Heras grabs Vuelta lead

In a twist as dramatic as Sunday’s weather, US Postal’s Roberto Heras grabbed the stage and the overall lead on the steep climb up l’Angliru in Sunday’s Stage 15 of the Vuelta. Under a driving rain, the 2000 winner of the Tour of Spain took the Oro jersey from an Oscar Sevilla that ran out of juice on the foothills of the mythical Asturies mountain.

STAGE 15: Grueling, wet, and cold

Heras, who went into the stage in third place, now holds a 35 second lead over Sevilla’s Kelme team-mate Aitor Gonzalez, but like last year, the Vuelta could now be decided in the final day time trial in Madrid next Sunday.

After Saturday’s spectacular crash on the road to Gijon, there were more spills in Sunday’s 176km stage between Gijón and Alto de L'Angliru. Cofidis team leader David Millar fell twice. The Scotsman, who started the day ninth overall, finished the race but when he got off the bike one meter from the finish line to protest the harsh conditions, race organizers considered it as a retirement and have now ruled him out of the Vuelta.

Interestingly enough it was Gonzalez, who started the day 1 second behind Sevilla overall, that launched the attack early in the final ascent that would sink his Kelme team-mate. And while the rain intensified in the infamous 23% gradient climbs of l’Angliru, Heras kept pace, driving to a solo finish at the top where he was greeted by 10° temperatures and an even-steadier downpour.

Two of the big guns had never climbed l’Angliru. But whereas Gonzalez attacked, ONCE’s Joseba Beloki tried a different tactic, pacing himself to a second place finish, 1:35 behind Heras. Beloki, who held the Oro jersey during the first week of the Vuelta, but faded in the first mountain climbs, is now back in the race, 1:57 overall behind the US Postal rider, third behind Sevilla who’s now 1:08 behind Heras.

Italy’s Francesco Casagrande (Fassa Bortolo) finished third on Sunday, one minute 40 seconds adrift. He moves up to fifth place, Giro d’Italia winner Gilberto Simoni lies in eighth place, while last year’s Vuelta winner Angel Casero is eleventh.

While the race is still up for grabs, Heras – who’s already captured the Sierra de la Pandera stage on this year’s Vuelta hopes to shine again next Thursday when the Tour of Spain passes through his native Béjar in a stage that goes from Salamanca to Estación de Esquí La Covatilla.