1998 Vuelta a España

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 (2,345 mi) with the winning average speed of 40.262 km/h (25.018 mph). 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 as teammate José María Jiménez marked Olano's rivals and took several stage wins in the process until Jiménez 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][5]

1998 Vuelta a España

Race details
Dates	6–27 September
Stages	22
Distance	3,774 km (2,345 mi)
Winning time	93h 44' 08"
Results
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
← 1997 1999 →

The race also saw the astonishing 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.^[6]

Teams

Main article: List of teams and cyclists in the 1998 Vuelta a España

A total of 22 teams were invited to participate in the 1998 Vuelta a España. Seventeen of the competing squads were Trade Team I teams, four teams were Trade Team II teams, while the other team was Trade Team III. Each team sent a squad of nine riders, so the Vuelta began with a peloton of 198 cyclists, a total of 108 riders made it to the finish in Madrid.

The 22 teams invited to the race were:^[7]

Trade Team I teams

• Banesto
• Cantina Tollo–Alexia Alluminio
• Casino–Ag2r
• Cofidis
• Festina–Lotus
• Kelme–Costa Blanca
• Lotto–Mobistar
• Mapei–Bricobi
• ONCE
• Rabobank
• Saeco–Cannondale
• Team Polti
• Team Telekom
• TVM–Farm Frites
• U.S. Postal Service
• Vitalicio Seguros
• Crédit Agricole

Trade Team II teams

• Brescialat–Liquigas
• Estepona en Marcha–Brepac
• Euskaltel–Euskadi
• Post Swiss Team

Trade Team III teams

• Avianca–Telecom

Stages

Stage characteristics and winners

Stage	Date	Course	Distance	Type		Winner
1	5 September	Córdoba	161.7 km (100 mi)		Hilly stage	Markus Zberg (SUI)
2	6 September	Córdoba to Cádiz	234.6 km (146 mi)		Flat stage	Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)
3	7 September	Cádiz to Estepona	192.6 km (120 mi)		Flat stage	Jaan Kirsipuu (EST)
4	8 September	Málaga to Granada	173.5 km (108 mi)		Hilly stage	Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)
5	9 September	Olula del Río to Murcia	165.5 km (103 mi)		Flat stage	Jeroen Blijlevens (NED)
6	10 September	Murcia to Xorret de Catí	201.5 km (125 mi)		Mountain stage	José María Jiménez (ESP)
7	11 September	Alicante to Valencia	185 km (115 mi)		Flat stage	Giovanni Lombardi (ITA)
8	12 September	Palma de Mallorca	181.5 km (113 mi)		Hilly stage	Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)
9	13 September	Alcúdia	39.5 km (25 mi)		Individual time trial	Abraham Olano (ESP)
	14 September	Province of Barcelona			Rest day
10	15 September	Vic to Estación de Pal (Andorra)	199.3 km (124 mi)		Mountain stage	José María Jiménez (ESP)
11	16 September	Andorra la Vella (Andorra) to Cerler	186 km (116 mi)		Mountain stage	José María Jiménez (ESP)
12	17 September	Benasque to Jaca, Canfranc International station	187 km (116 mi)		Hilly stage	Gianni Bugno (ITA)
13	18 September	Sabiñánigo	208.5 km (130 mi)		Hilly stage	Andrei Zintchenko (RUS)
14	19 September	Biescas to Zaragoza	145.5 km (90 mi)		Flat stage	Marcel Wüst (GER)
15	20 September	Zaragoza to Soria	178.7 km (111 mi)		Flat stage	Andrei Zintchenko (RUS)
16	21 September	Soria to Laguna Negra de Neila [es]	143.7 km (89 mi)		Mountain stage	José María Jiménez (ESP)
17	22 September	Burgos to León	188.5 km (117 mi)		Flat stage	Marcel Wüst (GER)
18	23 September	León to Salamanca	223 km (139 mi)		Flat stage	Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)
19	24 September	Ávila to Segovia	170.4 km (106 mi)		Mountain stage	Roberto Heras (ESP)
20	25 September	Segovia to Alto de Navacerrada	206 km (128 mi)		Mountain stage	Andrei Zintchenko (RUS)
21	26 September	Fuenlabrada	39 km (24 mi)		Individual time trial	Alex Zülle (SUI)
22	27 September	Madrid	163 km (101 mi)		Flat stage	Markus Zberg (SUI)
	Total		3,774 km (2,345 mi)

