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Pellizotti takes big win at Giro
It wasn’t quite as painful as the Nordic ski jumper that went spiraling down the hill all those years during the intro to ABC’s Wide World of Sports, but watching poor Axel Merckx throw several backward glances as a fast-moving chase group caught the Phonak rider just 150 meters from the line clearly rated as one of cycling’s agony-of-defeat moments.
Instead of a heroic solo stage 10 win for the Belgian with the famous name, it was Liquigas lieutenant Franco Pellizotti who got to pop the champagne at the end of the 190km run south from Termoli to Peschici on Tuesday at the Giro d’Italia.
“You go through every possible emotion,” said Merckx, who sat motionless with his head draped on his handlebars for at least a minute before addressing the crush of media that had swarmed the 33-year-old just past the finish line
“You are disappointed because you think you are not going to make it, and then you see the board for 600 and 500 and 400 meters, and you think, well, maybe there is a chance, and they won’t be able to come back if they hesitate in the corners. But when I saw them at 150 meters, everything went away.”
The fast-finishing Pellizotti took over from there, pulling away from the remnants of a break that originated with 21 riders, cruising across the line while throwing an emphatic celebratory uppercut into the air.
“This morning we decided the plan was to either win in a sprint with [team leader Danilo] Di Luca or with me in a break,” said Pellizotti, once a Giro GC hopeful with Alessio who has since moved into an assistant’s role at Liquigas. “The break went and I was there, so everything was okay.”
Behind Merckx, Pellizotti and the rest of the escapees, Paolo Bettini led in gruppo maglia rosa at 3:23. Right on Bettini’s wheel was Jens Voigt and race leader Ivan Basso (both Team CSC), who will now go into the rest day with a solid 1:34 advantage over closest pursuer Jose Gutierrez (Phonak).
Pellizotti’s win and time gain did give Liquigas another hand in the game, as the stage winner jumped from 23rd to fourth overall, 2:05 back of Basso.
“Di Luca is still the leader,” said Pellizotti, whose team leader sits seventh overall at 2:48, “but it’s good to have two GC places because we can make some problems.”
After the stage the Giro caravan boarded buses for a three-hour ride north to Pescara where they will be flown to Italy’s other coast to enjoy Wednesday’s rest day.
The nuts and bolts of this sun-splashed stage that started and ended along the Adriatic boiled down to the 21-rider break, a failed attempt to bring them back, and Merckx’s valiant — but fruitless — bid for victory.
The members of the original break included Merckx, Pellizotti and Wegelius, plus second-place finisher Vladimir Efimkin (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears) and third-place man Serguei Yakovlev (Liberty Seguros-Würth). The other escapees were Benoit Joachim (Discovery Channel), Yohann Gene (Bouygues Telecom), Jose Luis Carrasco and Joan Horrach Rippoll (Caisse d'Epargne-Illes Balears), Sergiy Matveyev (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare), Benoit Poilvet (Credit Agricole), Sylvain Calzati and Hubert Dupont (AG2R Prevoyance), Theo Eltink and Alexandr Kolobnev (Rabobank), Angel Gomez (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Jose Serpa (Selle Italia), Giovanni Lombardi (Team CSC), Alessandro Vanotti (Milram), Marco Pinotti (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner).
They came together 50km into a hot, hard day that started at the beach town of Termoli, then looped away from the coast, before heading back in through the arid rolling hills of the Gargano National Forest.With the sun beating down and little shade to cool things off, the motivated runaways rolled up an advantage that peaked at a comfortable 5:52, 115km into the stage.
"We controlled the escape, so that was good,” said Basso. “It was a hard stage. For an hour and half it was very difficult. When the group slipped away, we had to do a little work to control it, but we were always calm.”
Indeed, as the break hit the early portion of the day’s lone rated climb, the category 3 Monte Sant’ Angelo, the gap had already fallen to 3:40. By then Lampre was doing most of the work at the front, intent on protecting team leader Damiano Cunego’s GC position.
But with a long twisting descent on tight, narrow roads preceding the uphill run to the finish, things were not coming back together. That left Merckx to play the only move he had, jumping away from the break with 15km to go.
“I attacked on the descent because I was feeling good,” he said. “I think I played my cards right. I’m not a sprinter so I had to try something. I got away, but I just needed the race to be a little shorter. I didn’t know the downhill. I’m a good downhiller but I didn’t want to crash. You have to take some risks, but they have to be calculated risks. That’s cycling. I played my cards and I lost.”
Indeed, with 10 riders left in the original break, Merckx’s advantage was never more than 11 seconds and he was sucked in just before the line, as spectators looked on from the balconies of their whitewashed houses in this remote seaside sanctuary. Merckx ended up 11th, 13 seconds back.
Pellizotti’s sprint to the line was a mere formality, after a day of sitting on.
“All the riders were looking at me in the last 35km, but [teammate] Charlie Wegelius worked a lot for me. He did a great job, so half of this win is his,” the stage winner explained. “I was in the 53x21 in the beginning of the climb, then when I caught Merckx I went into the 17.”
Following Wednesday’s rest day, it’s another crucial test at the Giro, as stage 11 brings an individual time trial in Pontedera, birthplace of the famed Vespa scooter. At 50km, this flat oval loop out to Pisa and back in beautiful Tuscany, is a full-on Tour de France style TT. Expect Basso to take at least a couple minutes out of the pure climbers, with only Savoldelli and Jose Gutierrez likely to stay within in shouting distance of the Team CSC leader.
Race notes
McEwen hurting
It’s been a rough couple days for Aussie speedster Robbie McEwen. First the Davitamon-Lotto man missed on a chance for his fourth stage win when he was popped off the back during the category 3 ascent that preceded Monday’s finish in Termoli. McEwen was able to get back on and contest the bunch sprint, but his legs were gassed and he settled for fourth.
