The Spaniard, the then co-leader of the Kelme team with Santiago Botero, had been hotly tipped as one of the major contenders for the race.

But his challenge slowly fell away as the mountain stages kicked into the race.

Time trialling also remains a major weak point for the youthful-looking cyclist which he needs to drastically improve to live up to his early promise.

As a 24-year-old in 2001 he rode an excellent race to finish seventh overall, leading many to bill him as a future winner of the race.

But since then his best rides seem to have been saved for September's Vuelta d'Espana.

Things may change this time around as Sevilla ought to have the full backing of his team after turning down a potential end-of-season switch to keep with the team.

Fellow leader Botero, however, has moved on to Telekom.

That may or may not hamper the team but their never-ending list of strong climbers over history should come good for them once more.

Should he avoid mountain inconsistency and improve his time trialling, a common problem for many of the leading climbers, he has every chance of being a future champion.