Thought this was the opportune moment to leave Granada, after today's finish, so here it goes!

Part 3a, Signing in in Granada.

To tell the truth, we can't get enough. This Vuelta a España looks like being decided exactly when we visit these three stages in the race. The decision is unanimous that this day is devided into two parts. First we'll witness the signing in session in the 'parc fermé' in Granada, while we'try to 'storm' the Sierra de la Pandera early in the afternoon. One thing is unclear though: We've got a pretty detailed map of the area, but it shows no road up the Pandera. There's a sense of some doubt to what will happen that afternoon.

Marc, however, thinks to have found a remedy to our ordeal: "We'll just have to make sure to arrive at the neutral zone in time, and try and track down a Vuelta-official. He should be able to give us the required info on the route and clarify the situation on the roads of the final ascend." Nothing will stop us from witnessing this party! How different and surprising the day will turn out to develop though...

After having some breakfast and coffee we make our way to the start-zone. The day is a bit cloudy, with only a little sunshine. Just as we arrive we can see the Astana coach riding into the parc fermé, but also guards who don't seem to let anyone get into the park itself. That's a bummer! The whole park has been secured overnight with high fences, so we start walking round the fence to see if we can find another entrance. No such luck though, we even crawl through some shrubs in the park in our attempts to find the entrance.As we're halfway round the park we reach the lane where the neutral start will take place. We can now cross the street which gives us a free view of the 'moto-army', including the policemen, who'll control the intersections and clear the road along the route today.

Signing in

We start walking in the opposite direction now and make our way through on the other side. From this side we have a clear view on the morning podium where the riders sign in for the race. We're early enough to get a good position right opposite the cleary sponsored Relax-podium-truck. The bald announcer, who travels with the circus for three weeks, is present again and is in a 'constant entertainment mode', announces the riders only interrupted by the occasional sip of 'aqua' or the commercial break. Spain needs to go shopping also, of course. We did miss the first riders signing in, Laszlo Bodrogi is one of the first riders I recognise, not that that was hard: He's wearing the national champion's jersey. There's an occasional applause when a Spanish rider passes through, but also for Leonardo Piepoli, as he's considered to be a 'half-Spaniard' anyway. At least he waves to his audience.

That can't be said about the two Belgian teams. They look like people that don't want to go to the office as they don't like their jobs in the Vuelta. The only exception is Davide Vigano who, after getting his bike back, comes to the fence and signs a few autographs. The Rabo-boys still have a very bad Vuelta, no smiling faces there. I already said it before: "No happy chappies." Yet, Pedro Horrillo produces a smile after a warm welcoming applause and waves back to the crowd, which is getting larger all the time. When Marc wants to get some attention from Ardila and calls out: "Mauricio!", he looks startled as if it's impossible that any fan would recognise him here. The 'other orange' are all waving to the crowd from the podium. That isn't strange at all; Two wins in their pockets and Samuel Sanchez well in the top ten in the general ranking.

Suddenly everyone behind me gets restless, the announcer has seen him coming around the corner also, and introduces the 'Tour de France victor' Oscar Pereiro! The crowd goes mad, yells, whistles, shouts and applaudes the Caisse-rider. He signs the list, and 'baldy' does his interview. Of course Oscar replies in the same 'staccato manner' as the question was being put and disappears soon after. Pereiro is very, very popular here and gets another loud applause from the some 300 large crowd by now. While Pereiro is being interviewed, the recently media-shy Iban Mayo sneaks up-and-off the podium. We however saw him, Marc has the photo to prove it.

Now the big guns arrive. The first one I see coming up from the left is Vinokourov and he's waving while climbing the steps of the podium. He signs in, smiles, waves again and his Spanish has improved overnight while interviewed again. Still, the word 'bueno' prevails... That's not surprising if you lead the Vuelta and your teammate is right behind you in support. Also Kashechkin and Gomez Marchante sign in, waving to the crowd, they are the ones really livening things up in the mountains. So all smiles! A loud shout in my left ear:"Alejandro!!!" All the notepads are being pushed through the fence by the now massive crowd, all hope to get a 'John Hancock' from the Murcian rider.

