Vuelta a España
Marcel Wüsts Online-Tagebuch
Der Kölner Radprofi Marcel Wüst (Festina) hat in seiner
Profi-Karriere bereits acht Vuelta- Etappensiege feiern können und
auch in diesem Jahr möchte der Sprintspezialist gern wieder
bei der ein oder anderen Etappe ganz vorn sein.
Lesen Sie bei RADSPORT-NEWS.COM Marcel Wüsts
Online-Tagebuch von der Vuelta. Marcel meldet sich täglich per E-Mail aus Spanien und
schreibt in Englisch für seine internationale Fangemeinde.
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22.09.99 17. Etappe: Ronchales - Guadalajara, 225km
back home I'm typing this last one. after trying really
hard and not making it I can't say I'm disapointed with
the vuelta but I definitely would have loved it to make
it to madrid, especially so close before the end. after
doing so well in the first week making it through to the
last one would have iced the cake. It was just one
"pestoso" stage to much....
the race: really hard and fast in the begin...that's
when I got dropped and when I had 130km into straight
head wind to go and was already 10min. behind the lead
group I realized I would not make it inside the time cut
so I just climbed off before the feed zone....the break
went through and finished 12 min.ahead of the bunch
the hotel: HOME!!! I changed my ticked due for sunday
and came home the same nite. great feeling to sleep in
your own bed after being away for so long AND being with
the family!!
the pestoso of the day: rocioli attacked after 2 km and
stuffed it all up, especially for me....he got bonus
points for being dropped just after me but he was lucky
to get back on through the cars....I did not, special
thanx to the vuelta comissaires who have been very
correct until the barcelona incident but since then
I received "special treatment" due to the points
jersey as well....but don't get me wrong I was just
to stuffed up to finish this hardest vuelta in history....
I don"t blame no one.... after 17 stages the g.c for
the pestoso is Rocioli having so many points that
no one can catch him until madrid....and you don't
have to finish the vuelta either to claim overall
"pestoso" SO CONGRATULATIONS FABIO!!!
the quote of the day: "this must be some spanish
retirement place...all there is are old people" Franke
Andreu at the start line in "Bronchales" a 500people,
80 houses place in the middle of nowhere where we
started stage 17.
I say bye for the vuelta 99...good luck for all of
you still hanging in there.
until the next time take care
mw
21.09.99 16. Etappe: Valencia - Teruel, 200km
the side effects of high level cycling for 3 weeks:
intense muscle ache which does not even disapear after
daily massage, loss of appetite, extreme loss of weight
and power and disturbed sleep. after stopping the
treatment all this disapears slowly but until I can stop
my treatment next sunday in madrid (I hope I make it)
there is 3 days of immense torture ahead then a tt and
the last one which is always nice to do.
the race: early break, got dropped with a small group
@ 55km to go...should try for different grupetto
buddies tomorrow because x-cept 4 the experienced guys
no one really felt like taking the share of the work.
the hotel: great food but a bit "old". I stuffed the
usual menue due to one of the side effects and orderd
rice with gorgonzola sauce. this was the first time I
really enjoyed eating in the last week.had a beer to
wash it down and will be asleep b4 10:30 tonite
as early as never b4 in the vuelta!
the pestoso of the day: luis perez from ONCE. not
ONE pull in the grupetto but going up all the hills
in the big ring pretending to be a champion. If you
don't pull dude go in the back and get out of
everyones way and don't split the grupetto in pieces
by loosing wheels all the time.
quote of the day: "3 more days of torture" myself
about how I feel about the rest of the vuelta
tomorrow is the most "pestoso" stage of all the race.
225km shit roads, never flat and cross winds....
tomorrows report might be really short too...
later
mw
20.09.99 15. Etappe: Senia - Valencia, 200km
und 14. Etappe: Barcelona - Barcelona, 95km
again one day late...sorry...
the sunday in barcelona should have been a festival of
cycling...it was a disaster.
pooring rain, dangerous cirquit and no one felt like
racing and breaking a bone...
we tried to negociate with the commisaires and organizers
to find a solution...like having the stage but without
applying any time changes for the general classification
which they did not accept....so we started, went really
slow, the spectators got pissed off, then stopped,
restarted and finally we turned our selfes into clowns
when someone attacked and we raced what we agreed not
to....lets get this day out of everyones memory but
not do the same mistakes again.
no more to say about this stage....
