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Break succeeds as Laverde wins stage and Pinotti leads Giro
Danilo Di Luca called this one.
Secure in his leader’s jersey at the end of Thursday’s stage to Frascati, the Liquigas rider said that Friday’s stage – with three moderate to tough climbs spread along the route – would be a prime opportunity for a break-away effort to succeed and perhaps relieve him of the pressure of defending the maglia rosa for a while. Right, on both counts.
That’s exactly how the day played out as Colombian Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Ceramica Panaria) claimed the sixth stage of the 2007 Giro d'Italia, outsprinting T-Mobile's Marco Pinotti, who then assumed the overall race lead as the two men finished 7:09 ahead of the main field at the end of Friday’s 177 kilometer race from Tivoli to Spoleto.
For Di Luca, who slipped to third overall, 4:12 behind Pinotti and 3:30 down from Quick Step’s Hubert Schwab, the result was almost a relief, giving him the chance to relax going into some of the Giro’s most difficult stages. As he’s said, he wants the jersey in Milan.
“I don’t really care who has it before that,” he said before the start on Friday. “I have no interest in wasting my energy – my teammates’ energy – fighting to keep the maglia rosa now when it doesn’t count. I will happily give it away and today seems like there will be an opportunity to do it.”
Pinotti, Laverde and Schwab were part of a five-man break that formed at the 60km mark of a stage whose first major obstacle was a 21-kilometer Category 1 climb up the Monte Terminillo.
That climb, stuck at the mid-point of the stage, was followed by the Cat. 3 Forca Capistrello, at 131km and the Cat. 2 Forca di Cerro, which summited 17 kilometers from the finish. The combination offered a unique opportunity for a break to succeed in that the climbs kept the sprinters’ teams from putting too much effort into a chase and Di Luca’s Liquigas team seemed happy to let someone else defend the lead for a while.
A lot of riders knew that and there were several attacks on the road to the Monte Terminillo that failed to stick. Some – like an 11 man break that contained Paolo Bettini – may have been too big or too dangerous. Others, simply not strong enough. But Laverde, Pinotti, Schwab, Credit Agricole’s Christophe Kern and Tinkoff’s Daniele Contrini hit the jackpot and managed to slip away, with no one really putting in the effort to pull them back.
"We knew today was going to be a day when a breakaway could work,” the 28-year-old Laverde said. “It's never easy to get into the right move and then you have to the right circumstances for it to succeed. A group went away, but it was very big and I waited. Then I followed the others and there were five of us, a good number and we worked well together to build an advantage.”
By the summit of the Terminillo, the escapees had built a substantial seven-minute lead. With that healthy gap, Laverde began to think of his options and sought an ally from among the men in the break.
“When we had seven minutes on the big climb, I knew that it would succeed and I started thinking about winning the stage,” he said.
Laverde kept the pressure on whenever the terrain slanted upward. He tested his opponents, grabbing top climber’s points throughout the day. By the day’s final climb, Laverde’s efforts had taken their toll on three of the men in the break.
Laverde put in one final big effort.
“I could see that Pinotti was strong, so I attacked on the final climb,” Laverde recalled. “Only he was able to follow. If he didn't, maybe I could have won alone. We had an agreement, which is normal in this situation. I know him well, so it was a perfect scenario for both us."
Perfect in several ways. Laverde had not only drawn out the strongest of the group, he had also pulled along an ally who had a bigger prize waiting for him, even if he didn’t get the stage win. Pinotti began the day in 44th place at 3:11 out of first.
With none of the sprinters’ teams putting in an effort to chase, the work of setting tempo at the front of the peloton fell to Liquigas, a team that seemed content to simply monitor the gap, ensuring that it would grow too big.
Pinotti had the maglia rosa waiting for him at day’s end, if he played his cards right. “I knew today the breakaway could work,” he said. “I only accelerated once to get into the break. After that, it was just up and down all day. Then I thought it would be up to destiny to decide. I was thinking that Liquigas would do what they said and they did.” Working together over the final 16 kilometers, a mostly downhill charge into Spoleto from the top of the Forca di Cerro, the two built a healthy one-minute lead over Kern and Schwab. Contrini, meanwhile, trailed by another two minutes.
A final rise to the finish showed that the two leaders had already worked out the finish-line scenario. Pinotti moved to the front and put in a hard pull with about 600 meters remaining. He then eased off, nodded to his breakaway companion and Laverde eased to the front and both men crossed the line.
Behind, the peloton worked its way through the closing kilometers, more than seven minutes behind. No drama. No big efforts. No worries.
Di Luca was more than happy with the outcome.
"We said we were going to give away the jersey and that's exactly what we did,” Di Luca said. “It was a good situation for the team. We didn't have to work as hard and now another team can take control of the jersey for a few days."
Top Ten
1. Luis Laverde (COL), Panaria 177km in 4:58:23 (35.993kph)
2. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile, s.t.
3. Christophe Kern (F) Credit Agricole, at 1:30
4. Hubert Schwab (Swi), Quick Step, at 1:34
5. Daniele Contrini (I), Tinkoff, at 3:45
6. Fortunato Baliani (I), Panaria, at 6:55
7. Alessandro Petacchi (I)Milram, at 7:09
8. Alexandre Usov (BLR), Ag2r, at 7:09
9. Giuseppe Palombo (I), Astana, at 7:09
10. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr), Ag2r, at 7:09
FullResults
Overall
1. Marco Pinotti (I), T-Mobile
2. Hubert Schwab (Swi), Quick Step-Innergetic, 3:30
3. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 4:12
4. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 4:38
5. Andrea Noe' (I), Liquigas, 4:47
6. Vincenzo Nibali (I), Liquigas, 4:47
7. Laverde Jimenez Luis Felipe (Col), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 4:49
8. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 5:05
9. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 5:06
10. David Zabriskie (USA), CSC, 5:15
To see how today's stage developed, simply CLICK HERE to open our Live Update Window.
