THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Giro: It's Mario in Munster
Acqua & Sapone’s Mario Cipollini of won the 218km first stage of the Giro d’Italia between Groningen, the Netherlands, and Munster, Germany on Sunday, taking over the leader’s pink jersey in the process.
Cipollini won the final dash for the line from a splinter group that broke away from the main bunch after a mass fall 3km from the finish. Fassa Bortolo's Michele Bartoli, a perennial challenger in the classics, was one of the accident's victims and abandoned the race.
Cipollini beat out two Australian cyclists, Graeme Brown (Panaria) and Robbie McEwen (Lotto-Adecco), on the line with Germany's Danilo Hondo (Telekom) fourth ahead of compatriot Sven Teutenberg (Phonak).
Cipollini thereby earned his 35th stage win in the Tour of Italy, just six victories from the record of champion cyclist in the 1920s and ‘30s Alfredo Binda.
In addition to the finish line time bonus, Cipollini also won the day’s final intermediate sprint, giving him enough time to overtake prologue winner Juan Carlos Dominguez (Phonak) in the overall standings.
The peloton went at a leisurely pace early in the day but sped up on the approach to Munster where they were welcomed by big crowds lining the streets.
On the final of three finishing circuits, Cipollini's zebra-print-clad team got to the front and paved the way for their sprinter, with Giovanni Lombardi the final leadout man before Cipollini bolted to the line ahead of Brown.
Copyright 2002 AFP
LIVE UPDATES
5:38 p.m. -- No contest. After a strong leadout by his teammate Lombardi, Cipollini takes his 35th stage win at the Giro d'Italia.
5:37 p.m. -- Within the final kilometer. Cipo' and McEwen are among those in a small group off the front.
5:34 p.m. -- There is a big battle for the prime position at the front. Robbie McEwen, Danilo Hondo, Mario Cipollini and Ivan Quaranta are all trying to find a prime spot as the finish line is now within 4km.
5:32 p.m. -- The peloton has entered the final lap. There are five kilometers to go.
Cipo's boys are working their way to the front.
5:25 p.m. -- The German Gerolsteiner squad is driving the pace at the front, as the peloton has finished the first of three laps through Munster. There are 10km remaining.
The Germans on Gerolsteiner and Telekom are aiming for a stage win, though Cipo's Aqua & Sapone team have their own motivation.
5:20 p.m. -- On the finishing circuit, the peloton is covering the first of three laps through downtown Munster.
5:15 p.m. -- We are within 20km of the finish. Obviously, the pace has picked up, the peloton is now cruising along at better than 40kph.
5:00 p.m. -- The peloton is all together as the race approaches the outskirts of Munster.
4:38p.m. -- Cipollini takes the Intergiro sprint, earning a 6-second time bonus in the process. He is now nine seconds out of the overall lead. Cipo' has his eye on the pink jersey... and we can be sure that the folks at Specialized already have his matching pink bike waiting in the wings.
4:35 p.m. -- The race has 50km to go and we are coming within 2km of the Intergiro sprint. Cipollini's squad is powering the peloton.
4:09 p.m. -- The sprinters' teams are beginning to pick up the pace as the Intergiro sprint approaches. The Zebra-clad Aqua & Sapone team is at the front, setting up for their man Cipollini.
3:49 p.m. -- It's an easy day... so far. The pace continues to hover around 34- to 35kph. With so many riders within a few seconds of the lead, that'll pick up as the peloton approaches the first Intergiro sprint comes up and then later as the finish comes up in 79km in Munster.
3:38 p.m. -- The pace remains below moderate, averaging just 35kph thus far.
3:00 p.m. -- Good morning folks. We’re three hours into today’s first stage of the 2002 Giro d’Italia, a 218km jaunt from Groningen, the site of yesterday’s prologue, to the German city of Munster.
There were a 197 starters this morning. Slovenian Gorazd Stangelj (Fassa Bortolo) who finished the prologue in last place yesterday (5:31 down) crashed and broke his collar bone yesterday and has withdrawn.
Marc Streel (LANDBOUWKREDIET-COLNAGO ) won the first points sprint of the day. It's a sprint to the Dutch-German border and, unlike the Intergiro, carries no time bonus. Today’s pace has been downright relaxed at just 34.5kph for the first 102km.
