COMUNICATI
STAMPA DALLA CORSA
Giro
Stage 16: Basso Wows Them Again
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Basso
esulta sul podio
© Photo
C.Gualandris
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May
23, 2006 - Ivan
Basso rode
with authority in the race leader's jersey, winning Stage
16.
There´s
no stopping Team CSC´s Ivan Basso in the
89th Giro d’Italia.
Riding
with authority in the race leader´s pink jersey,
Basso brought home an emphatic victory in Tuesday´s
difficult climbing stage up Monte Bondone to score
his second stage victory of this year´s Giro and
widen his overall lead with just five days left to go.
"This
is one of the most beautiful wins of my career,"
a jubilent Basso said. "It's
very special to win in the maglia rosa. That gave me extra
motivation today apart from trying to get even more time
on my rivals."
Basso
chugged away from the exasperated peloton on the long,
grinding climb to the Bondone summit and won 1
minute, 26 seconds ahead of hometown favorite and two-time
Giro champ Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval).
The
28-year-old captain made it look easy as he cranked his
pedals in a high-cadence spin that proved lethal to anyone
trying to stay on his wheel in the 173-kilometer 16th
stage.
Basso´s
extraordinary performance took the wings out of anyone
hoping to pull a late-hour comeback. He now leads second-place
José Enrique Gutiérrez (Phonak) by
more than five minutes and defending champion and third-place
man Paolo Savoldelli (Discovery Channel) by more
than nine minutes.
There
was some suggestion that Basso should have been
gracious and let the veteran Simoni take the victory,
but Team CSC sport director Scott Sunderland
said that was all poppycock.
"It's
one thing if Simoni was able to stay with Basso,
but Simoni couldn't so there's no way Ivan is going
to wait for him when you still have Gutierrez there
battling and Savoldelli," Sunderland
said. "You knew Simoni
was going to give it a go because this was his hometown,
but Ivan was just better."
The
victory sets Basso firmly on the road for overall
victory. Three hard climbing stages, one transition stage
and the final frolic into Milan on Sunday are all that
remain, but Basso refuses to look too far ahead.
He was content to celebrate Tuesday's win, the fourth
Giro stage victory of his career.
"I
haven't had much chance to win very often in my career,
so I have to take the opportunities when they present
themselves," Basso said. "I
cannot say the Giro is over. I will not do anything
out of the ordinary in the coming days. I will keep going
day to day and stay calm."
Simoni,
who hails from nearby Trentino, was riding on pride but
got dropped by Basso with just under seven kilometers
to go. Basso then drove it home for a win that
sends a clear signal to anyone who thought Basso
might crack under pressure late in the Giro.
With
such a commanding lead and the strong support of Team
CSC, Basso can ride into the final climbing
stages without the pressure to attack. He will, of course,
if he feels great, but now it's up to the others to try
to shake him loose from atop the overall.
"We
are now in a very good position. We are confident and
Ivan is confident, but like I said before, you're foolish
if you think the race is already won," Sunderland
said. "We are not going
to celebrate anything yet. We will remain vigilant and
cautious until we cross the line into Milan, then we can
open the bottles of champagne."
Team
CSC was once again solid, but Basso didn´t even
need any help when the peloton turned up on the steep,
twisting climb that opened four hard days in northern
Italy´s Dolomites mountains. Sunderland said
Basso's victory is sure to lift the morale of the team
for the decisive closing climbing stages which could still
sway the balance the wrong way if Basso has a bad day.
"The
team was solid and really set the tempo on the bottom
part of the climb to keep things under control,"
Sunderland said. "These
wins are so rewarding for everyone on the team, for all
the mechanics, masseurs, sport directors, everyone. There's
a lot of work that goes on behind the scenes that no one
sees. But that's our job, to take care of everything so
Ivan can be 100 percent."
The
89th Giro continues Wednesday with the 133-kilometer climbing
stage that ends on the Plan de Corones, a torturously
steep road that was only paved a week or so ago after
riders complained of the planned finish on dirt roads.
There's some talk the stage might be shortened if the
weather turns sour.
If
Basso can deliver another knock-out blow, the Giro
crown is all but his.
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Ivan
Basso al comando con Simoni e Gutierrez
sul Bondone
©Bettini
Photo
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Fantastic
race! Simoni and Piepoli, on the podium.
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Gilberto
Simoni alla partenza ©
Photo
C.Gualandris
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23/05/2006
- Stage
16 of the Giro, from Rovato to Trento
- Monte Bondone, was great for Gilberto Simoni,
since this is his homeland and hundreds of fans went to
Monte Bondone to cheer him on.
Gibo
lived up to their expectations. He followed extraordinary
pink jersey wearer Ivan Basso (CSC) on his way
to the podium, putting up a nice fight and coming in 2nd.
SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR´s performance was impressive:
Rubén Lobato made every effort in the peloton
to catch the breakaways´ wheel, and Leonardo Piepoli
and Gibo´s teamwork proved effective on their ascent
in Monte Bondone.
Leonardo Piepoli moved to the front and started
lifting the pace. His forcing thinned the bunch further
down to ten. When Simoni realised that the Savoldelli
group was getting closer, he told Piepoli to move
up front and pick up the pace again. Piepoli followed
orders, which resulted in the speed ballooning again.
Helped in this way by his teammate, Gibo attacked but
both Basso and Gutiérrez (Phonak) were up
to the task. In fact, only Basso was, since after closing
down on Gibo once, Gutiérrez had to give
up. At last, Basso forced the pace. The Maglia Rosa
sped off on his own, took a few dozen metres out of Gibo,
and then widened the gap. Simoni did everything
he could to get the "home win" he wanted, and
needed.
But
Basso was simply superb. Gritting his teeth, Gibo
tried to save his second place, and succeeded. As a result
of the SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR good team work, Piepoli snatched
third place from Gutiérrez, also taking
the relative bonus seconds away from him. SAUNIER DUVAL-PRODIR
led the stage Super Team classification today.
Although
the top step is an Ivan Basso thing only, Gibo
has more and more chances to figure on the Giro podium
for the umpteenth time in his career. The fight for the
2nd and 3rd places is still open.
Gutierrez
extends his lead over those trailing him
Monte
Bondone, 2006-05-23 - The
16th stage of the Giro d'Italia had an extremely
difficult finale with a 17.5-km climb up Monte Bondone.
Although not really a climber, Phonak captain José
Enriqué Gutierrez held his ground against
his opponents. He lost 1:37 minutes to the day's winner
and overall leader Ivan Basso, but by placing 4th
for the stage behind Simoni and Piepoli,
Gutierrez built up his lead over the rider ranked
just behind him, Paolo Savoldelli. Victor Hugo
Peña also held on well, taking 13th place for
the stage.
Giro
d'Italia - 16ª tappa 23/05/2006
“Domani
proverò a tenere duro, anche per i miei compagni
di squadra che oggi mi sono stati vicino”:
queste le parole di Cunego al termine della 16ª
tappa del Giro d’Italia (Rovato-Monte Bondone)
che ha visto Damiano giungere sul traguardo trentino in
24ª posizione a 4’37” da Basso,
vincitore di giornata e sempre leader in classifica generale
(Cunego è ora 8° a 13’55”).
Emozionante la partenza da Rovato, paese del direttore
sportivo della Lampre-Fondital Giuseppe Martinelli,
dura la salita finale sul Monte Bondone, con la
Csc che ha imposto un ritmo forsennato sin dalle
prime rampe mettendo in difficoltà gran parte degli
atleti del gruppo. Cunego ha provato a tenere duro per
alcuni chilometri, ma ha poi dovuto salire col proprio
passo, guidato dai compagni di squadra.
La
frazione di domani, con partenza da Termeno, prevede
il suggestivo arrivo in salita a Plan de Corones,
con il tratto finale sterrato. Per questa dura ascesa,
i corridori della Lampre-Fondital utilizzeranno
bici (in foto) sulle quali è stata montata una
compact (52-34) e con tubolari da sterrato, uguali a quelli
usati per la Roubaix.
Stage
16: Rovato to Trento Monte Bondone, 173 km / 107 mi
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Paolo
Savoldelli leader della classifica della
combinata ©
Photo
C.Gualandris
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by Chris Brewer
Today
was a day for a big group ride, at least for 156 of the
173 kms on tap - and then it was game on after that. The
only "action" other than the peloton being led
by teams CSC and Saunier Duval en masse
was the young Colombian rider Rubiano (Pan) off
the front and left to dangle on his own at about four
minutes lead time at the halfway mark.
While
the scenery was spectacular as the race wound its way
into the mountains the racing was actually quite blasé,
evidenced by the average speed of a mild 35 kmh / 22 mph.
The overcast-but-dry weather made for pleasant riding
conditions although there was a bit of a chill in the
air with temps in the upper 40's / 50's F.
With
40 kms left the gap was now at around three minutes, teams
CSC (for Basso) and Phonak (for Gutierrez)
prominent on the front of the entire peloton. 30 kms left,
the road starting a slight uphill drag before the climb,
and only 2'25" to Rubiano, not that anyone really
considered him a threat whatsoever.
As
the pack went under the 25km to go banner the gap was
less than a minute to the man on point, but more importantly
were coming up to a 3.5 km descent and then the 17 km
finale up Monte Bondone. Seven CSC riders
were on point as the peloton literally blew by Rubiano
with 19 km to go; it was now show time and no more chatting
about.
