2003 Vuelta a España

2003 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	6–28 September
Stages	21
Distance	2,957 km (1,837 mi)
Winning time	69h 31' 52"
Results
Winner Roberto Heras (ESP) (U.S. Postal)   Second Isidro Nozal (ESP) (ONCE–Eroski)   Third Alejandro Valverde (ESP) (Communidad Valenciana-Kelme) Points Erik Zabel (GER) (Team Telekom) Mountains Félix Cárdenas (COL) (Cage Maglierie) Combination Alejandro Valverde (ESP) (Kelme–Costa Blanca)   Team iBanesto.com

The 58th edition of the Vuelta a España (Tour of Spain), a long-distance bicycle stage race and one of the three grand tours, was held from 6 September to 28 September 2003. It consisted of 21 stages covering a total of 2,957 km (1,837 mi), and was won by Roberto Heras of the U.S. Postal cycling team.

Isidro Nozal lead the general classification for much of the race until succumbing to the pressure posed by Roberto Heras who closed the gap to Nozal over the final days and took the jersey in the final time trial. The points classification was won by Erik Zabel from Germany, the mountains classification was won by Félix Cárdenas from Colombia and the combination classification was won by Alejandro Valverde. iBanesto.com was the winner of the team ranking. Alessandro Petacchi, an Italian sprinter won five stages.

Route

List of stages

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	6 September	Gijón – Gijón	28 km (17 mi)		Team time trial	ONCE–Eroski
2	7 September	Gijón – Cangas de Onís	148 km (92 mi)			Luis Pérez (ESP)
3	8 September	Cangas de Onís – Santander	154.3 km (96 mi)			Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
4	9 September	Santander – Burgos	151 km (94 mi)			Unai Etxebarria (VEN)
5	10 September	Soria – Zaragoza	166.7 km (104 mi)			Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
6	11 September	Zaragoza – Zaragoza	43.8 km (27 mi)		Individual time trial	Isidro Nozal (ESP)
7	12 September	Huesca – Cauterets (France)	190 km (118 mi)			Michael Rasmussen (DEN)
8	13 September	Cauterets – Pla de Beret/Val d'Aran	166 km (103 mi)			Joaquim Rodríguez (ESP)
9	14 September	Vielha – Envalira (Andorra)	174.8 km (109 mi)			Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
10	15 September	Andorra – Sabadell	194 km (121 mi)			Erik Zabel (GER)
	16 September	Rest day
11	17 September	Utiel – Cuenca	162 km (101 mi)			Erik Zabel (GER)
12	18 September	Cuenca – Albacete	168.8 km (105 mi)			Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
13	19 September	Albacete – Albacete	53.3 km (33 mi)		Individual time trial	Isidro Nozal (ESP)
14	20 September	Albacete – Valdepeñas	167.4 km (104 mi)			Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
15	21 September	Valdepeñas – La Pandera	172.1 km (107 mi)			Alejandro Valverde (ESP)
	22 September				Rest day
16	23 September	Jaén – Sierra Nevada	162 km (101 mi)			Félix Cárdenas (COL)
17	24 September	Granada – Córdoba	188.4 km (117 mi)			David Millar (GBR)
18	25 September	Las Rozas – Las Rozas	143.8 km (89 mi)			Pedro Díaz Lobato (ESP)
19	26 September	Alcobendas – Collado Villalba	164 km (102 mi)			Filippo Simeoni (ITA)
20	27 September	San Lorenzo de El Escorial – Alto de Abantos	11.2 km (7 mi)		Individual time trial	Roberto Heras (ESP)
21	28 September	Madrid – Madrid	148.5 km (92 mi)			Alessandro Petacchi (ITA)
	Total		2,925 km (1,818 mi)

Jersey Progress

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Combination classification	Team classification
1	ONCE–Eroski	Igor González de Galdeano	Igor González de Galdeano	Jan Hruška	Igor González de Galdeano	ONCE–Eroski
2	Luis Pérez	Joaquim Rodríguez	Joaquim Rodríguez	Luis Pérez	Luis Pérez
3	Alessandro Petacchi
4	Unai Etxebarria	Isidro Nozal	David Etxebarria	Félix Cárdenas	Isidro Nozal
5	Alessandro Petacchi		Alessandro Petacchi
6	Isidro Nozal
7	Michael Rasmussen
8	Joaquim Rodríguez		Joaquim Rodríguez	Joan Horrach
9	Alejandro Valverde		Isidro Nozal	Félix Cárdenas
10	Erik Zabel		Alessandro Petacchi		Alejandro Valverde
11	Erik Zabel		Erik Zabel
12	Alessandro Petacchi				Isidro Nozal
13	Isidro Nozal
14	Alessandro Petacchi		Alessandro Petacchi
15	Alejandro Valverde		Erik Zabel		Alejandro Valverde
16	Félix Cárdenas
17	David Millar
18	Pedro Diaz Lobato
19	Filippo Simeoni
20	Roberto Heras	Roberto Heras	Alejandro Valverde			iBanesto.com
21	Alessandro Petacchi		Erik Zabel
Final		Roberto Heras	Erik Zabel	Félix Cárdenas	Alejandro Valverde	iBanesto.com

General classification

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Roberto Heras	U.S. Postal	69h31'52"
2	Isidro Nozal	ONCE–Eroski	'28"
3	Alejandro Valverde	Kelme–Costa Blanca	2'25"
4	Igor González de Galdeano	ONCE–Eroski	3'27"
5	Francisco Mancebo	iBanesto.com	4'47"
6	Manuel Beltrán	U.S. Postal	5'51"
7	Michael Rasmussen	Rabobank	5'56"
8	Félix Cárdenas	Labarca 2-Cafe Baque	6'33"
9	Unai Osa	iBanesto.com	6'52"
10	Luis Pérez	Cofidis	7'56"
11	Santos González	Domina Vacanze–Elitron	9'08"
12	Óscar Sevilla	Kelme–Costa Blanca	9'52"
13	Michele Scarponi	Domina Vacanze–Elitron	10'13"
14	Marcos Serrano	Team ONCE	12'51"
15	Félix Garcia	Team Bianchi	14'18"
16	Txema Del Olmo	Milaneza–MSS	14'38"
17	Óscar Pereiro	Phonak Hearing Systems	17'05"
18	Iker Flores	Euskaltel–Euskadi	18'31"
19	Guido Trentin	Cofidis	29'34"
20	Josep Jufre	Colchon Relax–Fuenlabrada	33'30"
21	Dario Frigo	Fassa Bortolo	40'19"
22	Íñigo Cuesta	Cofidis	41'18"
23	Leonardo Piepoli	iBanesto.com	46'45"
24	Manuel Calvente	Team CSC	47'54"
25	Aitor Osa	iBanesto.com	49'39"

External links

• La Vuelta (Official site in Spanish, English, and French)