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Garate takes tough stage at San Pellegrino; Basso solidifies lead
There’s no stopping Team CSC in this Giro d’Italia, unless they decide to stop themselves.
Team CSC was everywhere in Friday’s epic seven-hour haul in the 221km 19th stage that hit such legendary climbs as the Fedaia, Pordoi and San Pellegrino.
Bobby Julich and Jens Voigt were in the day’s winning 19-man break, five other Team CSC jerseys were pinned at the front of the main bunch and race leader Ivan Basso widened his hold on the maglia rosa to more than six minutes with just two days left.
So what was Voigt doing when he reached over and patted Juan Manuel Garate (Lampre) on the back with 400 meters to go and then watched his Spanish escape partner spring away to an uncontested victory?
It seems the German marauder – who rode more than 150km in the break and then followed Garate up the final climb on San Pellegrino – has manners to go along with his attacking temperament.
“I always like to win, but if I don’t work, I don’t win. If I win, it’s because I am good and I worked for it,” Voigt told VeloNews. “To win like this, it wouldn’t be a win. That’s just not me. I cannot win like that.”
FULL RESULTS
Garate was the happy beneficiary of Voigt’s good sportsmanship and won in the Giro’s hardest stage, a grueling four-climb seven-hour epic over the towering Dolomites.
Basso, whose wife gave birth to a brand-new baby boy Friday morning, seemed relaxed in the final showdown up San Pellegrino, easily matching Simoni’s vain effort to drop the tenacious José Enrique Gutiérrez (Phonak)."It was a special stage for me," said Basso. "When I woke up at 7a.m., I had a message from my wife saying that the birth was imminent. My son was born at 9:10 a.m."I left with my heart full of joy," he said. "For a father, it's hard not to be present, but I've got to finish my work here first."
With one hard day left in the 89th Giro, Basso now leads by 6:07 and even hinted he’d like to win Saturday’s parting shot over the Mortirolo and the Gavia for his recent arrival.
Julich, Voigt on the march
With epic stamped all over this stage, and Team CSC stamping its authority all over the race, only riders well back in the overall dared to take on the day’s four major climbs.
At 221km, this stage featured the biggest dose of climbing in a single day at this year’s corsa rosa, with four major climbs providing a total of 16,394 feet of elevation gain.
The opening 12.4km Forella Staulanza averages 6.8 percent; the 13.3km Passo di Fedáia (also known as the “Marmolada”) has pitches as steep as 18 percent; the 11.8km Passo Pordoi averages 6.6 percent; and the 18.5km climb to the finish on the Passo San Pellegrino has some 15-percent pitches.
Peeling away from the favorites was the only chance for a stage. After about 70km into the stage, a big group formed that included: Alessandro Spezialetti and Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas), Garate and Paolo Bettini (Quick Step-Innergetic), Patrice Halgand (Credit Agricole), Emaneuele Sella, Luis Laverde and Fortunato Baliani (Panaria), Julich and Voigt (CSC), Joan Horrach (Illes Balears), Johan Tschopp and Steve Zampieri, (Phonak), Patxi Vila, Evgeni Petrov and Tadej Valjavec (Lampre), Theo Eltink (Rabobank) and Ivan Parra (Cofidis).
FULL RESULTS
With no real challengers among the attackers, the peloton settled in for a long, hard day in the saddle. Basso woke up to the news that his wife gave birth to a brand-new baby born, giving the leader even more motivation.
The leaders chugged over the Cat. 2 Staulanza climb with a lead of more than five minutes and took a breathing to take in the view of breathtaking views of jagged, snow-covered peaks.
Heading up the grueling Passo di Fedaia – one of the most storied climbs in all of cycling history also known as Marmolada – Julich lost the wheel as the lead group whittled down to 14 riders with the lead over six minutes.
Up next came the spectacular Passo di Pordoi, with Voigt staying safely tucked in the bunch who took notice that the German attacker wasn’t doing much of the work.
“Ivan (Parra) started yelling at me to work and asking me what I was doing in the break, but all I could do was sit in,” Voigt said. “In case the shit hit the fan, we wanted to have me or Bobby up the road to be there for Basso in case it came down to just Ivan, Cunego and Simoni.”
Baliani took enough points to move back into the mountain jersey after forfeiting it to Basso after Monte Bondone.
Garate gets one
The lead riders in the front group kept falling back until it was only Voigt, Garate, Valjavec and Vila. Voigt seemed outnumbered, but he countered moves by the two Lampre riders and then hitched a ride on Garate´s wheel.