CSC
continued to set a fierce pace to discourage any initial
attacks but as the climb started to take effect it was
no less than "Il Grillo", Paolo Bettini
(QS), setting the pace on the front. The effect of the
climb was immediate as the non-climbers immediately started
to form the grupetto off the back meanwhile three CSC
riders were again on point, Jens Voight leading the way
for race leader Basso.
The
first real attack came from the Selle-Italia team as Serpa
(47' back) shot up the left side of the pack and went
clear. CSC didn't look interested in chasing him and settled
into a more comfortable rhythm, much to the relief of
the lead pack - the gap to Serpa only at about 10".
In
the main 40-man bunch Discovery Channel still had
three riders in 
Savoldelli,
Danielson, and Rubiera. As Serpa
was swept up the pack maintained their pace and then SD's
Piepoli came to the front and lifted the speed a little.
His effort had another immediate effect and split the
front group into two sections - the first with Basso,
Simoni, and Gutierrez, and the second with
names like Di Luca, Cunego, and Savoldelli!
Sastre
continued to set the tempo for the Basso and the 10 riders
left on point, 10 kms left to the top. In the second group
DC's Chechu Rubiera came to the front as
he and Savoldelli started to make time back to
the leaders up the road - a huge effort by Chechu to bring
things back, just 15" to the front - so close…
Sensing
the other riders coming up, Piepoli again lifted
the pace with Simoni, then Simoni went hard - and
Basso countered him! Pieipoli was dropped
and then Gutierrez went next - only two men left
on the front of the race as it looked like the final selection
had been made. Basso clearly looked the stronger of the
two and made a rare out-of-the-saddle acceleration and
summarily dropped Simoni. He quickly put 8-10"
into him but both men looked to still be riding strong
as they headed to the line. Basso now stayed seated
but was clearly looking to accelerate and "bang his
fist on the table" with 5 kms left to the finish
and 33" to Simoni and then the others.
Back
down the mountain Piepoli was marking Gutierrez
now in 3rd on the stage. The gap to Rubiera / Savoldelli
was reported at 2'40" but by stage's end any number
of GC changes would occur. While Basso was assured
the stage win, Gutierrez was doing his damndest
to get back to Simoni and could now see the SD rider with
1200m to go. As the riders headed to the line various
"tifosi" - Italian cycling fans - were jumping
the fencing and running / screaming encouragement along
side the men as they headed to the line.
As
Basso came across the line with a broad smile across
his face all eyes were now flipping between the riders
coming home and the race clock to see what damage had
been done. Simoni would hang on to get 2nd on the
day but thanks to big efforts by Gutierrez and Savoldelli
the first three positions overall would not change. But
the effect on the riders from 4th down would change significantly
- and this was just the first of four big days!
Volker
Ordowski bester Gerolsteiner auf dem Monte Bondone
Volker
Ordowski hat die Farben des Team Gerolsteiner
auf der 16. Etappe des 89. Giro d'Italia hochgehalten.
Der Tübinger kam am Dienstag bei der schweren Bergankunft
auf dem Monte Bondone oberhalb von Trento in einer der
ersten Verfolgergruppen ins Ziel und war damit bester
Rennfahrer (63. Platz) aus der Eifel-Equipe. Nach den
173 Kilometern mit Start in Rovato triumphierte
einmal mehr Ivan Basso (Italien/CSC), der durch seinen
Solosieg auch seine Gesamtführung beim ersten dreiwöchigen
Rennen der ProTour-Saison ausbaute.
Christian Wegmann war unterdessen von Beginn an
klar, dass seine Schützlinge im Kampf der Favoriten
auf den Gesamtsieg eine eher kleine Rolle übernehmen
würden. "Oberstes Gebot
war heute durchkommen. Und das haben wir geschafft. Schließlich
gibt es noch Möglichkeiten für uns, auf anderen
Etappen vorne zu landen. Und das wollen wir natürlich
versuchen und nutzen", erklärte der
Sportliche Leiter.
Am Mittwoch steht den Gerolsteinern und dem Giro-Peloton
derweil eine noch härtere Prüfung bevor: die
Bergankunft auf dem Plan de Corones auf 2273 Meter
Höhe. Der 16,9 Kilometer lange Schlussanstieg weist
Steigungsprozente bis zu 24 Prozent auf - und dies auf
einer Schotterpiste, die die Rennfahrer auf den abschließenden
rund fünf Kilometern ins Ziel führt.
Entsprechend bereiten sich die Rennfahrer aus der Eifel-Equipe
vor. "Wir ketten vorne 34/50
anstatt der üblichen 39/53 Zähne",
sagte Wegmann. Hinten werde ein Kranz mit 27 Zähnen
montiert - normal sind in den Bergen 23.
