1998 Vuelta a España

1998 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates		6 - 27 September
Stages		22
Distance		3,774 km (2,345 mi)
Winning time		93h 44' 08" (40.262 km/h or 25.018 mph)
Palmares
	Winner	Abraham Olano (ESP)	(Banesto)
	Second	Fernando Escartín (ESP)	(Kelme-Costa Blanca)
	Third	José María Jiménez (ESP)	(Banesto)
	Points	Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)	(Team Polti)
	Mountains	José María Jiménez (ESP)	(Banesto)
	Sprints	Giancarlo Raimondi (ITA)	(Brescialat - Liquigas)
	Team	Banesto

The 53rd edition of the Vuelta a España was held 5 to 27 September 1998 and began in Córdoba and ended in Madrid. The 1998 Vuelta had 22 stages over 3,774 km with the winning average speed of 40.262 km/h. Spaniard Abraham Olano took the leader's jersey after the first individual time trial with 41 seconds over Frenchman Laurent Jalabert.^[1] Olano's lead in the mountains decreased each stage where teammate José María Jiménez marked Olano's rivals and took several stage wins in the process until Jiminez took the jersey from Olano on the final mountain stage to Alto de Navacerrada with Olano in third place at 38 seconds.^[2] On the following day's individual time trial, Olano took back the lead to win the only grand tour of his career.^[3][4]

The race also saw the comeback of Lance Armstrong after he was diagnosed with advanced testicular cancer in 1996. Armstrong's fourth-place finish was stripped by USADA in 2012 due to doping.^[5]

Participating teams

Stages

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Winner	GC Leader
1	5 September	Córdoba	161,7	Markus Zberg	Markus Zberg
2	6 September	Córdoba-Cádiz	234,6	Jeroen Blijlevens	Markus Zberg
3	7 September	Cádiz-Estepona	192,6	Jaan Kirsipuu	Laurent Jalabert
4	8 September	Málaga-Granada	173,5	Fabrizio Guidi	Fabrizio Guidi
5	9 September	Olula del Río-Murcia	165,5	Jeroen Blijlevens	Fabrizio Guidi
6	10 September	Murcia-Xorret de Catí	201,5	José María Jiménez	José María Jiménez
7	11 September	Alicante-Valencia	185	Giovanni Lombardi	José María Jiménez
8	12 September	Palma de Mallorca	181,5	Fabrizio Guidi	José María Jiménez
9	13 September	Alcudia	39,5 (ITT)	Abraham Olano	Abraham Olano
10	15 September	Vic-Estación de Pal (Andorra)	199,3	José María Jiménez	Abraham Olano
11	16 September	Andorra-Cerler	186	José María Jiménez	Abraham Olano
12	17 September	Benasque-Jaca	187	Gianni Bugno	Abraham Olano
13	18 September	Sabiñánigo	208,5	Andrei Zintchenko	Abraham Olano
14	19 September	Biescas-Zaragoza	155,5	Marcel Wüst	Abraham Olano
15	20 September	Zaragoza-Soria	178,7	Andrei Zintchenko	Abraham Olano
16	21 September	Soria-Laguna Negra de Neila	143,7	José María Jiménez	Abraham Olano
17	22 September	Burgos-León	188,5	Marcel Wüst	Abraham Olano
18	23 September	León-Salamanca	223	Fabrizio Guidi	Abraham Olano
19	24 September	Ávila-Segovia	170,4	Roberto Heras	Abraham Olano
20	25 September	Segovia-Alto de Navacerrada	206	Andrei Zintchenko	José María Jiménez
21	26 September	Fuenlabrada	39 (ITT)	Alex Zülle	Abraham Olano
22	27 September	Madrid	163	Markus Zberg	Abraham Olano

Classifications

General classification

1. Abraham Olano  Spain BAN 93h 44' 08s 2. Fernando Escartín  Spain KEL a 1' 23s 3. José María Jiménez  Spain BAN a 2' 12s DSQ Lance Armstrong  United States USP a 2' 18s 5. Laurent Jalabert  France ONC a 2' 37s 6. Roberto Heras  Spain KEL a 2' 58s 7. Álvaro González de Galdeano  Spain EUS a 5' 51s 8. Alex Zülle   Switzerland FES a 6' 05s 9. Marco Serpellini  Italy BRE a 8' 58s 10. Marcos Serrano  Spain KEL a 10' 17s

Points classification
1. Fabrizio Guidi  Italy POL 206 points 2. Laurent Jalabert  France ONC 158 points 3. José María Jiménez  Spain BAN 127 points

Mountains classification
1. José María Jiménez  Spain BAN 184 points 2. Laurent Jalabert  France ONC 93 points 3. Fernando Escartín  Spain KEL 92 points

Intermediate sprints classification
1. Giancarlo Raimondi  Italy BRE 53 points

Team classification
1. Banesto  Spain BAN 281h 14' 43s 2. Kelme - Costa Blanca  Spain KEL a 8' 58s 3. Festina - Lotus  France FES a 28' 59s

References