THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Sella wins in Dolomites; Bosisio takes over lead at Giro d'Italia
Emanuele Sella (CSF-Navigare) swapped tears of frustration for tears of joy Saturday after winning a blockbuster stage as the overall favorites squared off up the grueling 7.7km climb to the Alpe di Pampeago summit in the 91st Giro’s first clash in the Dolomites.
The 195km, two-climb stage lived up to expectations to deliver big surprises as Sella pulled away early as part of a 13-man breakaway at 13km that also included Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream-Chipotle).
After coming close to victory in stage 7 only to see his chances foiled by a puncture in the final kilometers, Sella attacked at the base of the 24km Passo Manghen climb and then drove home a solo victory 4:38 ahead of Vasil Kiryienka (Tinkoff).
“Someone was watching me from above. All of the bad luck I’ve had is erased with this triumph,” said an emotional Sella, who padded his lead in the King of the Mountain’s jersey as well. “I had fear of being caught and in the last kilometer I suffered so much.”
Gabriele Bosisio (LPR) started the day in second-place overall but inherited the pink jersey from Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) after finishing 21st at 10:37 back. Visconti was dropped on the Manghen and came across the line 58th at 18:02 back to lose more than seven minutes to Bosisio and forfeited his eight-day hold on the maglia rosa.
Bosisio moved just five seconds ahead of defending Tour de France champion Alberto Contador (Astana) with Marzio Bruseghin (Lampre) slotting into third at 28 seconds back at 28 seconds back.
“It’s great satisfaction to gain the pink jersey. We knew it was possible today and the team did great to help me up the climbs,” said Bosisio, a winner in stage 7. “I hope things continue well. I spent a lot of energy in the opening week. Di Luca and Savoldelli will be there when it counts. I’m not the strongest on the team.”
GC fight just beginning
There was a big fight among the nervous GC riders, but no one was able to impose their will on the race.
Contador wasn’t at his sharpest when two-time Giro champ Gilberto Simoni (Diquigiovanni-Androni) attacked with about 3km to go to blow up a group of about 20 leading GC favorites.
“I didn’t have the day I was hoping for. I’ve been struggling with allergies and it really affected me today,” said Contador. “The legs couldn’t respond as they normally would have. To be five seconds from the maglia rosa is disappointing. I’m not happy with how things went at all.”
Just as Astana sport director Sean Yates predicted, it was a free-for-all among the GC favorites, but the stage didn’t turn out the way Astana hoped. Contador, Andreas Klöden and Levi Leipheimer were all dropped as Simoni, Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) and finally Denis Menchov (Rabobank) made lethal accelerations.
“I was the first to attack. We were a bunch of sheep today, not a pack of lions. Everyone was too scared to attack,” said Simoni, who finished ninth and slotted into ninth overall at 1:31 back. “I tried first, but in the end it was Menchov who pulled clear. That was a surprise, but this Giro is just beginning.”
Menchov dipped across the line first among the favorites in 6th at 8:48 back, followed by rider after rider as they slinked across the line in dribs and drabs.
Next were Pellizotti and Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) at 8:57, Simoni at 9:01 with defending champion Danilo Di Luca (LRP) coming across in 13th at 9:14 back.
“It was an extremely difficult stage and everyone was at their maximum. Contador fell back, but he’s still the favorite for victory,” said Di Luca, who slotted into 5th at 1:07 back. “We now have the maglia rosa. I lost a little time, but this was the first mountain stage and this Giro is long. Tomorrow is another hard stage and it will tell us a lot.”
Leipheimer finished 34th at 13:08 back while Klöden was 17th at 9:57 back in a hard day for Astana.
“This Giro is still all to play for. Alberto still has an advantage over his rivals and it’s good that LPR has the jersey because they might control things,” said Astana sport director Sean Yates. “Alberto didn’t have his best day, but considering he didn’t have an ideal preparation, we’re still in pretty good position. There’s no need to panic.”
Riccò settled into fourth overall at 1:02 off the pace. A winner of two stages so far, Riccò made headlines overnight by claiming he was going to “attack the beach boy and the Kraut,” referring to Contador and Klöden, but woke up with a cough.
“This morning I didn’t feel that great and I had some problems breathing the way I wanted to,” said Riccò. “Like I said before, the mountains at the Giro aren’t the same as in the Tour. The gradients are much steeper and you have to manage your forces better. I gave my most, but I hope to be feeling better for tomorrow’s stage.”
Epic break away
The first of three days across the Dolomites opened with a doozy. The day’s main obstacle was the Category 1 Passo de Manghen, a long 23-kilometer climb that averaged 7.1 percent. The finishing climb up the Alpe di Pampeago wasn’t as long, but it averaged 9.6 percent for its 7.8km. The problem is that it gets steeper and steeper as it nears the finish, with the closing 3.5km averaging a knee-popping 11.7 percent.
As expected, riders as Davide Rebellin (Gerolsteiner) and Robbie McEwen (Silence-Lotto) didn’t start, but it didn’t take long before a break pulled clear.
An all-star group formed quickly as 13 pulled off the front at 13km: Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream-Chipotle), Paolo Bettini (Quick Step), Yoann Le Boulanger (Francaise des Jeux), Jure Golcer (LPR), Sella, José Rujano and Joaquim Rodriguez (Caisse d'Epargne), Kiryienka, Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r), Maxim Iglinskiy (Astana), Jens Voigt (Team CSC), Francisco Perez (Caisse d'Epargne) and Charles Wegelius (Liquigas).
The gap opened up to more than six minutes when Sella took matters into his own hands when he attacked the group near the base of the Manghen with about 50km to go.
He poured everything into his pedals and held about two minutes over Rodriguez and Rujano over the Manghen and nearly 10 minutes on the main peloton. Visconti lost contact midway up the monster Manghen climb and topped out 1:20 behind the leaders.
Sella powered up the final climb to fend off a late surge by Kiryienka to win his first win since his break out win in 2004.
“This is more satisfying that my first victory because back then no one knew who I was and it was my debut at the highest levels of the sport,” Sella said, who takes control of the King of the Mountains jersey. “Today was different because I was able to ride away from everyone on the toughest climbs.”
The 91st Giro continues with Sunday’s six-climb, 153km 15th stage ending atop the Marmolada. The fireworks have just begun.
Results, Stage 14
1. Emanuele Sella (ITA), CSF Group Navigare in 5:37:14
2. Vasil Kiryienka (BLR), Tinkoff at 4:38
3. Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver (ESP), Caisse d'Epargne at 5:08
4. José Rujano Guillen (VEN), Caisse d'Epargne at 7:28
5. Paolo Bettini (ITA), Quick Step at 7:59
6. Denis Menchov (RUS), Rabobank at 8:48
7. Franco Pellizotti (ITA), Liquigas at 8:57
8. Riccardo Ricco' (ITA), Saunier Duval at s.t.
9. Gilberto Simoni (ITA), Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni at 9:01
10. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (BEL), Silence-Lotto at s.t.
Overall, after stage 14
1. Gabriele Bosisio (ITA), Team L.P.R.
2. Alberto Contador (Sp), Astana, 0:05
3. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA), Lampre, at 0:28
4. Riccardo Ricco' (ITA), Saunier Duval, at 1:02
5. Danilo Di Luca (ITA), Team L.P.R., at 1:07