...not even the usual stuff...just the hotel sucked
as well, I could not even get online so that's why
I'm late.
stage 15 la senia - valencia
it calmed down a bit after we and especially myself
received heaps of shit of the spanish media.
they reckoned I was the bad guy and did not wanna
race because I was the one who went talking with the
commisair (he's swiss and he understands german the
best).
sometimes it can be a boumerang it you speak to many
languages, just translate and try to help the
situation.
the race: early break after the first intermediate
sprint and they stayed away to the finish. here you
see the experienced guys knowing when to be in
the front: herve, andreu, ekimov, piccoli all this
people were in the front when they had to..and made
the winning break. to bad only one guy can win, so
good onyer "jeki" ekimov but really big bummer for
frankie andreu, who spent the last few days grovelling
through the grupettos with me...he would have really
deserved it as would pascal herve who was in many
breaks but hasn't pulled the lucky number in the
vuelta yet.
the hotel: great 4 stars and 3 phone plugs...I could
even send this from the toilet.
I have the room for myself as my roommate fabian
jeker had to pull out with the injuries of his crash
2 days ago....tomorrow I'll be with jaime hernandez
so I'll have to start hitting him with pillows in
the middle of the night...when he starts snoring...
the pestoso of the day: equal points for all
of the banesto team...they blew the bunch apart in the
last climb of the day at 35km to go...the reason?
gotta go and talk to the banesto director tomorrow.
I hope it was because of the crosswind we had the
last 15km. if not I have NO idea!
quote of the day: "thanx banesto" almost all the
guys in the 2nd group said it after the above described
happened in the last climb.
4 more days to go...then time trial and the last in
madrid...but it will NOT be a piece of cake...
mw
18.09.99 13. Etappe: Andorra- Castellar del Riu, 149km
downhill, this is wwhats going on,,,but not he roads,
just my physical condicion is pulling a dissapearing
act...and there is nothing I can do about it.
suffered all day and made it in the cut nothing news
from yesterday:
the race: fast, hard but I didn"t bother about the
things happening...to bad of legs.
the hotel: good bed and good food..don:t bother about
anything else
the pestoso del day: roommate fabian jeker nominated
him self....first attack of the day and then a crash
in the front of the bunch (yes just him!!!!!) but
he almost took people like ullrich and tonkov with him.
quote of the day:"marcel tu vas a ganar en la
castellana" optimistic fans yelling that at me going
up the last climb....want my opinion: I don"t
reckon, but I'll try
hasta manana
mw
17.09.99 12. Etappe: Sort - Andorra-Arcalis, 147,5km
the worst...short...little time cut and 4 big climbs!
the race: 38th of the stage lost more then 29 mins...
this says it all no?
olano cracked jan took gold and the top3 are within
a min ute...should be interesting.
the hotel: spa bath!!! just what I needed after saving
my ass into the cut and a big comfortable bed...what
more do I need?
the pestoso of the day: vicario from fuenlabrada
(the one who caused my crash the other day) attacked
first after 6k into a cat1 climb and more points to
piccoli for riding to hard in the grupetto up to Arcalis.
GC after almost 2 weeks.1 Vicario, 2. Piccoli, 3. Rocioli
quote of the day: "how many minutes we have?" the most
asked question in all groups of the day...thanx
commisaires to make the cut from 12% to 14%...otherwise
the vuelta would go with less the 90 riders in the last
week.
special balls of the day: jalabert finishing last
together with sorensen...you need big morale to grovel
through the vuelta he used to dominate. after his
injury it's great to see a great champion making it back
with good old fashioned guts...good onyer jaja!!
nite now
mw
16.09.99 11. Etappe: Huesca - Pla de Berret, 200km
I was the worst of the bunch today...by far!! made
it to the finish in the last group but if I'm not
way better tomorrow I might be home b4 I wanted....
just depends on the way they race up the first
climb...right from the start.
the race: early break, they stayed up front and
nardello won, our garcia casas was third. 40 average
after 3 climbs and a top of the mountain finish.
the hotel: 4 star, good food but all I need today
is a bed anyway...
the pestoso of the day: mainly all the guys attacking
from the gun all day....viva "il giro d'italia" where
after 2 days of attacking from the gun we always had a
day where there was at least 2-3 hours of piano and
cruising....the worst thing : this guys are always
the same.
quote of the day: "no quiero mas bici" (don't
want any more cycling). myself when the spanish radios
asked me for a quote when I grovelled in the finish
at pla de beret.
later mw.
[PS could not get online yesterday...so this is a day late]
15.09.99 10. Etappe: Saragossa - Saragossa, 182,5km
no, I don't wanna talk about this day any more....
