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Friday's EuroFile: Steegmans takes Dunkirk stage; Bettini eyes maglia rosa; Petacchi agrees

Published: May. 5, 2006
A little too long to be called a prologue, Stage 1 may start sorting things out early on in this Giro.
A little too long to be called a prologue, Stage 1 may start sorting things out early on in this Giro.

Davitamon-Lotto grabbed another win after big Belgian Gert Steegmans outkicked recently crowned Madison world champion Isaac Galvez (Caisse d’Epargne-Illes Balears) to win the third stage at the Four Days of Dunkirk.

Four riders – Geoffroy Lequattre, Jimmy Engoulvent, Frédéric Finot and Mathieu Drujon – tried their luck at 59km into the 181km march from Fontaine-au-Pire to Hénin-Beaumont. The French quartet built up a two-minute lead, but they needed a bigger head start than that to hold off the sprinters.

Race leader Roberto Petito’s teammates on Tenax led the charge and then stepped aside as the sprinters took control and he kept his jersey for the day. Last year’s green jersey winner at the Tour de France Thor Hushovd (Crédit Agricole) was third while American Kirk O’Bee (Health Net-Maxxis) came through ninth.

Four Days of Dunkirk, Stage 3, Fontaine-au-Pire to Hénin-Beaumont, 181km
1. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto) 4:14:36
2. Isaac Galvez Lopez (Sp), Illes Balears
3. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole
4. Jimmy Casper (F), Cofidis
5. Simone Cadamuro (I), Milram – all same time

Overall standings after three stages
1. Roberto Petito (I), Tenax, 13:04:49
2. Stéphane Petilleau (F), Bretagne-Jean Floch, at 0:04
3. Francesco Chicchi (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:41
4. Gert Steegmans (B), Davitamon-Lotto, s.t.
5. Thor Hushovd (Nor), Crédit Agricole, at 0:45

Bettini eyes maglia rosa
Paolo Bettini has it all planned out. The Olympic champion likes to give as well as take; give to his fans, that is, after what he is hoping will be a day in pink after taking a stage in Belgium and grabbing the maglia rosa.

“It'd be a great Giro if I win stage three to Namur and wear the pink jersey and, even without the pink jersey, it would be pretty good,” he said in a pre-race news conference Thursday. “My Quick Step team is from Belgium and I have lots of fans here after winning the Liège-Bastogne-Liège race in 2000 and 2002, so I really want to do well.”

Bettini – a winner somewhat surprisingly of only one Giro stage in his career that came in 2005 – figures if he does well in Saturday’s first time trial stage he’ll be able to take the jersey with time bonuses.

Then the Quick Step-Innergetic captain could wear the leader’s jersey as the Giro returns to home roads ahead of the team time trial Thursday back in Italy.

“I hope to lose less than 10 seconds in the prologue and then win in Namur so that I can pull on the pink jersey thanks to the time bonuses,” he continued. “The uphill finish to the citadel in Namur is perfect for me and might create a time gap that will allow me to wear the pink jersey until the team time trial in Italy on Thursday.”

After that, Bettini would step aside for the real right for the overall spoils. He taps Ivan Basso (CSC) as the man to beat and qualified the final week as “terrifying.”

Petacchi agrees with Bettini
Sprint king Alessandro Petacchi (Milram) also faced the press Thursday and was quick to point that the Giro’s third stage is not well-suited to his characteristics.

“This morning I looked at the stage to Namur – it’s too difficult for me and it’s not a finish tailored for me,” Petacchi said. “To arrive at the citadel, there are hairpins, it’s steep and there are cobbles. It’s perfect for Bettini.”

With a scarcity of sprinting stages in this year’s mountainous Giro, Petacchi guesses there might be six stages maximum that could end in a mass gallop. He also admitted it will be complicated to try to earn the maglia rosa on time bonuses with Saturday’s difficult opener and Namur’s challenging finish on Monday.

McGee doesn’t like his chances
Brad McGee won the opening prologue at the 2004 Giro d’Italia, but he doesn’t like his chances ahead of Saturday’s opener of the 89th Giro.

Speaking in an interview with Eurosport, the Aussie said he’s “a little flat” after a hard Tour of Romandie where he finished nearly 50 minutes off the winning pace.

“I don't think it's going to be quite as easy as two years ago, considering the prologue course is quite tough and we're up to Belgium where the racing is quite different from Italy,” he said. “(The course) is not very technical but it's going to have to take a good tactic because there's a climb and the way to approach the climb. It’s going to be up to the riders to really negotiate that according to their own abilities, which means a well tactically-planned race.”

McGee finished 8th overall in 2004, but this year he’s once again looking to the Tour de France as his top goal for the season. Like many Tour contenders, he’s expecting to use the Giro as training for July’s main event.

Francaise des Jeux will bring a motivated group, however. In addition to McGee, the French team can count on Sandy Casar – who posted a career-best 13th in the2003 Giro – and emerging Belgian star Philippe Gilbert, who will be keen to try something on home roads in the first four days.

Francaise des Jeux for Giro d’ItaliaBrad McGeeSandy CasarCarlos Da CruzMikael DelageArnaud GerardPhilippe GilbertGustav LarssonCyrille MonneraisJussi Veikkanen

SD brass believe in Simoni
If it seems that Damiano Cunego and Ivan Basso are getting most of the pre-Giro hype, that’s fine with Saunier Duval-Prodir officials. They believe their man – two-time winner Gilberto Simoni – will prove that age has its merits.

“The last week is hard and it fits well to Simoni’s characteristics,” Saunier Duval sport director Josean Fernández told AS. “We start with the maximum expectations, but let me tell you a name that no one has mentioned: (Mauricio) Ardila. He might not win, but he’ll be able to do something big. And don’t forget Cunego, because his rivalry with Simoni can offer us some exciting afternoons.”

Barloworld dreams of ProTour
Barloworld won’t be lining up for the Giro this weekend, but the team still hopes to earn a ProTour license in the coming years. Under the leadership of ex-Saeco team boss Claudio Corti, the team is looking optimistically to the future.

“We’re obviously sad to see the Giro departure without our participation, but our team is progressing and demonstrating that we deserve to be in the ProTour,” Corti told TuttoBici. “We’re working toward that goal.”

The team instead will line up in Spain for the two-day, three-stage Clásica de Alcobendas held in the hills north of Madrid. Igor Astarloa will lead the team’s effort.

Alcobendas drawing stars
With all eyes on the Giro d’Italia this weekend, several top names will be lining up in the suburbs north of Madrid for the two-day, three-stage Clásica de Alcobendas.

Among the bigger names to race this weekend include the return to competition for Santiago Botero (Phonak), Vladimir Karpets and Oscar Pereiro (Illes Balears), Basque Country winner José Angel Goméz Marchante (Saunier Duval) and Luis Leon Sanchez (Liberty Seguros), winner two years running of the time trial stage.

Saturday’s 170km road stage finishes atop the Cat. 1 Alto de Navacerrada in the mountains north of Madrid. Sunday’s split stage includes a 79km morning road sector followed up by the decisive 9.7km individual time trial in the afternoon.