COMUNICATI
STAMPA DALLA CORSA
GIRO
D'ITALIA. 18° TAPPA. BIS DI SCARPONI
Seconda
vittoria in questo Giro d'Italia del Centenario
per Michele Scarponi, terza per la Diquigiovanni
- Androni. La diciottesima tappa ha avuto un roseo
quanto inaspettato epilogo: Scarponi vince la Sulmona
- Benevento regolando i compagni di fuga in volata.
Lo
stesso Michele rimane piacevolmente sorpreso ed ai microfoni
Rai si dimostra gioioso, quasi incredulo per la sua prima
vittoria in una volata, seppur ristretta. Ottima la prova
della Diquigiovanni - Androni che anche oggi manda
in avanscoperta due unità, il vincitore ed Alessandro
Bertolini, nel gruppetto di 25 che anima la gara.
La squadra italo-venezuelana si conferma una delle migliori
formazioni della corsa rosa. Domani la tappa con arrivo
sul Vesuvio: aspettiamoci nuovi attacchi.
Lars
Bak Fourth, Jason McCartney seventh in Italy
The
Giro's fourth to last stage between Sulmona and
Benevento was open for attacks with its hilly landscape
where even the heavier of riders would be able to stay
at the front to the finish line.
The 182 kilometres were also used by 25 riders who all
would have liked to have met the objective of a stage
victory - including Team Saxo Bank Jason McCartney
and Lars Bak who has really shown the flag of the Danish
cycling team with his initiative.
The
front group joined force against the chasing peloton until
twenty kilometres to go where the riders were split and
both Team Saxo Bank riders were in the new front group
of eight riders. On the last kilometres Lars O kept on
attacking and at last he escaped with Felix Cardenas
(Barloworld) on his wheel. Soon after more riders
approached the duo and they were now seven including two
Team Saxo Bank riders.
On the finish line the power was almost spent but the
Dane managed to cross the line in fourth position. Jason
McCartney did an excellent job on today's stage and
was seventh.
”Everyone
wanted to get away on today's stage and Goss was actually
in the first breakaway, but then both Jason and Lars did
an amazing job escaping in the major breakaway. They made
a nice effort at the end where Jason tried to attack twice.
Lars was stronger on the finish line so they decided that
Jason should try to make it easier for Lars by pacing
him.
Tomorrow's stage is very difficult to go for and I'm sure
the GC-riders have arranged a special fight before the
time trial on Sunday”, said
Giro
Stage 18: Sulmona - Benevento
28-May-2009:
Today was a windy, overcast day, giving the riders a break
from the heat that has been present through so much of
this Giro. The stage was defined by a 25-rider breakaway
that formed 55 km into the race, including Philip
Deignan of Cervélo TestTeam. The
peloton never managed to regain contact with the break,
despite closing the gap significantly towards the end
of the stage as the break split into 3 smaller groupings.
Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni-Androni) beat the
six other riders in the first group in a sprint finish.
The overall GC remains unchanged, with Denis Menchov
(Rabobank) leading Danilo Di Luca (LPR) by
26 seconds, and Carlos Sastre sitting 5th overall.
"Three
days to go," said Ted King. "My
legs are hurting and mind is going a bit numb, but at
this point, I’m super excited to be as far as I am
and Rome is just around the corner!
"Today
was tough. We had a 15 km climb right from the gun, so
that was certainly difficult. On top of that it was just
crazy windy all day, so what looked to be a fairly easy
day on paper turned out to be pretty tough, but we made
it through, and Philip was great in the break, and tomorrow
is another day."
"We're
getting near the end, and people are tired," said
Jean Paul Van Poppel.
"But there are only 6 teams who have a stage win
here, and there are a lot of teams who are chasing for
a win, but there are not many chances left. So we were
looking for a breakaway today, and Philip Deignan
had super legs today and got into the break of 25 riders.
Unfortunately, he has been having some difficulty with
his foot, which has made things hard for him, and when
it came to the final 10 km, he did not have the legs.
Actually, I was surprised he was so strong today and managed
to get into the break at all, as he suffered a bad crash
yesterday, and he did crash again today.
"I
think all the guys did a great job today. A few were suffering,
and it was the first time in three weeks I've really seen
these guys suffer. The big guys who have raced hard and
been riding in the wind for Carlos for three weeks are
starting to feel it now. But with only three days left,
we're one of only a few teams with 2 stage wins, and we
have Carlos in the top 5 of the GC, so I'm very happy
with the results.
"Tomorrow
is Vesuvio. We're going to play it hard and hope
that Carlos has his legs again. I think he can do it,
which is why we are planning to go for it tomorrow. We
know it is going to be very difficult, but we won't give
up until the climb is finished tomorrow."
Pate
third on stage, with Dean in break - Giro, stage 18
Team
Garmin-Slipstream’s Giro fortunes changed
Thursday on stage 18 with Danny Pate and Julian
Dean making it into the day’s main break that
survived all the way to the finish line in Benevento.
Pate, who was one of the most active on the day
and instrumental in establishing the breakaway, rode hard
to make the final selection of seven. He rode smartly
inside the final kilometer, watching and marking the sprint,
but coming up just short in the final meters and settling
for third on the day.
“Now
that I’ve had some time to think about it, I’m
happy with third,” Pate said. “JD
and I got in the break and after that, we couldn’t
have done better tactically. It shows how well we’re
working as a team, which is good for us here and for the
rest of the season!”
Pate’s
podium adds another near-win to the growing list for Team
Garmin-Slipstream at the Giro.
Perseverant
Cardenas scores 2nd place at the Giro
Felix Cardenas After a brilliant breakaway effort
in yesterday's stage up to the Blockhaus climb,
Team Barloworld 's Colombian Felix Cardenas was
still eager to be a part of the action and got really
close to achieving this when he finished in second place
behind stage winner, Michele Scarponi (Diquigiovanni).