I was really hurt from the crash, got dropped and if
there were not 5 of my team ates waiting for me I would
have pulled out. finally got into the finish with another
54 guys...all got dropped in the big crosswind section
after 80km.
the race: the early break after 33km made it to the
finish...they saved just under half a minute after
being chased all day....outchakov won it and the never
stopping attacking dude rocioli came second....I lost
more the 13mins and a lot of morale...hope I'll be
better tomorrow.
the hotel: still the same......
the pestoso of the day: all the guys who thought that
my 5 team mates and me would give them a free ride to
the finish....it's just not on to wheel suck your way
through the last 90km of the stage...if everyone would
think like those guys no grupettto would ever make it
into the time cut
quote of the day: "an unnamed rider will sign his new
contract with an unnamed team. he'll do it on an
unnamed day for an unnamed amount of money and an
unnamed period". this statement was made by an unnamed
rider....but I know who he is and the rest too...he
just did not wanna tell me how much money he makes....
wish me luck tomorrow
mw
14.09.99 Ruhetag
we won again, but 4 a change it was brochard who took it
and we were all really happy about it. typing this the
rest day is over already and I'm ready 4 bed.
the transfert after the stage was no worries, not like
last year flying over from mallorca....
here we go for the usual stuff:
the race: never saw that much rain in a bike race...it
felt like 5 hour thunderstorm with flooded roads and as
an extra it was freezing cold too, just one of the days
you wanna stay in bed! an early break made it to the
finish (12man km4) and brochard attacked the leftovers
at 1.5 km to go and won by 3 secs.
the hotel: 4 star place in zaragoza, great suites..
.brilliant food (had a menu to choose from and I did NOT
go 4 salad and pasta!) it was more like chorizo, calamari
rings and spinach cream with parmesan cheese. the best:
we'll be here another day after tomorrows stage.
pestoso of the day: vicario from fuenlabrada....
took of his rain jacket, it got caught in his back wheel
and he came sliding across the street in a downhill...
straight into me and I came off at about 70km/h...
OUTCH and lucky we had the rest day today.
quote of the day: "a mi me gusta el football"
(I like soccer) "there is no rain jackets, breakaways to
chase down or crashes on slippery downhills. a match only
takes an hour and a half and they only play once a week"
vladi belli b4 starting in above mentioned condititons.
quote of the restday: "halla, halla. halla, dada" the
first words my son Alexander said when he saw me....
he'll be a year in 2 weeks. it's great to have the family
here during the rest day, otherwise this days get really
long and boring.
I did 1/2 hour on the rollers around 12 o'clock to see
how my body responds after the crash and it felt all
allrite...no way I would go out in the rain
like I've seen doing it many other guys...I'm saturated
of water running in my shoes and spray up my ass...
thats all U get 4 today...hasta manana
12.09.99 8. Etappe: Leon - Alto de Anglirú, 176 km
Anglirú...
really hard, really wet, really cold the stage was and
really fucked I am...what more can you ask for?
not in typing mood at all sorry daily readers...
so much the last 5 km of this angliru is the steepest
and toughest I've done in 11 years of pro cycling.
the race: thanx 4 attacking at the start jacky "pestoso
of the day" durand...43 avg. b4 we started the real
climbs. jimi won and I lost 33min.came in no worries
b4 time cut
the hotel: great all (rooms, food, tv channels etc....
including a BIG bed)
pestoso see above...
quote of the day: "it's not only a bad day for
me and for you, it's a really bad day for everyone in
the bunch...just a bad day for cycling" joona laukka
during the never ending chase through a really
pestoso area.
nite
mw
11.09.99 7. Etappe: Salamanca - Leon, 217 km
Etappensieger.... Marcel.
it looks like the only way to have some spare time at
the hotel is to do the stage at crazy averages
(46 today) and get into the finish one hour ahead on
schedule. typing now it's only 8:20 and I had my massage
already...great feeling having won 4 stages after the
first vuelta week already but with all the mountains
ahead this might be as good as it gets...good enough
though :)
the race: fast with attacks, but we were lucky and had
vladimir belli in a break of 4 so the team had a day
of chasing. we caught everyone at about 10km to go and
it came to a sprint with telekom doing it the opposite
this time: lombardi was setting it up for hondo. at
250 to go robby (mac not hunter!) went on the left
and only myself came past him in the last couple of
meters. It was like a 5cm decision...lucky I had my
54 chainring on today!!
the hotel: no A.C. hot like hell in the room and mozzies
outside ....can't win tonite
great food though.
the quote of the day: "what in the hell is this?
