Di Luca takes day: Rosa and stage

'The Killer' profits from Saunier's efforts

By Gregor Brown and Tim Maloney

Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Danilo Di Luca controlled the finale of stage 12 into Briançon, attacking an elite group of five twice in the final kilometre. His last jab distanced his rivals and he won ahead of a re-emerging Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval-Prodir) and a stunning Andy Schleck (Team CSC). With the powerful efforts of a strong Saunier Duval many of the favourites were distanced, including previous race leader Andrea Noè, allowing Di Luca to also take the race leader's Maglia Rosa.

"I did not know the descent [of Izoard] and I did not want to risk it. Then others re-entered and I did not want to push harder," said Di Luca, who chose to save his final strike for the short blast to Briançon.

Already knowing the race leadership would be his, 'The Killer' hunted for the stage victory as the parcours kicked upwards in the final 1300 metres to Briançon's Citadelle. Simoni led Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Fondital) and Eddy Mazzoleni (Astana) when Di Luca first launched at 900 metres to go. The fifth of five riders, Schleck, immediately latched onto Di Luca's wheel.

"I went at 900 metres to go for the win and to try to distance the others but it did not work." Schleck and then Simoni clawed their way back on to Di Luca's wheel. The 31 year-old rider led the duo over the medieval streets, and following two bridge crossings he powered off the front starting at -450m on a tight fan-packed pavé section.

Simoni was able to remount and vie for the sprint while 21 year-old came in a few seconds later, splendid in the Maglia Bianca of best young rider.

"The giro is still open," continued Di Luca, who has both the Maglia Rosa and the best climber's Maglia Verde. "My advantages are not earth-shaking. ... I hope I will go well in the next week."

Luxemburger Andy Schleck now sits fourth overall, 1'25" behind Di Luca, after finishing with the favourites. The almost unknown rider, younger brother of Fränk, is now emerging as an overall threat. "Schleck is going well, he also goes will in the time trials so I will have to continue to monitor him," noted the Italian, fourth in the 2005 Giro. "Today, what was important is that we narrowed down the classification."

He reflected on Saunier's strength over the Agnello and Izoard, "I was afraid at the beginning on Agnello because [Saunier's Leonardo] Piepoli was nailing the pace and he was really going strong. If he continued like that I don't know what I would have done."

Simoni leads Schleck
Photo ©: Sirotti

Schleck played down his dominance after arriving at the end of the 163-kilometre stage. "I was not here to win but I am happy with how it went today," noted the only non-Italian from the winning group. "I was there with Simoni and Di Luca on the final pavé in to Briançon."

Regarding the next week, he said, "I still have the legs I will try again for a win in the coming stages. However, I have to try from far out because I don't have the legs for last minute bursts."

Damiano Cunego is one that normally has the legs speed for such bursts, however, today he was seen yo-yoing at the back of the favourites' gruppo. He finished with the front five but hopes to his form improves over the coming days, which includes the Oropa mountain TT, tomorrow, Tre Cime di Lavaredo, Sunday, and Monte Zoncolan, Wednesday.

"Today, and also in the previous days, Danilo showed that he is brilliant," said Kid Cunego. "But we are on the first of the big mountains. ... I did not go badly. I am still lacking a little bit but I hope in the next days to go better. There are truly some grand climbs coming in this grand Giro, so, we will see."

Mazzoleni showed incredible strength for such a big framed rider. It was him that shepherded Cunego to his 2004 Giro win, and, thanks to team captain Paolo Savoldelli cracking, he was able to continue on his own. The rider from Bergamo my not be able to take the top step of the podium but he could vie for one of its two neighbours.

Schleck and Mazzoleni
Photo ©: Sirotti

Distanced but strong in the first of the big mountain days was Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo). The 2000 Giro Champ fought back leg pains on the Col d'Izoard but held his own to finish solo in sixth.

"I had cramps on the beginning of the climb, and in the last kilometre the cramps became stronger," noted the bald headed rider from Varese. "It was a very hard day but I battled with the big champions, and in regards to the previous two days I feel great."

He commented on his former teammate, Di Luca, "He is strong but we will have to wait for the Zoncolan."

2002 and 2005 Giro Winner, Savoldelli, suffered today, and he was already out of the race's picture with nine kilometres to go to the top of the Colle dell'Agnello (-70km to the line).

"My legs felt like they were not going," noted the rider in his Bergamasco accent. "The pace seemed so strong and I just felt like I could not go."

