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El Fares takes Tirreno-Adriatico opener
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French rider Julien El Fares (Cofidis) held off the chasing peloton to win the first stage of Tirreno-Adriatico.
Led by Liquigas and Columbia-Highroad, the chasing pack fell 11 seconds short of ending the Frenchman’s adventure in the 147km stage to Capannori on Wednesday.
El Fares dropped his fellow escapee, Vladimir Duma (Flaminia), with about 20km to go but Duma chased back with 9km to go. They held a slender lead of 1:34 to hungry sprinters.
The pair came in for a two-up sprint and the Frenchman kicked his way to his first professional victory in the opener of the “Race of Two Seas” in Italy.
The peloton had the pair in sight, but couldn’t close the gap in the closing kilometers.
The sprint for third was still a test of wills among the sprinters.
Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) was fastest out of the pack, finishing ahead of Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) and Tom Boonen (Quick Step).
Tirreno-Adriatico continues Thursday with the 177km second stage from Volterra to Marina di Carrara.