a cycling team or a cementery on wheels" vladi belli on
the bus drive to the start when everyone was having a
little nap and no one talked
pestoso of the day:looks like piccoli is coming
back on roscioli. he was in every break, did sprint flat
out for the meta volantes and got caught only 10km to go...
believe it or not after all that publicity this "angliru"
got I'm really keen to find out what it is like!! got
30/26 as the smallest gear...just to make sure...
later
mw
10.09.99 6. Etappe: Salamanca - Salamanca, EZF 46,5 km
I thought I'll have heaps of time today to do what I
needed to do all week....well I didn't.
it was an hour to go to the race, then I had to wait
at the finish for 2 hours before they did the podium
presentation for the points jersey...so by the time
we were ready to go back the traffic chaos caused by
the vuelta broke down...and it took 1 1/2 hour to get
back to the hotel. then massage, diner and a quick
interview with German TV and here I am back in my
room at 10pm typing this lines.
the race: it was almost a rest day 4 me...I lost
more then 9 min. on Olano who showed that he's the
time trial man of the moment. no warm up before the
race...I sat in the **village** where the main sponsor
telefonica provides free phone calls 4 all vuelta
people...always busy b4 the normal stages but today
I rang home and a few friends around the world...then
took off easy in the tt, got a sweat going about half
way through and then winding it down towards the finish.
with one word: I trained 4 tomorrow.
the hotel: they cooked the pasta to long..and in the
mess of our room fabian (jeker) and me could not find
the remote control 4 the air conditioner...we pinched
Kivilevs from the room next door.
quote of the day: not sport related at all, but
it made me laugh: "how can a president of the government
have a fucking head like this?" a Spanish vuelta rider
while watching the news as Jose Maria Aznar appeared on
the screen.
pestoso of the day: the guy who was in the waiting area
for the podium where we were watching the race. with the
stinky cigar in his mouth he was trying to convince me
that the guy on tele was Ullrich...(it was casero)....
and to top it off the blew a mixture of cigar smoke
and rotten teeth smell in the middle of my face...
...I left!
tomorrow: "salamanca - leon" 217km last winner in leon:
me, last year!!
wish me luck
mw
09.09.99 5. Etappe: Bejar - Ciudad Rodrigo, 160 km
Erste Bergetappe...
first day in the mountains and a grupetto of 80-100guys
....why isn't it always that easy??
after the stage we had a transfer back to the hotel...
it took 2 hours with the bus and as I was last 4 the
massage I went to diner at 10 p.m. now it's almost 11
and I sit on my bed with the computer on my knees and
type....
the race: another german win...good to see that Ullrich
is recovering and today's stage win should be good 4
his morale. I haven't seen a result yet but there were
about 20 guys in the front...none of us but brochard
took the climbers jersey over from pascal herve and
spent half the day out there with diaz from "once"
zuelle blew up and lost heaps...first big surprise
of the vuelta.
the hotel:....is still the same.....
the pestoso of the day: no points for any
riders today....everyone behaved very well.
5 points for the "alto del portillo" the first cat1
climb of the vuelta...
quote of the day: "the thing is, that if you
get eliminated, if you stop or if you finish the
vuelta: the bonus you get is the same.....an airline
ticket to go home" said by some rider who is probably
not gonna finish the vuelta
tomorrow the first "rest"day...46km time trial
with a 30% time cut
buenas noches
mw
08.09.99 4. Etappe: La Rozas - Salamanca, 185,6 km
Marcel gewinnt zum dritten Mal hintereinander...
I don't wanna bore anyone but I won again.....it's late
now and I'm really tired so 4 today just the 4 usual
things:
the race: hilly in the first bit then flat. telekom
chased down a 12 man break we just caught into salamanca.
the let out lombardi really good and I jumped out of
his wheel @ 200m to go....still leading the vuelta....
dream on marcel until the wakeup call in the first
bigger mountains tomorrow.
the hotel: in the middle of nowhere owend by ex pro
laude cubino....great 4 12 hour nites of sleep after
filling up with great food at the restaurant...
pool 4 40+ degree days also available
pestoso of the day: look stefano zanini...it's
probalbly not the 2 or 3 pushes my teammates gave me
up the cat 2 climbs that made me win again today.
so don't pull my team mates jersey and scream the
usual italian stuff at him and stop insulting me
while I'm on the podium.
quote of the day: juan carlos is the
king of spain, but marcel wust is the king of the
vuelta. some radio reporter from the "cope"
interviewing me after I won
good nite..I really need it!!
mw
07.09.99 3. Etappe: La Roda-Fuenlabrada, 229,5 km
Etappensieger + Gelbes Trikot: Marcel!!!
what can I say??? winning is great, and winning PLUS
taking the leaders jersey in a big tour is something
not many people experience in their pro career...