Danny Pate (Garmin) rounded off the podium in Benevento
in third palce. Rabobank's Denis Menchov kept the
"pink jersey".
Today's
stage 18 (Sulmona - Benevento) featured a 182km hilly
course that suited the attackers. Following the impressive
performance delivered by Felix Cardenas
in yesterday stage 17, Team Barloworld knew
that the Colombian rider was the key man to rely on for
this demanding stage.
The
entire Team Barloworld remained close to Cardenas,
making sure he was in the best condition for the attack.
After
around 52km, a 25-man escape formed at the front of the
race, including Cardenas and a number of other
strong riders. In the finale the large escape broke into
several pieces and Cardenas managed to stay ahead
with another six riders to try his luck in the final sprint.
"I'm
so proud of Felix - sports director Alberto
Volpi said - because he showed
how good his condition is in this final part of the Giro.
It's not easy at all to be in front and a part of all
action for two days in a row and Felix was really impressive".
"Unfortunately
we missed a much needed victory but a second place at
the Giro d'Italia is a great result against the best riders
in the world. The whole team rode well and the strategy
showed that we are one of the best teams in the Giro.
I'm very happy with the guys. They perfectly represent
the values and the spirit of Barloworld and Team Barloworld:
commitment, excellence, team spirit and integrity.
Tomorrow
the peloton of the Giro d'Italia will contest the
19th stage with a hilly course from Avellino to Vesuvio
(164km). It will be the sixth top finish of the Giro
and the overall competitors will have another chance to
fight for the Maglia Rosa.
Giro
d'Italia, 18^tappa: Gavazzi ancora in fuga,
ma il successo sfugge
Anche
nella 18^tappa del Giro d'Italia (Sulmona-Benevento)
Francesco Gavazzi ha dimostrato di essere uno dei
corridori più combattivi del gruppo. Il giovane
blu-fucsia era infatti presente nella fuga che ha caratterizzato
la frazione odierna, azione che è riuscita a giungere
al traguardo.
Dopo un avvio scoppiettante contraddistinto da numerosi
tentativi di attacco, attorno al 60° chilometro si
è formata la fuga giusta, composta da 25 corridori,
tra i quali anche Gavazzi. Il valtellinese non
ha però avuto vita facile, visto che è rimasto
vittima di una caduta nella quale ha riportato escoriazioni
su tutto il fianco sinistro: rientrato nel gruppo di testa
prima del rifornimento, Gavazzi ha pedalato in
testa alla corsa fino a quando, a circa 25 chilometri
dal traguardo, gli attaccanti di giornata hanno deciso
di darsi battaglia. Il gruppo della fuga si è così
diviso in due tronconi e Gavazzi non è riuscito
ad agganciarsi agli uomini di testa, i quali sono arrivati
fino a Benevento e si sono giocati la vittoria
sul circuito finale: il successo è andato a Scarponi,
con Gavazzi al traguardo in 14^ posizione con un
ritardo di 1'09”.
“Volevo sfruttare una delle
ultime occasioni che capiteranno in questo Giro e sono
riuscito a entrare nella fuga giusta –
ha commentato Gavazzi –
Poi un po' per a sfortuna della caduta, un po' per la
serie di attacchi, non sono riuscito a rimanere nel gruppetto
di corridori che si sono giocati la vittoria”.
DAVIDE
MALACARNE COSTRETTO AD ABBANDONARE IL GIRO
28
maggio 2009 -
Finisce anzi tempo l'avventura rosa di Davide Malacarne.
Oggi nel corso della 18a tappa del Giro d'Italia, da Sulmona
a Benevento di 181 km, il giovane corridore italiano
del Team QUICK STEP si è dovuto ritirare
a causa dei postumi della caduta subita tre giorni fa
nella 16a tappa con arrivo a Monte Petrano. Malacarne
caduto nella discesa dal Monte delle Cesane aveva riportato
una profonda ferita alla coscia destra e una forte contusione
alla zona lombare della schiena.
?Ho
provato a stringere i denti per arrivare fino a Roma ?
spiega Malacarne - ma purtroppo in queste condizioni non
è possibile continuare la corsa. Oltre al dolore
provocato dalla ferita nel giorno di riposo, sempre come
conseguenza della caduta, è comparsa anche la febbre
che mi ha debilitato. Ieri ho fatto molta fatica per raggiungere
il traguardo del Blockhaus. Oggi ho provato a prendere
il via della tappa ma dopo pochi chilometri, in accordo
con lo staff della squadra, ho preso la decisione di fermarmi?.
?Purtroppo
questa caduta ha compromesso il Giro di Davide che fino
a questo punto aveva svolto un ottimo lavoro ? spiega
il D.s. Luca Guercilena - correndo sempre in appoggio
della squadra e dimostrando di avere le tre settimane
di corsa nelle gambe. E? un corridore giovane e avrà
sicuramente altre occasioni per dimostrare il suo valore
sulle strade del Giro. Inoltre la stagione è ancora
lunga, adesso Davide deve solo pensare a recuperare al
più presto dall'infortunio in vista dei prossimi
appuntamenti?.
SEELDRAEYERS
CONSERVA LA MAGLIA BIANCA
?Sono
entrato assieme a Devenyns nel gruppo in fuga ? dice Seeldraeyers
- e ho corso tutta la tappa controllando Masciarelli che
è il mio diretto rivale nella classifica per la
maglia bianca?.
Quella
odierna per il giovane corridore belga è stata
un?altra buona prova. Seeldraeyers ha recuperato circa
tre minuti sul gruppo maglia rosa passando dalla 15a alla
14a posizione in classifica generale.
