It’s amazing to think a Frenchman hasn’t won a stage in the Giro d’Italia since Laurent Jalabert did so in in Lumezzane in 1999.

That’s a sign that,France isn’t the cycling powerhouse it used to be.That the Giro had truly become a national tour that attracted little attention beyond the Alps.Some combination of the twoIt may be the third choice, since both factors are probably a little true, but the Giro is growing in stature and French cycling seems to be slowly on the rebound. A whole new crop of young French riders are making their presence felt in the peloton.

Wednesday’s 210km transition stage from Lissone to Varazze along the Italian Riviera saw Christophe Le Mevel (Crédit Agricole) take an impressive win ahead of a six-man break that arrived at the finish more than 22 minutes ahead of the main bunch.

Results are posted

“It's my first major victory, and I still can't believe it,” said the 24-year-old Breton, who debuted as a pro in 2001 only to see his career put on hold a year later after a crash in the Four Days of Dunkirk severed his sciatic nerve.

“I'm really happy because we’re near the end of the Giro and I’m still relatively fresh,” said Le Mevel, who shot away with 1.5km remaining. “I want to dedicate my win to everyone who helped me when I was convalescing after my accident. It took me two years to come back. It was a very long and dark period for me.”

With three decisive stages looming in the Alps where the overall favorites will duke it out for the spoils, scores of riders tried to slip away in the long, hot 16th stage that included the Cat. 3 Bric Breton some 40km from the finish. Featured in the 2001-2002 Milan San Remos, the climb would prove decisive when a break finally stuck.

Two early attempts at breaks didn’t work until 18 riders slipped away at around the 100km mark. In there group were: Le Mevel, Christophe Brandt (Davitamon-Lotto), Frank Schleck (CSC), Javier Ramirez (Liberty Seguros), Addy Engels (QuickStep), Rene Andrle ' (Liberty Seguros), Alessandro Vanotti (Domina Vacanze), Yannick Talabardon (Crédit Agricole), Andre'Korff (T-Mobile), Eric Baumann (T-Mobile), Lilian Jegou (Francaise des Jeux), Dmitriy Fofonov (Cofidis), Uros Murn (Phonak), Alberto Ongarato (Fassa Bortolo), Dario Andriotto (Liquigas-Bianchi), Leukemans (Davitamon-Lotto), Ignacio Gutierrez (Phonak) and Mathieu Claude (Bouygues Telecom).

The break hit the Bric Breton with nearly 11 minutes on the pelotonch and Fassa Bortolo didn’t seem intent on bringing this one back.

More than two weeks and nearly 3000km of racing started taking its toll on the leaders up the sun-baked Bric Breton overlooking the Italian Mediterranean when six riders extracted themselves to fight for the stage-win: Le Mevel, Brandt, Vanotti, Fofonov, Schleck and Engels.

With some cat-and-mouse sure to follow, Le Mevel bolted away with 1.5km to go and the listless leaders didn’t immediately respond. The Frenchman was streaking to the victory before the others reacted too late.

Brandt finally gave chase, coming through second nine seconds slower and pounding his fists on the handlebars in frustration as he crossed the line.

“The Frenchman attacked just at the right time. I tried to go with 2km to go, but the group reacted straight away,” Brandt said at the line. “When Le Mevel went, no one reacted. I tried but no one would help me and when I finally sprinted with 300 meters to go, it was too late. Baagh, that’s racing.”

Showdown on Piemonte
The main bunch rolled through 22:16 back and no one was in hurry to go anywhere except the showers. Koldo Gil, the Liberty Seguros rider who won in stage 7, pulled out with a bum knee, leaving 158 riders.

Savoldelli finished safely with the peloton to hold a 25-second lead over Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi). Two-time Giro winner Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita) is third at 1:48.

Everyone’s attention now turns to Thursday’s 194km 17th stage from Varazze along the Italian Riviera to the summit finish at Colle di Tenda at Limone Piemonte.

With Friday’s time trial sandwiched between major climbing stages Thursday and Saturday, Savoldelli is in the driver’ seat.

“We obviously have an advantage,” said Discovery Channel sport director Sean Yates. “Simoni has to attack and Di Luca has to try to follow. Even if Paolo loses a little bit, we still have the time trial in Torino which will help us.”

Yates shot down the notion that Discovery Channel wasn’t up to the task of helping Savoldelli with the Giro in his sights.

“Sure, we don’t have the same caliber of team we bring to the Tour de France to help Lance, but to be honest we didn’t expect Paolo to be as strong as he is,” Yates continued. “It’s true he won’t have any guys to help in the mountains. We had Danielson, who was our only true climber, but he’s gone. These other guys are doing everything they can to help Paolo and they’re super-motivated, giving 110-percent. Besides, once it gets to the high mountains, it’s every man for himself.”

All the top-three contenders are sounding confident, with Simoni promising to attack and Di Luca hoping his magical legs don’t fail him now.

Many are overlooking fourth-place Juan Garate (Saunier Duval) at 2:11 and José Rujano (Selle Italia-Colombia), the pint-sized Venezuelan who controls the best climber’s jersey at 2:18 back.

“I still have aspirations for the podium. My legs are feeling better now than at the beginning of the Giro,” said Garate, who finished fourth at the 2002 Giro. “We’ll see how I can respond, but I always feel good at the end of a three-week tour.”

Ivan Basso (CSC) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Caffita) are sure to play roles as well. Basso vows to try to win a stage in the Giro that he felt sure he was going to win while Cunego has publicly said he’ll support Simoni at the expense of his own personal ambitions to win a stage.Results are posted

Results Stage 16 1. Christophe Le Mevel (F), Credit Agricole, 210km in 4:50:51 (43.321kph)
2. Christophe Brandt (B), Davitamon-Lotto, at 0:09
3. Alessandro Vanotti (I), Domina Vacanze, at 0:16
4. Dmitriy Fofonov (Kaz), Cofidis, at 0:16
5. Frank Schleck (Lux), CSC, at 0:16
6. Addy Engels (Nl), Quickstep, at 0:16
7. Alberto Ongarato (I), Fassa Bortolo, at 0:50
8. Uros Murn (SLO), Phonak, at 0:50
9. Lilian Jegou (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 0:50
10. Korff Andre' (G), T-Mobile, at 0:50
Results are posted

Overall – After 16 Stages
1. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 76:07:16
2. Danilo Di Luca (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 0:25
3. Gilberto Simoni (I), Lampre, at 1:48
4. Juan Manuel Garate (Sp), Saunier Duval, at 2:11
5. Rujano Guillen Jose' (Vz), Colombia - Selle Italia, at 2:18
6. Pietro Caucchioli (I), Credit Agricole, at 3:25
7. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr), Domina Vacanze, at 4:05
8. Emanuele Sella (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, at 5:50
9. Dario David Cioni (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 6:40
10. Vladimir Karpets (Rus), Illes Balears, at 6:44
Results are posted

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