I know what it is like now...GREAT STUFF!!!
so only 3 daus in the vuelta I've won 2 stages and
have the leaders jersey...not much more to ask 4.
I got to the hotel really late because there was
a transfer after the stage so now it's 8:45 and
I'm still waiting 4 massage. luckily tomorrow we
can sllep kinda in...9a.m is wakeup
quickly the usual stuff:
the race: german nieto did a 200km break away
suicide ride...we caught him 4 to go
the 2 robbies (mac and hunter) were taking the
bonus secs in the intermediate sprints...and I won
the sprint in front of lombardi and luckily none
of the robbies was 2nd or 3rd so I could take the
jersey( can I still come to your wedding rob??)
the hotel: good 4 star business like hotel...firm
beds and enough room 4 two people travelling with
many many things...all the stuff U need to get
through a 3 weeks stage race.( more about that
some other day) great food too and a big piece
of chocolate cake with champagne to wash it down...
it doesn't get any better then this....
quote of the day: "this is the most straight, boring
race I've done in my entire life" chann mc rae, mapei
when we were riding on roads where the turns were
more then 30kms apart.
pestoso of the day: dylan casey, usps, nominated
himself after he ran into a benfica guy trying to give
a bottle to his team mate. the benfica guys bike broke
as did dylans front wheel....which he changed on the
LEFT side of the road...this should give him a 50suiss
franc fine too...
nada mas
mw
06.09.99 2. Etappe: Alicante - Albacete, 206km
Etappensieger: Marcel!
winning days are great...especially if they happen
early in a big tour.
so now the team and myself we can relax a bit...no
pressure...we've done what we planned and we did not even
have to wait 4 like last year when the first stage I won
was # 13.
winning days are busy too...lots of phonecalls,
interviews and stuff so the time to type is very reduced
(its 10 to 11 right now and the last thing b4 bed is
typing this and getting it on it's way)
the race: fast from the start, 3 cat.3 climbs, lots of
breakaways and a bunch sprint.
I took in front of zanini, lombardi and robby (mac not
hunter!) durand is still leader but I think he's not
gonna be tomorrow...to much keen sprinters really close
up his ass
the hotel: allrite no more, no less...but it does not
have a restaurant so we had to walk 500m to go feed us.
at least it did not rain.
quote of the day: "he's an angry little man" robby mcewen
about blijlevens who punched a lotto guy who was in the
crash with him @ stage 1
pestoso of the day: fabio roscioli who attacked at km 0
when half the bunch was having a leak....but actually
it's our problem....we know he always does it and the
race starts at km 0.
short nite now and (hopefully) ready 4 the longest stage
this year tomorrow la roda - fuenlabrada
hasta manana
05.09.99 1. Etappe: Murcia - Benidorm, 179km
I did NOT win...but I did NOT crash either, so the first
day was kind of a success. Sometimes I wonder why we have
the race books where the last klometers are drawn with
precision and all dangerous stuff pointed out really
good. there are still some guys going into the last
corner as if it was not sharp and narrow but wide
and open!!
thanx to fabri "dork" guidi who took out like 15 guys
and stuffed up the whole thing for most of us. Robby
Hunter won 3 secs ahead of the first little bunch who
made it around the crash and 11secs ahead of the rest.
normally the first sprint is really important in a big
tour as I see who had good legs and power...
...but today I did not see nothing......maybe tomorrow.
the race: jacky Durand spent most of the day in front
with a fuenlabrada guy and with the bonus secs. he took
the jersey..good on him.
the hotel: great 4 star place rite on the beach in
Alicante...but lousy food we had. how hard can it be to
cook pasta 9mins...??
the quote of the day: "let's go right!!" mario traversoni
from saeco as we rode pas some awesome beach...on
the right.
pestoso of the day: see above, it's the guy who did not
get the vuelta book.
hasta la vista
mw
PS: pestoso of the day propositions will be taken every
day from all of you guys at the vuelta.
04.09.99 Prolog, Murcia 6,1km
hi all,
this is me again reporting from the vuelta.
the time trial in murcia was short...so will
be todays report....
I'm 25 sec. down on the jersey....in the first
stage will be 38 sec of time bonus....
I will try, even if there are other sprinters
who lost heaps less (glenn magnusson and robby
mc ewen) but the goal 4 thisvuelta is a stage win,
if this happens I don't worry about taking the
jersey...but it would be nice though...
find out in the next report what happened to us
in stage 1. Murcia - Benidorm
hasta la vista
mw
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