COMUNICATI
STAMPA DALLA CORSA
Giro
d’Italia: still bad luck for Pozzato
05-20-2009
- Unfortunately
day for Filippo Pozzato. In the beginning he fell
and in the final he punctured the rear wheel. The stage
finished with a group sprint and it was won by Mark Cavendish.
For Katusha the 8th and 11th with Serov and Swift.
Garzelli
sfiora l'impresa
19
Maggio 2009 - Nella
tappa più lunga del Giro, quella dal sapore epico,
che parte da Cuneo e arriva a Pinerolo,
Garzelli tenta la fuga da lontano. Solitario svalica
per primo sul Moncenisio, e conquista la Cima Coppi ...
Bruseghin
e Cunego lottano: 15° e 18° all'arrivo
La
tappa più lunga e la più calda del Giro:
questa è stata la Cuneo-Pinerolo, 262 km
(3 Gpm) al termine dei quali Di Luca ha ottenuto
la seconda vittoria di tappa, consolidando la maglia rosa.
La Lampre-NGC riponeva speranze in Cunego.
Damiano ha lottato per tenere la testa della corsa sul
Moncenisio e sulla salita del Sestrière,
dovendo però poi arrendersi sull'ascesa di Prà
Martino al ritmo dei migliori. L'atleta blu-fucsia
ha raggiunto il traguardo in 18^ posizione a 1'34"
da Di Luca.
Anche Bruseghin ha dovuto cedere il passo a Prà
Martino, salendo con il proprio ritmo e tentando poi di
recuperare in discesa: per Marzio il 15° posto di
tappa a 45" dal vincitore.
In classifica generale, Bruseghin è 14°
a 4'29" da Di Luca, mentre Cunego occupa
la 19^ posizione a 5'31".
"La
tappa mi piaceva e mi sono impegnato per stare con i primi
sul Prà Martino, ma quando ci sono state le accelerazioni
mi sono accorto di non poter tenere quelle andature -
ha spiegato Cunego dopo la corsa -
Ho provato tener duro per poi riuscire a rientrare in
discesa, ma i primi erano già distanti".
Qualche problema in discesa invece per Bruseghin:
"Sono salito
del mio passo sull'ultima asperità e ho scollinato
non distante da Armstrong
- ha spiegato Marzio -
In discesa stavo rientrando sul gruppo che mi precedeva,
quando a una curva per un malinteso con una macchina sono
finito fuori traiettoria, non riuscendo poi più
a riagganciarmi a chi mi precedeva".
Da segnalare la caduta di Marco Marzano all'inizio
della discesa del Moncenisio: per il corridore blu-fucsia
delle lievi escoriazioni al braccio e alla gamba sinistra.
Tutto
il team Lampre-NGC dedica un ricordo all'amico del ciclismo
Fabio Saccani.
Lutto
al Giro d'Italia: muore il motociclista Fabio
Saccani
Fabio
Saccani, 69 anni, per 32 anni al seguito
della corsa in rosa accanto al fotoreporter
Roberto Bettini, è morto stamattina
a bordo della propria moto, mentre stava raggiungendo
il ritrovo di partenza della 10° tappa,
la Cuneo-Pinerolo.
Dalle
prime ricostruzioni dell’incidente sembra
che un camion gli abbia tagliato la strada.
Saccani era conosciuto e stimato da tutto
il mondo delle due ruote; anche lui aveva sconfitto
il cancro come Lance Armstrong, suo grande
amico.
Saccani
del corridore texano amava raccontare un incontro
avvenuto al Tour de France. “A
Lance una volta dissi: il cancro ha scelto la
persona sbagliata”.
Domani
a Torino, prima del via della undicesima frazione,
verrà osservato un minuto di silenzio
in sua memoria.
