Trentin wins, Zarrabeitia wears oro

Italy's Guido Trentin (Cofidis) claimed stage five of the Vuelta a Espana on Wednesday. Thanks to an impressive fourth place finish, Spain's Mikel Zarrabeitia (ONCE) stole the leader's jersey from fellow compatriot and team mate Joseba Beloki.

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Fellow Spaniard Felix Garcia Casas (Big Mat) finished second while Haimar Zubelida (Euskaltel) and Zarrabeitia crossed the line in third and fourth respectively, approximately 10 seconds behind Trentin.

Wednesday marked the first mountain stage of the 2002 Tour of Spain. Riders faced a challenging 198-kilometre-long trek from El Ejido to a summit-finish on the Alto de Sierra Nevada, a special category climb reaching 2520 metres in altitude.

The race began with seven riders immediately breaking away, trying to build up a significant advantage before the doomed 37-km-long ascent up the Sierra Nevada. Ill-fated they were as once the gruelling climb began, the group gradually began to dismantle.

The climb, known more for its length rather than steepness, steadily claimed its victims one by one while Trentin's clever tactics proved to be his saviour. With 7km to the finish, the Italian rider attacked with Garcia Casas, eventually dropping his Spanish partner in crime with just under 1km remaining for the victory.

Trentin's time of five hours 45 minutes 59 seconds allowed him to leap-frog into second in the overall standings. However, the 27-year-old Italian wasn't the only big winner of the day. Kelme race favourite Oscar Sevilla's late attack gave him a 50-second advantage over fellow Spanish rivals Beloki, Roberto Heras (US Postal) and defending champion Angel Casero (Team Coast). Sevilla moved up from 12th to fifth place.

Unfortunately, certain riders were not so lucky. Roberto Laiseka (Euskaltel) suffered a dangerous crash and was immediately taken away on a stretcher. Latest reports have indicated that the 33-year-old escaped serious injury; nevertheless, the Spaniard was forced to withdraw from the competition.

Thursday is stage six, a 153-km-long ride from Granada to La Pandera (Jaen) featuring another summit finish. Zarrabeitia will wear the 'oro' leader jersey with a 16-second lead over Trentin.