Classification leadership

Classification leadership by stage

Stage	Winner	General classification	Points classification	Mountains classification	Sprints rider classification	Team classification
1	Markus Zberg	Markus Zberg	Markus Zberg	Francisco Cerezo	Giancarlo Raimondi	Mapei–Bricobi
2	Jeroen Blijlevens
3	Jaan Kirsipuu	Laurent Jalabert	Jaan Kirsipuu		Laurent Jalabert
4	Fabrizio Guidi	Fabrizio Guidi	Giovanni Lombardi
5	Jeroen Blijlevens		Jeroen Blijlevens			Lotto–Mobistar
6	José María Jiménez	José María Jiménez				Banesto
7	Giovanni Lombardi				Giancarlo Raimondi
8	Fabrizio Guidi
9	Abraham Olano	Abraham Olano		Laurent Jalabert		ONCE
10	José María Jiménez			José María Jiménez		Banesto
11	José María Jiménez
12	Gianni Bugno
13	Andrei Zintchenko		Fabrizio Guidi
14	Marcel Wüst
15	Andrei Zintchenko
16	José María Jiménez
17	Marcel Wüst
18	Fabrizio Guidi
19	Roberto Heras
20	Andrei Zintchenko	José María Jiménez
21	Alex Zülle	Abraham Olano
22	Markus Zberg
Final		Abraham Olano	Fabrizio Guidi	José María Jiménez	Giancarlo Raimondi	Banesto

Final standings

Legend
	Denotes the winner of the general classification		Denotes the leader of the mountains classification
	Denotes the leader of the points classification		Denotes the winner of the sprints classification

General classification

Final general classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Abraham Olano (ESP)	Banesto	93h 44' 08"
2	Fernando Escartín (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	+ 1' 23"
3	José María Jiménez (ESP)	Banesto	+ 2' 12"
DSQ	Lance Armstrong (USA)	U.S. Postal Service	+ 2' 18"
5	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE	+ 2' 37"
6	Roberto Heras (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	+ 2' 58"
7	Álvaro González de Galdeano (ESP)	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 5' 51"
8	Alex Zülle (SUI)	Festina–Lotus	+ 6' 05"
9	Marco Serpellini (ITA)	Brescialat–Liquigas	+ 8' 58"
10	Marcos Serrano (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	+ 10' 17"

Final general classification (11–108)
Rank	Rider	Team	Time
11	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina–Lotus	+ 13' 33"
108	Germán Nieto (ESP)	Estepona en Marcha–Brepac	+ 4h 09' 30"

Points classification

Final points classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)	Team Polti	206
2	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE	158
3	José María Jiménez (ESP)	Banesto	127
4	Marcel Wüst (GER)	Festina–Lotus	124
5	Markus Zberg (SUI)	Post Swiss Team	115
6	Roberto Heras (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	108
7	Fernando Escartín (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	102
8	Giancarlo Raimondi (ITA)	Brescialat–Liquigas	102
9	Andrei Zintchenko (RUS)	Vitalicio Seguros	101
10	Abraham Olano (ESP)	Banesto	96

Mountains classification

Final mountains classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Points
1	José María Jiménez (ESP)	Banesto	184
2	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE	93
3	Fernando Escartín (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	92
4	Roberto Heras (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	75
5	Alex Zülle (SUI)	Festina–Lotus	62
6	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina–Lotus	60
7	José Luis Rubiera (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	59
8	Santiago Blanco (ESP)	Vitalicio Seguros	56
9	Oscar Camenzind (SUI)	Mapei–Bricobi	54
10	Juan Carlos Vicario (ESP)	Estepona en Marcha–Brepac	48

Sprints classification

Final sprints classification (1–10)

Rank	Rider	Team	Time
1	Giancarlo Raimondi (ITA)	Brescialat–Liquigas	53
2	Fabrizio Guidi (ITA)	Team Polti	40
3	José Luis Rubiera (ESP)	Kelme–Costa Blanca	29
4	Laurent Jalabert (FRA)	ONCE	27
5	Mirko Gualdi (ITA)	Team Polti	14
6	Andrei Zintchenko (RUS)	Vitalicio Seguros	12
7	Mariano Piccoli (ITA)	Brescialat–Liquigas	11
8	Roberto Sgambelluri (ITA)	Brescialat–Liquigas	10
9	Richard Virenque (FRA)	Festina–Lotus	9
10	Fabrice Gougot (FRA)	Casino–Ag2r	9

Team classification

Final team classification (1–10)

Rank	Team	Time
1	Banesto	281h 14' 43"
2	Kelme–Costa Blanca	+ 8' 58"
3	Festina–Lotus	+ 28' 59"
4	Vitalicio Seguros	+ 46' 10"
5	Euskaltel–Euskadi	+ 1h 04' 17"
6	ONCE	+ 1h 06' 36"
7	Avianca–Telecom	+ 1h 41' 49"
8	Casino–Ag2r	+ 2h 30' 29"
9	Brescialat–Liquigas	+ 2h 48' 23"
10	Post Swiss Team	+ 3h 07' 14"