"Damit müssten wir gewappnet
sein. Wenngleich da oben vor Tagen noch Schnee gelegen
hat", meinte der Sportliche Leiter
weiter. Neben dem abenteuerlichen Anstieg geht es für
die Gerolsteiner aber auch wieder auf ungewohntem
Wege zurück ins Tal - per Gondel.
Lettera
aperta di Gianni Bugno
Le
recenti vicende che riguardano il mondo del calcio ci
chiamano ad una profonda riflessione, affinché
non accada che analoghi problemi si riproducano nel ciclismo.
Mi riferisco, in particolare, all'esigenza di riservare
la giusta attenzione alle norme che regolano (o forse
sarebbe meglio dire "non regolano") la categoria
dei cosiddetti procuratori. Ad oggi, in effetti, siamo
in presenza di un'assoluta mancanza di regole, con la
conseguente impossibilità di garantire un adeguato
livello professionale tra chi opera in questo settore.
A
salvaguardia di un ambiente sportivo quale il ciclismo,
che dopo le passate vicissitudini sta recuperando l'affetto
(peraltro mai venuto meno) e la fiducia del pubblico,
ritengo opportuna la creazione, da parte degli organi
competenti, di un Albo Professionale a cui possano essere
iscritti soltanto quanti abbiano titoli e capacità
tali da garantire il corretto espletamento della funzione
di procuratore sportivo. Credo, altresì, che occorra
limitare il numero massimo di atleti a capo di ciascun
procuratore, onde evitare manipolazioni che potrebbero
persino configurarsi nella "gestione indiretta"
di gare o gruppi sportivi.
Riprendendo
una terminologia in voga nella ricostruzione delle note
vicende calcistiche, si dovrebbe scongiurare il rischio
che società, team manager e direttori sportivi
subiscano qualsivoglia "sudditanza psicologica"
nei confronti di procuratori (altrimenti definiti "agenti")
capaci di esercitare autentiche imposizioni. Questo scenario,
che nuocerebbe profondamente al movimento del ciclismo,
finirebbe fatalmente con il colpire i corridori più
giovani.
Oggi
più che mai il problema s'impone in tutta la sua
drammaticità, tanto da non poter più essere
rimandato. Non si renderebbe un servizio al ciclismo ricorrendo
alle solite frasi ("Ci stiamo lavorando", "E'
stato discusso ma ...", "Stiamo valutando come
muoverci"...): serve un intervento deciso e decisivo
per il bene del ciclismo. Solo così impediremo
che intorno ad atleti e gruppi sportivi si muovano figure
para-professionali che non possiedono adeguate conoscenze
e, soprattutto, che non rispettano le più elementari
norme deontologiche. Il nostro mondo è chiamato
a lanciare un segnale forte ed incisivo, nell'alveo di
un responsabile processo di rinnovamento.
Gianni
Bugno 
Dolomiti
Stars: misure straordinarie per
l’arrivo del Giro d’Italia
Punti
di ristoro e trasferimenti in funivia.
Domenica
28 maggio, la 1a Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia - Dolomiti
Stars
23
maggio 2006 -
In occasione dell’arrivo del Giro d’Italia
a Falcade-Passo San Pellegrino, in programma venerdì
26 maggio, Dolomiti Stars dispiegherà una
serie di “misure straordinarie” per gestire
al meglio il consistente afflusso di pubblico atteso sul
percorso.
Sin
dalle primissime ore del mattino, la strada che dall’abitato
di Falcade conduce al Passo San Pellegrino sarà
chiusa ai mezzi non autorizzati. Lungo la salita finale
della 19a tappa, verranno allestiti da parte delle organizzazioni
locali diversi punti di ristoro.
Per
tutta la giornata sarà aperta al pubblico la funivia
che dal passo San Pellegrino conduce al Col
Margherita, a 2.520 metri di quota. Dalla cima si
gode una vista impagabile della catena delle Dolomiti
bellunesi: le inconfondibili Pale di S. Martino,
il Monte Civetta e il Monte Pelmo sono alcune
delle vette che al tramonto si colorano di rosa per uno
spettacolo di impareggiabile bellezza.
Nei
prossimi giorni l’area Dolomiti Stars si prepara
ad accogliere migliaia di appassionati di ciclismo, richiamati
dal Giro d’Italia e dalla prima edizione della
Gran Fondo Giro d’Italia - Dolomiti Stars.
L’evento cicloamatoriale si correrà domenica
28 maggio sulle stesse strade percorse poche ore prima
dai professionisti. Nella tappa di venerdì i corridori
attraverseranno la cittadina di Arabba, località
di partenza e arrivo della granfondo: a distanza di quarantotto
ore, sotto il medesimo arco, saranno i cicloamatori a
lanciarsi alla conquista delle montagne Dolomiti Stars.
di
Andrea Magnani
