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Zanotti takes Trentino opener
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Fassa Bortolo's Marco Zanotti won Thursday's opening stageof the Tour de Trentino, a traditional Giro d'Italia warm-up. Zanotti thus takes the overall lead of the race after coming in ahead of team-mate Denis Zanette with Belarussian Alexandre Usov finishing third.
On a day when many of the bigger names took it easy in anticipationof upcoming mountain stages, former Giro d'Italia champion Stefano Garzelli(Mapei) was the highest placed, coming in 12th as Zanotti enjoyed his momentin the spotlight.
"I owe it all to the team-mates who formed a train and stayed with meright until the last minute," said Zanotti.
Friday's 176.5km second stage from Arco to Velloi will be a stern testfor climbers with three big ascents in the last 75km including the PaladePass at 1512m and one 10km stretch at an eight-percent gradient.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) performed surprise tests on ridersfrom Mapei, Saeco and Lampre all controlled on Wednesday evening and 42more riders with seven teams (Polsat, Cage, Colpack, Tacconi, Panaria,RDM-Flanders, Domo Farm-Frites) tested before Thursday's start.
