The organizers of the Vuelta a España wanted a mountain to rival the Alpe d'Huez and Mont Ventoux in the Tour de France and the Mortirolo Pass in the Giro d'Italia, which would go on in 2003 to add one of the world's most demanding climbs, the Zoncolan, in an attempt to compete with the new Spanish climb.

Team cars stalled on the steepest part, some unable to restart because their tires slipped on messages painted by fans.

David Millar crashed three times[3] and protested by handing in his race number a metre from the line.

"[2] Patrice Halgand, a French rider, said the Union Cycliste Internationale had rules about the distance and frequency of races but not about hills.

He said: † Juan José Cobo is alternately recorded as having a time of 43:53, Roberto Heras is alternately recorded as having a time of 43:57 [8] ^ On 18 July 2019, the UCI confirmed the suspension of Cobo after being found guilty of an anti-doping violation on his biological passport between 2009 and 2011, stripping him of his stage win.