COMUNICATI
STAMPA DALLA CORSA
Giro
d'Italia 12a Tappa : LPR
FRENI - FARNESE VINI 6° con Di Luca
Danilo
Di Luca si piazza in 6° posizione nella 12°
tappa del Giro d'Italia, la cronometro di 60.6 chilometri
da Sestri Levante a Riomaggiore perde 34"
in classifica generale e cede la Maglia Rosa al russo
Denis Menchov, un atleta che Di Luca aveva
pronosticato come uno dei più difficili di affrontare.
"Quest'anno
Menchov è uno dei corridori più difficili
da affrontare - ha sottolineato Di Luca
all'inizio del Giro - è
preparato meglio dello scorso anno, ha un'ottima condizione
ed è venuto per fare bene, per vincere, in più
il percorso gli si addice".
l' abruzzese ha sfoderato La strategia di guadagnare più
secondi possibili nella prima settimana di corsa per cercare
di guadagnare secondi preziosi per la cronometro di oggi
"nella cronometro mi dovrò
difendere ha pronosticato Di Luca nei
giorni scorsi - penso che perderò
la Maglia Rosa proprio lì. Credo che perderò
due minuti" Sono
molto contento della prova di Danilo - ha detto
Bordonali dopo l'arrivo - tutto
sommato è andato secondo le previsioni . C'è
stato un grande Menchov che è andato fortissimo
e anche la prova di Leipheimer è stata ottima,
però siamo secondi a 34" gli altri diretti
avversari sono andati in dietro, perciò credo che
nelle prossime tappe si possa lottare per riprendere questa
maglia. Il Giro è ancora lungo ed oggi ci siamo
difesi molto bene"
Oltre
60 chilometri di cronometro e con questo percorso non
finiscono mai - afferma Di Luca dopo
la tappa - però sono contento
perché mi sono difeso bene a 34" da Menchov.
Ci sono ancora quattro salite, quindi c'è ancora
tanto da fare, l'importante è fare come ho fatto
fino ad oggi. Il Giro è ancora aperto, naturalmente
siamo in tre, adesso sulla carta, che ci possiamo giocare
questo Giro, però e talmente duro lungo, difficile
e con tante salite che secondo me può succedere
ancora di tutto" Conclude
l'abruzzese.
levi
captures second in epic time trial
92nd Giro d'Italia
Stage
12: Sestri Levante to Riomaggiore, ITT, 60.6km/37.6mi
By
Cathy Mehl
With
nine stages to go a shake-up occurred in the centenary
Giro d’Italia on Thursday when 186 riders
rode over an hour-and-a-half at full speed against the
clock in a hilly, extremely technical course, resulting
in the top of the general classification shifting around
dramatically. Team Astana’s Levi Leipheimer gave
it his all to capture 2nd on the stage behind winner and
new race leader Denis Menchov (Rabobank). Often credited
for flying under the radar, the quiet Russian put in a
near-perfect time trial, stopping the clock at 1.34.29
and averaging 38.48 km/h on the dramatic, twisty course
located in the Italian Riviera’s Cinque Terre. Leipheimer
was just 20 seconds behind after briefly holding first-place
before Menchov’s winning time claimed the top spot.
Surprising
many was the gutsy ride of former Maglia Rosa Danilo
Di Luca (LPR). Starting off with 1.20 in hand, he
lost almost two minutes to Menchov, but performed
well enough for 2nd overall, early predictions giving
him no chance of staying within striking distance. After
wearing pink since stage 5, he is 34 seconds back from
Menchov and six-seconds ahead of Levi. It’s
game-on at the Giro!
Levi
rides to 2nd on the stage
Levi
is pleased with his ride and remains optimistic about
his chances for overall, saying "Twenty
seconds on this course is not so much but I can be satisfied.
Menchov s clearly better than me. Two-three seconds are
hard to swallow, but 20 seconds....I can be happy about
that. I took a lot of time on the others, so I'm happy."
Regarding his ambitions for the rest of the race, Levi
continued, " I've always
believed it is possible to win the Giro. We'll see day
by day for the mountains. We miss Horner but Lance is
every day better and Brajko too. To tell the truth, the
entire team is very impressive, even all the way to the
young Zeits. So I am confident in my team." Commenting
on yesterday's contact with the pavement, Leipheimer
continued,
"It's never the best thing
to crash especially the day before a TT. Maybe I can blame
that a little bit but I don't like to make excuses. To
be honest. I felt good. I dont think that it held me back.
I've never done such a TT. The only word I can think of
is epic. That word is used a lot but it truly deserves
to be described as such today. Today I was better on the
downhill than earlier this week. I am better when I am
alone. I don't trust the other guys that much," he
concluded.
Jani
Brajkovic held the race lead for a brief time,
clocking in at 1.35.32 with a very strong performance
by the young Slovenian rider who calimed 4th at the day’s
end. Lance Armstrong also had a good performance in his
first long time-trial since announcing his comeback last
September. His time was 1.36 and slotted him into 13th
on the stage plus moved him to 12th overall, perhaps within
striking distance of breaking into the top ten. Best of
all, Lance looked comfortable on the bike and his pedal
stroke held an easy rhythm over the course, a good result
for where he hopes to be in July, which is at the top
of his game. "I felt pretty good and consistent,"
said Armstrong. "Just missed the top 10 but considering
the last month I never thought that was possible. Have
to be pleased." Regarding Levi's position on the
general classification, the seven-time Tour de France
champion said, "He's 40 seconds back. Not too much.