Le
condoglianze dalla redazione di Bikenews alla
famiglia e all'amico fotografo Roberto
Fabio
Saccani in moto con il fotografo Roberto
Bettini al Giro d'italia del centenario
in compagnia di Danilo Di Luca
|
a
grand effort in a grand tour
92nd Giro d'Italia
Stage
10: Cuneo to Pinerolo, 262km/163mi
By
Cathy Mehl
It
was the longest day in the saddle for the peloton of 190
riders in the 92nd Giro d’Italia as they rode 262km
and more than 6-1/2 hours on the bike. Originally patterned
after the 1949 route in which Fausto Coppi gained a full
11-minutes on the peloton, landslides and radio frequency
problems from crossing national borders required a change
from the original route, taking out three of the major
climbs and leaving two to test the riders on the day after
the rest day. Attacking in the closing kilometers of the
race, Maglia Rosa Danilo Di Luca (LPR) showed it’s
not the route itself that makes a stage epic but rather
it’s the gutsy moves of the riders who want to fight
for the victory that create the memories on the day. Claiming
his second stage victory this Giro and 55th career win,
the 33-year-old fought hard and succeeded in gaining time
on his closest rivals. Columbia’s young Thomas Lövkvist
dropped from 2nd to 8th, and Denis Menchov (Rabobank)
leaped from 5th all the way to 2nd with his 3rd place
win behind Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) in 2nd. Michael
Rogers (Columbia) and Team Astana’s Levi Leipheimer
remain in 3rd and 4th although both lost time that can
hopefully be made up in the time trial on Thursday. Di
Luca, not a time trial specialist like the three riders
sitting just behind him on GC, holds 1:20 over Menchov
but will probably need more than that to retain pink once
they race against the clock in the upcoming TT.
Levi
said after the race: "?I
lost some time as I did not take all risks to follow Pellizotti
in the downhill. Sometimes you have to take decisions
in a fraction of a second. It is more important to arrive
alive. There are still almost two weeks to go,"
he concluded. General Manager Johan Bruyneel continued
with, "?The finale was definitely not good for him.
These violent accelerations, crazy downhills and then
little uphills are not ideal for him. He was with the
favorites. He is a good descender but not crazy in the
downhills.?" Bruyneel spoke of Lance Armstrong's
day as well, saying: " ?I?ve seen clear progress
with Lance. Today was a clear sign that it is getting
better and better with him. Definitely much better than
the first mountain stages. That?'s what we hoped for.
The pedal stroke during the race becomes very good. Honestly,
I think it is good that he lost that time in the first
two mountaion stages because the expectations were way
too high from everybody and maybe at the end from himself.
It'?s already a little miracle that he is at the start
of the Giro. Once he was out of the GC contention, it
was better for him not to stress any more for every second.
He also needed such long stages as today." Bruyneel
also noted that Chris Horner had crashed in the race on
his bad right shoulder, leaving blood on his shirt. Ultimately
there was only bruising and Chris was very lucky and happy
afterwards, despite the pain.
Horner
crashed during stage 10
Many
early escapes were brought back in the first part of the
race until the 2000 Giro winner Stefano Garzelli (Acqua
e Sapone) attacked on the first climb of the Moncenisio,
139km into the stage. His solo ride pulled his advantage
to more than six minutes as chasing groups formed behind
him, but with his 6:49 deficit on the Maglia Rosa he would
have a hard time making up much ground on General Classification.
ISD’s Andriy Grivko and Giovanni Visconti worked
together in a strong effort to reach Garzelli while LPR
set a steady pace in the peloton with all the race favorites
sitting in just behind them.
Garzelli
crossed the top of Sestriere, signaling the highest peak
of this year’s Giro and also the site where Lance
Armstrong won his first mountain stage in his first of
seven Tour de France wins in 1999, amazingly a full ten
years ago. Garzelli held more than three minutes to Grivko
and Visconti and 5:30 to Di Luca as the long, 45km descent
began but by 35km left to race his lead was cut by 30-seconds
to Grivko and the same to the Maglia Rosa group. By 25km
to go the three in front had joined forces and held 2-minutes
over the Di Luca group of favorites.
Liquigas
took over at the front, upping the pace but not shedding
any of the top contenders as the group descended a narrow
road, the canopy overgrown with thick vegetation. Grivko
lost contact with the leaders and Visconti was visibly
tiring but Garzelli showed no signs of giving up despite
the clock showing the gap continuing to fall. With 14km
to go he held only one-minute to the chasers. With 10km
to go and the pace still high, Franco Pellizotti succeeded
in recapturing the former breakaway and launched an attack
of his own. He flew solo while the long day finally took
a toll on some of the GC contenders, most notably Lövkvist
who lost contact with the top riders.
