THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
That's the Mayo we remember!
Friday's foul weather did nothing to curb the inner aggression of Basque Iban Mayo (Saunier Duval-Prodir), whose beautiful pedaling motion returned, to the bane of his breakaway companions, on the 19th stage of the Giro, triumphing with a solo victory in Comano Terme.
Not content to sit in a seven-man lead group after the midway climb of the Pian delle Fugazze, especially with Acqua & Sapone's Stefano Garzelli by his side, Mayo chose fellow Spaniard Alberto Losada (Caisse d'Epargne) as his partner in crime.
Believing a countermove to be his best chance, Losada worked with Mayo until the L'Alpe d'Huez champion from the 2003 Tour de France found that special, inimitable rhythm that once made him such a feared member of the peloton.
As he left Losada behind on the slopes of the 15.6 kilometer Passo Ballino, its crest just 14 kilometers from the finish. Mayo, still only 29 years old, pedaled as if his life depended on it. Fearless, he then carved his way down the rain-soaked descent in a manner that would have made 'il Falco' Savoldelli proud.
Just one last look back before the line, Mayo's victory - his first win in nine months - coupled with a big, beaming smile and a flamboyant series of salutes, said it all: "I am back!"
A pair of Italians from the original breakaway, Giovanni Visconti (Quick.Step-Innergetic) and Marco Marzano (Lampre-Fondital), arrived 43 seconds and 1:04 later respectively.
It was a relatively quiet, though very wet, day in the office for maglia rosa Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas), who, along with the rest of the leaderboard, will meet his date with destiny in Saturday's time trial.
For any maglia rosa within two stages of being crowned champion, two and a half minutes to your nearest rival is a enviable advantage, and barring complete disaster, there's no reason why the 31 year-old Di Luca won't be wearing pink come Sunday in Milano.
Hungry for glory
A wet start in Treviso did little to deter a series of breakaway attempts, with Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step-Innergetic) and Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r Prévoyance) having the most success, leaving the peloton's grasp after 66 kilometers and amassing a 45 second lead.
However, being the very last opportunity for the non-sprinters to grab a stage, there were too few riders and too many of them hungry for a win; and by the foot of the Pian delle Fugazze, 90 kilometers into the race, the situation returned to status quo.
11.4 kilometers long with an average gradient of 7.2 percent, the climb had the desired effect of splitting the bunch to pieces, with seven men coming out on top as the rain began to pour: Mayo, Garzelli, Losada, Marzano, Visconti, Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank), and Evgeni Petrov (Tinkoff Credit Systems).
As the lead group approached the feed zone in Rovereto after 120 kilometers, the gruppo maglia rosa containing all the usual suspects, was three minutes in arrears, with a four-man chase comprised of Olivier Bonnaire (Bouygues Telecom), Pablo Lastras (Caisse d'Epargne), Patxi Vila (Lampre-Fondital) and Dario Cioni (Predictor-Lotto) sandwiched in between, a minute and a half behind, but not really closing.
Unwilling to give danger man Garzelli another shot at glory, Spaniards Losada and Mayo decided to collaborate, and they worked their way off the front. The other five weren't too happy to let them go, chasing hard. The Spanish pair weren't content to be where they were either, and went to the base of the final ascent of the 15.6 kilometer Passo Ballino with a tentative, though handy, 21 second lead.
As the skies continued to open, so did the advantage of Losada and Mayo, whose combined climbing prowess saw the pair amass a one-minute-plus advantage by the Ballino's midway point. Then, six kilometers from the top, Mayo found his legs for real, dancing away with apparent ease.
By the summit, Mayo was 41 seconds in front of a quartet of chasers led by Rasmussen, and more than four and half minutes ahead of the gruppo maglia rosa - but most importantly, less than 14 kilometers from the finish in Comano Terme.
Down the rain-soaked descent to Fiavè, Visconti and Petrov went off in pursuit of Mayo, but the latter took two too many risks, crashing twice, and leaving a mano-à-mano chase to the line.
Visconti got within half a minute, but on this day, nothing was going to stop the mullet-haired Basque from taking a superb win, as the grinning Mayo gave one last look behind before victory was his. Visconti arrived 43 seconds later, followed by Marzoni, another 1:04 back.
Safe and sound, although seriously soaked, was the gruppo maglia rosa, 2:44 behind today's winner, leaving the leaderboard unchanged till tomorrow.
The road ahead - The penultimate stage will be not so much a test for maglia rosa Di Luca, but more for the four men right behind him.
"I'm feeling calm," said Di Luca. "Even if I lost 1:30 in the time trial (to Schleck), I would still have a 50-second buffer."
As it stands, just 1:24 separates Andy Schleck, Gilberto Simoni, Damiano Cunego and Eddy Mazzoleni, and for these four men, it most certainly will be a race of truth.
It's a testing, although not overly difficult, 43 kilometer run from Bardolino to the finish outside the Arena di Verona, and by all accounts, should make a thrilling finale to the 90th edition of this race.Results – stage 19
1. Iban Mayo Diez (Sp), Saunier Duval, 178km in 4:34:49 (38.862kph)
2. Giovanni Visconti (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 0:43
3. Marco Marzano (I), Lampre, 1:04
4. Michael Rasmussen (Dk), Rabobank, 1:08
5. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 1:08
6. Mario Aerts (B), Predictor-Lotto, 2:54
7. Lorenzo Bernucci (I), T-Mobile, 2:58
8. Maximilian Ariel Maximilian (ARG), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 3:13
9. Lilian Jegou (F), Francaise des Jeux, 3:13
10. Josep Jufre Pou (Sp), Predictor-Lotto, 3:13
Overall, after stage 19
1. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas, 86:46:28
2. Andy Schleck (Lux), CSC, 2:24
3. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 2:28
4. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, 3:29
5. Eddy Mazzoleni (I), Astana, 3:46
6. Riccardo Ricco' (I), Saunier Duval, 5:19
7. Evgeni Petrov (Rus), TCS, 8:20
8. David Arroyo Duran (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, 10:00
9. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas, 10:39
10. Marzio Bruseghin (I), Lampre, 10:55
To see how today's stage developed, simply
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