Now comes word that the former Tour de France green jersey winner is suffering from allergies here in Italy.
“He woke up sick this morning,” said Davitamon directeur sportif Allan Peiper before the start of stage 10. “He has some trouble with his sinuses and his eyes are swollen and the left side of his face was a bit swollen up. He’s really looking forward to [the rest day on Wednesday]. He wants to ride an hour and a half and lay on the beach for six hours. He said getting some sun will help him.”
As for speculation that McEwen’s days here at the Giro are numbered, Peiper said it’s best not to count the “Pocket Rocket” out just yet.
“We are really hoping he gets to [the stage 15 finish in] Brescia,” he added. “He’ll have a chance for a bunch sprint there. Rob’s a fighter. You saw that [on Monday]. He had to really battle to come back and even had to ride on the front to get back to the group. He said he was so tired at the end from riding and trying to hang on that he couldn’t think straight. He should have stayed longer on [third-place finisher Olaf] Pollack’s wheel, and he might have had a better chance. But that’s the thing about Rob, he just fights to the end.”
McEwen led home the laughing group on Tuesday, 18 minutes back of Pellizotti.
McCartney hurting
Jason McCartney has also been suffering the last few days. The American has been sick and Discovery Channel assistant team manager Lorenzo Lapage said McCartney is just hoping to make it to the rest day.
“He really doesn’t feel good right now,” Lapage said on the morning of Tuesday’s stage. “We’re trying to get to the time trial with him. [Wednesday] is the rest day. If he can recover then, and also take it easy in the time trial, we hope he will get better.Then we will see how he is doing.”
McCartney finished with McEwen and others in the final group, some 18 minutes back.
Discovery Channel team leader Paolo Savoldelli has also been dealing with health issues. It turns out Il Falco is allergic to one of the springtime blooms, and it hasn’t been helping his quest for a Giro d’Italia repeat.
“Paolo has had problems with that for a lot of years,” explained Lapage. “It was also a problem last year. You cannot control that, but we’ll do our best. Some other guys have little colds, but not really sick. Jason started with a cold, and with the heat and some allergies, all together it makes a big difference.”
Dropouts
Aussie Brad McGee (Française des Jeux) and Dariusz Baranowski (Liberty Seguros-Wurth) both dropped out of the race on Tuesday, bringing what started as a 198-rider field down to 185.
McGee’s biggest result here was a second-place finish behind Savoldelli on the stage 1 prologue in Seraing, Belgium.
Had McGee’s time held up that day, it would have been the second time he’d worn the Giro’s distinctive pink jersey, which he wore in 2004 after winning the opening stage. Instead he pedaled out of the finish area with a bitter taste in his mouth.
“I hate getting seconds and thirds,” he said that day. “I did everything right. It wasn’t even close, Jesus Christ. I’m very surprised. I thought I put out a good one. I was really happy with it.”
McGee has been battling a hip problem since a crash at Criterium International. He was 175th at 57:33 going into Tuesday’s Giro stage. Baranowski was one spot behind the Aussie, at 57:37.
The Big 7
With 10 of 21 stages in the books, here’s a look at how the top seven contenders stand against each other in the chase for this year’s overall Giro d’Italia title. Last year Paolo Savoldelli topped Gilberto Simoni by 28 seconds in the final overall standings.1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC
2. Jose Gutierrez (Phonak), at 1:34
3. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre-Fondital, at 1:48
5. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, at 2:35
7. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, at 2:48
8. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval-Prodir, at 3:20
20. Jose Rujano (Ven), Selle Italia, at 5:32
The North Americans
With 10 of 21 stages in the books, here’s a look at the overall rankings for the seven North Americans racing in this year’s Giro d’Italia.10. Tom Danielson (USA), Discovery Channel, at 3:31
92. Julio Perez (Mex), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, at 39:57
106. Patrick McCarty (USA), Phonak, 45:30
141. Moises Chavez (Mex), Ceramica Panaria-Navigare, at 58:26
142. Bobby Julich (USA), Team CSC, 58:55
171. Jason McCartney (USA), Discovery Channel, at 1:10:32
180. Aaron Olson (USA), Saunier Duval-Prodir, at 1:14:01
Results - Stage 10
1. Franco Pellizotti (I) Liquigas-Bianchi, 4:39:47 (40.745 Kph)
2. Vladimir Efimkin (Rus) Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., at 0:00
3. Serguei Yakovlev (Kaz) Liberty Seguros, at 0:02
4. Hubert Dupont (F) Ag2r Prevoyance, at 0:02
5. Theo Eltink (Nl) Rabobank, at 0:03
6. Carrasco Gamiz Jose Luis (Sp) Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., at 0:03
7. Marco Pinotti (I) Saunier Duval, at 0:05
8. Sven Krauss (G) Gerolsteiner, at 0:05
9. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus) Rabobank, at 0:08
10. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Sp) Caisse d'Epargne-I.B., at 0:08
Full Results
Overall
1. Ivan Basso (I) CSC, 39:29:40
2. Gutierrez Cataluna José E. (Sp) Phonak, at 1:34
3. Damiano Cunego (I) Lampre, at 1:48
4. Franco Pellizotti (I) Liquigas-Bianchi, at 2:05
5. Paolo Savoldelli (I) Discovery Channel, at 2:35
6. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr) T-Mobile, at 2:43
7. Danilo Di Luca (I) Liquigas-Bianchi, at 2:48
8. Gilberto Simoni (I) Saunier Duval, at 3:20
9. Giampaolo Caruso (I) Liberty Seguros, at 3:23
10. Tom Danielson (USA) Discovery Channel, at 3:31
Full Results
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