Following
Pellizotti were a group consisting of Garzelli,
Leipheimer, Carlos Sastre (Saxo Bank), David Arroyo (Caisse
d'Epargne), Di Luca and Menchov, while close behind them
were Lance Armstrong, Rogers and Arroyo's teammate Joaquin
Rodriguez. Di Luca attacked on the descent with 7km to
go, catching Pellizotti and causing a wild chase from
behind. Di Luca, Sastre, Arroyo, Menchov and Pellizotti
were followed by Leipheimer, Ivan Basso (Liquigas), Mauricio
Soler (Barloworld) and Garzelli with Armstrong’s
group just behind them. With 3km to go on a final little
uphill launching pad Di Luca soared and held his charge
all the way to the finish line in Pinerolo, leaving the
others to chase hard, lose time and wonder about the days
to come. After Sunday's day of non-racing to protest unsafe
conditions for the riders, Di Luca promised the cycling-mad
tifosi that he would not disappoint them in the days to
come, and today, Di Luca delivered.
Andrey
Zeits
Team
Note: Our own Andrey Zeits holds 7th on the Best Young
Rider competition. This is Andrey’s first time to
ride a Grand Tour and obviously he is doing very well!
DS Viatcheslav Ekimov said, “He’s doing a great
job. We selected him because we knew he would do well
and ride for the team. He’s feeling good physically
and mentally and he’s ready for the real test, which
will be coming up in a few days.” Team Astana continues
to lead in the Fast Teams competition, too.
Race
Note: The motorcycle driver for well-known Italian photographer
Roberto Bettini was killed in an accident Tuesday
morning on his way to the stage. Our condolences go to
all of the friends and family of Fabio Saccani.
He was covering his 33rd Giro d’Italia. A moment
of silence was observed before the awards presentation
at the end of the stage.
Giro
d'Italia: Mauricio Soler sixth in a legendary stage
The
tenth stage of the Giro d'Italia was expected to be the
toughest stage of the 2009 Italian stage race with three
hard mountains to be climbed. Today's stage, Cuneo -Pinerolo
of 262km showed some of the best riders participating
in the Giro d Italia and Mauricio Soler was definitely
one of these.
The
"Maglia Rosa " Danilo Di Luca (Lpr) achieved
a brilliant solo victory in Pinerolo, with Pellizotti
(Liquigas) in second place, 10" behind. Rabobank's
Denis Menchov finished third.
Today's
stage 10 was reminiscent of the legendary Fausto Coppi
, as the route featured two of the most famous 1st categorized
mountains: Moncenisio and Sestriere. With 15km to go the
riders also faced the Pra Martino ascent, with a 12% gradient.
The
stage started extremely fast, with the riders attempting
many attacks. Team Barloworld was soon in the thick of
the action with all its riders. "At the beginning
of the Moncenisio, Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone)
attacked - DS Alberto Volpi said - and he reached a comfortable
lead over the magllia rosa bunch. Mauricio Soler tried
to join Garzelli , but his effort was in vain. Soler passed
second on the Moncenisio mountain sprint. I'm happy with
Mauricio's performance".
Colombian
climber Felix Cardenas was impressive today, with a counter
attack which raised the pace which ultimately worked to
Soler's advantage.
After
the last climb of the day, Soler managed to stay
ahead with the major contenders for the overall classification.
Di Luca, who attacked in the descent, kept a comfortable
margin and took the win. Soler ended up in 6th place showing
he is on the path back to his best condition. He is definitely
one of the fearsome riders on the mountains.
Tomorrow
the Giro d'Italia reaches the Tyrrhenian Sea, as the stage
11 starts from Torino and finished in Arenzano (Genova).
It will be a pretty smooth stage of 214km, which suits
the sprinters.
Horrillo
migliora ma resta in prognosi riservata
BERGAMO,
18 maggio 2009 - Pedro Horrillo ieri mattina
si è risvegliato per un breve momento dal coma
indotto. Ha parlato in spagnolo con un infermiere argentino
del reparto di terapia intensiva. E' quella che, nel linguaggio
medico, si chiama "finestra di sedazione", un
risveglio per l'interruzione dei farmaci.
Pedro
Horrillo, dopo il terribile volo di una ottantina di metri
giù per una scarpata mentre affrontava la discesa
del Culmine di San Pietro, rimante in stato di prognosi
riservata.
Al
momento i medici ritengono dal quadro clinico che il ciclista
della Rabobank non sia in più in pericolo di vita
e anche la Tac celebrale ha dato risultato negativo.
Inoltre
sono state escluse lesioni al midollo osseo.
Horrillo
che intanto è stato raggiunto dalla moglie arrivata
in aereo con il padre da Bilbao, è stato operato
con successo al femore e alla rotula.
Dopo
due giorni dal tremendo incidente tutto lascia credere
che lo sfortunato corridore possa tornare in bici, anche
se probabilmente non più a livello agonistico.