The Spanish national champion did most of the heavy lifting and it looked to be close as Saunier Duval put down a hard chase to trim the lead down to just under three minutes with about nine kilometers to go.
Back in the main bunch, Saunier Duval was trying to dislodge the stubborn Gutiérrez from second place. Leonardo Piepoli surged ahead with Simoni taking hard pulls, but the big Phonak rider hold steady until looking vulnerable with about 4.5km to go.
Simoni dug as hard as he could, with Basso riding his wheel. Cunego chased on as well, but Gutiérrez just wasn’t going to let go and recovered some lost ground on the mostly flat final 2km to the finish line. He eventually finished 11th, just 19 seconds slower than Simoni and kept his hold on the podium.
“I’m going to keep fighting to the absolute end for this podium,” Gutiérrez said. “I’ve never been in a position like this before. I’ve always worked for others, so it’s once in a lifetime.”
With Voigt riding on Garate’s wheel, many were surprised when the German rider pedaled up alongside and patted the Spaniard’s back, only to let him dance away to victory.
“I will never forget what Voigt did for me and one day I will pay him back,” said Garate, who gestured to his stomach after hearing his wife is pregnant. “He saw all the work Quick Step did in the beginning of the stage and told me he didn’t deserve to win and said he wouldn’t sprint. What he did proved he was a great person and a great champion.”
Basso in the clouds
All Basso had to do was follow the others and that ended up giving him an even wider lead going into the final two days of the 89th Giro. With Gutiérrez struggling to keep pace with Simoni, Basso widened his lead to 6:07.
“It’s always difficult to have a plan and then have it work out exactly as you hope. No one expected that Ivan would have a lead of six minutes at this point of the race,” Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis said. “It’s nice but we expected Ivan to be strong, but you never know how strong the others will be. Ivan has not had a bad day during this Giro.”
Basso said he refuses to celebrate victory until the Giro ends Sunday in Milan. Not that he’s superstitious, but he won’t forget what happened to him last year on the Stelvio climb when he fell ill and lost all chances of victory.
“I am in a good position, that’s clear, but nothing is won until Sunday,” Basso said. “I remain prudent and tranquil and will keep counting on my team to protect me.”
Ullrich heads home
Jan Ullrich’s Giro d’Italia training camp ended Friday about 10km from the finish line. The 1997 Tour champion expressed satisfaction with how the Giro unfolded.
“I am much stronger in the mountains and I won a stage,” Ullrich told German reporters. “I came here without any pressure at all and I was able to train in the high mountains. I feel good ahead of the Tour.”
“After three weeks I feel a little tired and I don't want to compromise my preparations for the Tour de France," Ullrich said. "The penultimate stage on Saturday is also very difficult and I didn't want to continue.
"From the start of the Giro I imagined pulling out in the hardest final hill stages. I now want to go home and get my breath back before starting the last part of my preparation for the Tour de France."
One tough penultimate day
One more stage stands between Basso and Sunday’s promenade into Milan, but it’s a tough one. The 211km 20th stage from Trento to Aprica has classic written all over it.
The route climbs gradually 1,000 meters to Pizzano and the base of the day’s first obstacle, the Cat. 2 Passo del Tonale at 1883m. A quick descent carries the bunch to the base of this year’s Cima Coppa, the Giro’s highest point over the legendary Passo di Gavia at 2618m.
It’s a long 60km descent through Bormio to the base of the feared Passo del Mortirolo, when the peloton will ride past a statue to Marco Pantani along its knee-busting 10.3 percent average grade.
Team CSC should have the race in the bag, but the team isn’t going to jinx anything. A traditional winner’s press conference typically held Saturday evening or Sunday morning isn’t on tap until after Sunday’s finale into Milan.
Results - Stage 19
1. Juan Manuel Garate (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 224km in 7:13:36
2. Jens Voigt (G), CSC, at 0:04
3. Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Sp), Lampre, at 1:21
4. Tadej Valjavec (SLO), Lampre, at 1:55
5. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria, at 2:06
6. Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col), Cofidis, at 2:06
7. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 2:15
8. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, at 2:15
9. Johann Tschopp (Swi), Phonak, at 2:15
10. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 2:19
Overall, after 19 stages
1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 80:46:38
2. José E. Gutierrez Cataluna (Sp), Phonak, at 6:07
3. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 10:34
4. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, at 12:59
5. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 15:13
6. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 15:26
7. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 16:07
8. Manuel Juan Garate (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 16:40
9. Wladimir Belli (I), Colombia - Selle Italia, at 17:23
10. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 18:31
FULLRESULTS
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