Last week here is very difficult with several summit finishes.
Onward."
Jani
Brajkovic shows great form and takes 4th on the
day
There
were riders who unexpectedly lost high GC placings on
today’s stage, most notably Michael Rogers
of Team Columbia. Known for being a good time trialist,
he just didn’t have it in the legs today and slipped
from 3rd to 6th overall, losing almost a minute and a
half. Ivan Basso (Liquigas) also lost one minute, with
Gilberto Simoni (Serramenti Diquigiovanni) and
Thomas Lovkvist (Columbia) also losing major minutes
on the stage.
Lance
Armstrong ©Bettini
Photo
General
Manager Johan Bruyneel weighed in on the day's
stage too, saying "I counted
on Menchov, Levi and Rogers for today. At the end Levi
came back which is a good sign. We'll see now how Menchov's
team will deal with pink. It will be interesting. Maybe
we can take advantage of a bad moment of Menchov or one
of the other favorites." Regarding Lance's
day on the bike he said, "Lance's
performance was very good in the beginning. We had the
idea of not full gas in the beginning and then full gas
on the last climb but that was not possible. A bit normal
maybe. It was consistent. Overall pretty good. He is on
his way," concluded Bruyneel.
Tomorrow’s
stage 13 is basically flat and should be a day for the
sprinters, especially after today’s big efforts from
the GC men in the time trial. But it will be only one
day of rest before Saturday’s uphill finish could
provide the opportunity for those trailing to attempt
a gain on time as the peloton enters the final week of
racing with fewer and fewer chances remaining to ride
to glory.
In
his longest time trial since his return to racing, Lance
looks calm and comfortable on the bike
Damiano
Cunego ©Bettini
Photo
Giro
d’Italia 12^ tappa: Bruseghin, questa volta il tempo
è meno amico
Non è riuscita a Marzio Bruseghin l’impresa
di centrare il terzo successo a cronometro in tre anni
consecutivi di Giro d’Italia. Nella prova
contro il tempo di 60,6 km da Sestri Levante a
Riomaggiore il corridore della Lampre-NGC
ha trovato avversari in grado di mostrare prestazioni
superlative: Bruseghin, autore comunque di una
buona prova, ha fatto registrare il 10° tempo (1h36’46”),
2’17” in più del vincitore di giornata
Menchov.
Prova di medio spessore per Cunego, 23° col
tempo di 1h38’36”.
La classifica generale è guidata proprio da Menchov,
con Bruseghin 9° a 5’26” e Cunego
18° a 8’18”.
“Ritengo di aver offerto
una buona prestazione – ha spiegato Bruseghin
– Ho pedalato bene, ho affrontato
le discese senza sbavature e ho dato tutto: complimenti
a chi è riuscito a far segnare tempi ottimi”.
“La crono è stata
davvero impegnativa, come da previsioni –
ha commentato Cunego – Ho
cercato di fare del mio meglio, ma i migliori hanno fatto
una crono perfetta. In discesa ho provato a recuperare
qualcosa, ma non è bastato”.
Denis
Menchov ©Bettini
Photo
Giro
Stage 12: Sestri Levante - Riomaggiore
21-May-2009:
Big changes today as expected from the outcome of the
individual time trial at the Giro. Denis Menchov (Rabobank)
won the key Cinque Terre time trial in 1:34:29. Levi
Leipheimer (Astana) at 1:34:49 finished second and
Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone - Caffe Mokambo),
rode to third with a time of 1:35:32. In the GC, the win
secured the maglia rose for Menchov, who now has
34 seconds on Danilo Di Luca. Carlos Sastre
moved up one more position today to 5th place overall,
after a solid 12th place finish in the day's time trial.
"Carlos
used the TT frame today, with a new handlebar from 3T,"
said Head Mechanic Alejandro Torralbo. "I
think it is the best solution. Carlos was very fast in
the climb, maybe not as fast in the downhill, but I think
it's ok. Carlos is happy. And when is Carlos happy, I'm
happy. The other teams used normal bikes. I think Carlos
was the only one who used the TT bike today."
"Time
trial today on a very special course. I think Carlos did
a great job uphill, maybe one of the best, and actually
in the downhill he was pretty good," said
Sports Director Jean Paul Van Poppel. "No
mistakes overall, but he still lost a little time in the
downhill. You could see in the last time check uphill
19 seconds back from Basso, and then you come downhill
in the finish and, I think he's one second behind, so
a bit of a shame, but he's super good uphill. In the downhill
he find his own way, maybe he can go faster if he's in
the bunch. You saw that this week, but on his own, he
lost some time."
"With
five really hard stages to come, what you don't want to
have in the Grand Tour is a bad day and we know Carlos
does not have bad days. So he has to look in the GC to
see who's in front of him, and it's still not done, everybody
of course knows, it's just a time trial. If you have a
bad day in the climbs, you can lose minutes. So no worries,
keep focusing, and off to the next stage. Some people
will have to go now because they are too far behind and
they know they cannot sit and wait any longer So let's
hope he has his legs and comes back little by little or
maybe one super day like he had last year in the Tour,
that would also be fine."
Stefano
Garzelli ©Bettini
Photo
David
Zabriskie
©Bettini
Photo
Menchov:
"Ho fatto una corsa strategicamente
importante e penso che da domani la cosa più importante
sia mettere a frutto il lavoro creato oggi.