He was bothered from yesterday's finish line crash and, knowing his form, told Mazzoleni to ride ahead. "Even this morning I thought about not riding. After a crash like that you need a couple of days to recover. I hope in the next days to go better; we will see. ... I told Mazzoleni to stay up front and make his own race and that I would look after myself."

How it unfolded

Yoann Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom) and Christophe Riblon (Ag2r Prévoyance)
Photo ©: Sirotti

The Alps on the Italian/French border were looming in the dusk to the west of Scalenghe as stage 12 of the 90th Giro d'Italia started to confront the first major climbs of the race. 177 riders departed at 12:15, with US Champion Hincapie (Discovery Channel), Aitor Hernández (Euskaltel-Euskadi), and sprinters Frosi Förster (Gerolsteiner) and Robbie McEwen (Predictor-Lotto) non-starters.

Perhaps lonesome for their homeland of France on the other side of the mountains two French riders got away after 14 kilometres near Cavour in the farmland west of Torino. Yoan Le Boulanger (Bouygues Telecom) and Christophe Riblon (Ag2r Prévoyance) headed off the front and there was no interest in the break from the gruppo.

By Brosassco, after 55 kilometres, the lead had soared to 17'30", placing Le Boulangerin the virtual lead. In the Gruppo Maglia Rosa, no one was worried as the race unfolded. Saunier Duval was riding hard tempo with 'Litu' Gómez on the front to put the pressure on Liquigas' Di Luca as the first slopes of the 21-kilometre ascent of the Colle dell'Agnello and Cima Coppi.

At the Garibaldi sprint in Sampeyre, after 70 kilometres, Le Boulanger took the sprint with the Gruppo Maglia Rosa, led by the yellow of Saunier Duval 16'10" behind.

The status quo remained up the first half of the Colle dell'Agnello, and as the road steepened with nine kilometres to go, Boulanger was still in the lead but solo, having dropped Riblon, who was 1'30" behind, with the Gruppo Maglia Rosa at 13'.

Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval-Prodir)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Behind the two breakaway riders, Cofidis rider Ivan Parra tried to attack from the Gruppo Maglia Rosa, but Saunier Duval just cranked it up a notch and rode him down. Saunier Duval's strategy of making the race hard from the get-go was paying off, as Riccò was climbing beautifully and his pace at the front had ripped apart the Gruppo Maglia Rosa. Boulanger was hanging on out front, as Riccò was raging; out the back of the Gruppo Maglia Rosa were both Savoldelli and Popovych, who were suffering from yesterday's finish line crash, and Maglia Rosa Noè was hurting too.

At six kilometres to go to the summit of the Colle dell'Agnello, Riccò seemed to crack and dropped off the pace, with Piepoli taking over on the front with teammate Simoni on his wheel and Cunego and Di Luca just behind, with just Mazzoleni, Schleck and a surprising Garzelli left in the first chase group.

As David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne) slid back, David Zabriskie (Team CSC) had bridged up with Parra, but Piepoli's diabolical pace was killing everybody. At five kilometres to go on the steep ascent it was still the Leo Piepoli show, as he led Simoni, Cunego, Di Luca, Mazzoleni and Schleck, as Garzelli had been gapped by Piepoli's accelerations out of the hairpin turns.

The huge crowds that lined the climb on the lower slopes had thinned out somewhat as the racers left the tree line behind. The temperatures had dropped to the single digits and a strong cold wind had whipped up on the cloud shrouded summit. Le Boulanger was struggling mightily to make it over Cima Coppi, with his former break companion Riblon at three minutes and the Simoni group four kilometres behind at 10'30". Garzelli followed the gruppo Simoni at 15", Vincenzo Nibali (Liquigas) and Parra at 30", Panaria climbers Emanuele Sella and Domenico Pozzovivo at 1'30", while Popovych had dropped off this group at 1'45". Riccò was at 2'15", while Savoldelli was at 2'30" with Luis Felipe Laverde (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare) and Alessandro Spezialetti (Liquigas).

In the last kilometre, Piepoli accelerated a few times to keep Garzelli from coming back but at the 2744-metre summit, after 102 kilometres of racing, Garzelli made it back, with Nibali at 1'15", then Zabriskie at 1'30", and a 12-man group containing Sella, Pozzovivo, Arroyo, Wegelius and others at 1'50". That group of 12 then caught Zabriskie as the descent began, with Popovych chasing hard behind.

