.

Jimenez managed to hold his lead going over the summit, with Escartin hot on his wheel. Jimenez and Escartin tore down the twisting, diving descent through the lush, wooded flanks of the Guadarrama Mountains west of Madrid. Escartin cut 20 seconds off Jimenez' gap when Konichev pulled up next to Escartin.

A surprised Escartin worked with the kamikazi Konichev and caught Jimenez with 15 kilometers to go. "I've had bad luck in this Vuelta," said Escartin, who said at the start of the race he wanted to challenge for the overall. Along with Rominger, Escartin lost more than eight minutes in the Vuelta's opening week.

"I tried to catch Jimenez and when Konichev arrived, I knew the peloton wasn't far back," said Escartin, who was the top Spaniard in this year's Tour de France.

For Jimenez, his hard work on the steeps of Navacerrada was for naught. In the hunt for two stage wins earlier this week--he lost a stage in the final 150 meters in Tuesday's Cerler stage and couldn't counter Dufaux's final sprint in Avila yesterday--the 25-year-old Jimenez said he is happy with his performance in the Vuelta.

"I demonstrated that I am strong in the climb. I thought that I was good, but Escartin caught me on the descent," said Jimenez, called Spain's up-and-coming next great cyclist.

"I wanted to win a stage. For Banesto, it's very important," said Jimenez, who's more accustomed to helping teammate Indurain win races rather than take stages for himself.

Motorola had a strong race in its last hurrah, at least for the major stage races. With riders signing contracts for new teams next season, Motorola has three riders in the top-20--Merckx in 17th (22:57 back), Bobby Julich in 9th (12:47 back), and Andrea Peron in 8th (12:28 back)--and has been in the hunt for several stage wins, but so far has come up short.

The 22-stage Vuelta continues Saturday with a flat, 43-kilometer (26-mile) time trial.

With Zulle and Dufaux looking solid for the top two positions, the suspense Saturday will be over third place. Rominger won the Vuelta's first time trial and sits in fifth overall with his eye on a place on the podium Sunday in Madrid.

Sitting in front of the three-time Vuelta champion Rominger (1992-94) is Polti's Georg Totsching in fourth, just five seconds ahead of Rominger, and MG-Technogym's Roberto Pistore in third, 1:29 ahead of Rominger.

"I think I can make up the time in the time trial," Rominger said before the start of Friday's stage. Unlike the first time trial in the Vuelta's 10th stage, which featured a Category 2 climb halfway through the course, Saturday's time trial is flat, which could work to Rominger's advantage.

Rominger won the first time trial, two seconds ahead of Zulle. Pistore was ninth, 1:23 back of Rominger, and Totsching was 28th, 2:15 slower. If Rominger could move up to third place, it would make it a clean sweep for the Swiss on the podium, with Zulle, Dufaux, and Rominger.

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