Valverde seems well rested and ready to do business today: He HAS to win back a few seconds on Vinokourov, a subject which is certainly discussed in the interview on the podium. As soon as Alejandro leaves the podium, all the spectators have gone like they've vanished into thin air.
We're almost on our own when Tom Danielson comes up to sign the register as one of the last riders. I call out, not even loudly: "Tom!". A disarming smile in my direction as an answer at first, while he's back on his bike soon, but eye-contact remains. "Great job yesterday! Try to win one more today?" I ask. A "thanks" and another wide smile has to suffice as he makes his way to the start. We too start moving as we want a decent position to see the peloton passing through the neutral zone, and walk along the fence once more.

Neutralisation

Behind the fence things are slowly starting to move, the Vuelta caravan is getting ready to go. Both Peter and Marc have their cameras ready and shoot some more material. The cars start lining up, in the same order as the riders are in the GC, and wait until the riders get on their way.After walking for a short time, i spot a 'hole in the barrier', one part of the fence has been unlocked. First we walk past it, but that hole keeps beckoning to me. "We won't be the first one through this gap and it would be fun to see the park from the inside", I say to Marc. "Apart from that, we still don't know enough about that final climb of the day", so we turn around and enter the enclosed terrain after signaling to Peter that we're changing our direction.

We're exactly in the central part of the park when I see some movement in the Rabo-camp. Two, dressed in orange, T-shirts are about to get into the left car, of which I recognise one. In the blink of an eye I decide, and make my way to that car. The Dutch spoken "Good morning!" cleary stands out from the language usually heard, both shortly stop their activities. They look my way and reply: "Good morning". The mechanic gets in the back of the car, but I'm more interested in the other person, driving. "Mister Zoetemelk, can I ask you a short question?" Joop is in doubt only for a second, but being inside the parc fermé has its advantages, and he nods in approval. I walk up beside him and continue: "The stage today is going to the Sierra de la Pandera, right?" "Yes, a steep bitch" he knows off the top of his head. I laugh and agree. Then I pose the real question: "We have a small problem. Our map doesn't show any connecting road to the mountain-top, so the route is a little unclear. Do you have some more information?"

Without speaking a word he 'dives' back into the Rabo-car. As he's upright again he's holding the official Vuelta roadbook and points out the exact route. Now Peter joins us, as he'll be driving, to have a look at that map. I ask Zoetemelk if it's a narrow road up the Pandera and if it's open to us privateers. "I'm not exacly sure about that. We are only allowed one car up the mountain, so there can't be much room...", he replies. Peter notices that the map Zoetemelk is holding is unbelievably detailed and he should have had one of those.
I thank Joop for his help and wish him and his team well for the race, but can't contain myself and have to ask one more question: "Is Mauricio going to try anything today?" As he's getting into the car he looks at me, smiles and replies with a typical Zoetemelk one-liner: "He'd better!" Laughing out loud, I wave him goodbye as he drives off waving his hand outside the car-window as a last greeting. How cool is that?! Running into Joop Zoetemelk in the middle of Spain adds an extra dimension to this day, I know i'm radiating happiness! On sunday I see an interview with Joop Zoetemelk on TV back home, recorded on the day of the time trial. I spontaniously start laughing when I realise that I myself spoke with him two days prior to that interview.

The park is emptying slowly now and some more photos are being taken. We slowly walk out the park also, in the opposite direction towards the nearest wide road through Granada where the riders will pass soon. We find a good spot behind a large bridge, without any barrier, right on the side of the road. The Disco-coach blows its horn right behind me and I jump out of the way. The massive Discovery Channel coach wants to get past but is stopped by the Guardia Civil after another 'staccato-discussion'. The first motor-cops are passing, so there's no time for the coach to get ahead of the peloton, he'll have to wait. I thought these riders rode slowly in the neutral zone. Again I was wrong. The peloton whizzes past me, most of the riders talking to each other. Three guys are late and stand on the pedals to catch up with the peloton. Then the caravan of team-cars comes by and soon after the road is cleared by the police. We head for our apartment right after and buy a few Spanish magazines. Peter gets the 'Ideal', a Spanish newspaper, that gets us up to speed with the current standings in the GC, and the profile of today's stage.