The Savoldelli group was at 3'30" with Maglia Rosa Noè at 4'05". Popovych was on the attack on the descent trying to take back time and dumped Riccò and Michael Rasmussen (Rabobank) and managed to get back to the Sella group, while Arroyo and Wim Van Huffel (Predictor-Lotto), who had crashed early on the descent had come back to make a four-man second chase group.

At the base of the Colle dell'Agnello descent with 37 kilometres to race, in Chateau Queyras, before the right turn up the southern face of the evocative Col d'Izoard, Le Boulanger was still up front with Riblon at 3'00", the Simoni group at 5'15", with Parra chasing hard at 6'38", Nibali chasing alone at 6'50", the Sella/Wegelius/Popovych group at 7'50", the Riccò/Rasmussen/Rubiera group at 8'30", while at 9'30", the Gruppo Maglia Rosa included Noè, Savoldelli and his Astana teammate Andrey Mizourov.

Cunego
Photo ©: Sirotti

As the legendary 14.2-kilometre ascent of the evocative Col d'Izoard, Saunier Duval's Leo Piepoli was still hammering at the front of his group as the others could just hang on the ascent that averaged 7.1%. Behind Piepoli was old fox Gibo Simoni, who was just waiting for the right moment to attack Di Luca and Cunego. As Ag2r's Riblon was absorbed and spit out by the first chase group, Simoni dropped back to talk with his diesse Pietro Algeri.

Le Boulanger was still hanging on 2'30" up the road and after Gibo's chat, it was time for the games to begin. With 11 kilometres still to climb, Saunier Duval sent Piepoli up the road to test the legs of the others as Simoni sat back to see who still had juice left. Schleck was right there, and was Di Luca, but Garzelli and above all Cunego showed they were suffering with their slow reactions. The Sella/Bruseghin gruppo had become the second chase at 2'40", with Riccò/Rasmussen group another minute back, and the Gruppo Maglia Rosa containing Noè and Savoldelli at 5'00" behind the Simoni group.

As the climb up the Izoard steepened in Brunissard, with 28 kilometres to go, Piepoli's pace finally popped Garzelli. Piepoli dropped off the pace and halfway up the Izoard.

The race situation saw Le Boulanger still in the lead, with the Simoni group at 2'00", then a big chase group that had formed with Sella, Pozzovivo, Bruseghin at 3'00". On a steep pitch of the Izoard, Simoni attacked, and Cunego got across, then a kilometre later Simoni went again and Di Luca covered this move.

Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo)
Photo ©: Sirotti

At six kilometres to go to the summit of the Col d'Izoard and less than 30 kilometres to race, on the steep hairpins through one of the most difficult sections of the ascent, Le Boulanger was still 1'00" ahead of the five strong Simoni group, with Garzelli chasing at 40" and the second chase group at 3'00" and Popovych struggling in no mans land at 4'00" ahead of the Gruppo Maglia Rosa at 6'00".

The crowds that lined the Col d'Izoard, including Didi "Devil" Senft, and with 4.5 kilometres remaining Simoni went again and Di Luca covered his move, as Cunego was finally popped and dropped. After 125 kilometres off the front, the courageous Le Boulanger was caught by the chase group with 3.5 kilometres to go on the ascent.

Through the eerie lunar landscape, with the overcast spitting a few drops of rain and snow, of the Casse Desert past the monument to Fausto Coppi and Loiuson Bobet, the sprit of Marco Pantani was strong as Di Luca was leading the race, with Cunego and Le Boulanger chasing 15" behind and Garzelli hanging tough at 1'00".

The Bruseghin led chase group was chasing well at 2'00" and after the spectacular traverse of the Casse Desert, there was still 1.5 kilometres left to climb and as the rain began falling harder. Suddenly Di Luca attacked hard off the front and left the others standing still.

At the 2360-metre summit of the Col d'Izoard, Di Luca took the GPM with Schleck, Simoni and Mazzoleni at 13" Cunego at 25" and fading, while Garzelli was going all out at 1'44" to stay ahead of the Bruseghin group at 2'40", with Pellizotti at 3'45", gruppo Savoldelli at 5'40", a suffering Popovych struggling at 7'30" and the Gruppo Maglia Rosa of Noè at 8'30".

On the steep descent to finish in Briançon, Simoni's superb descending skills enabled him to bring everyone across to Di Luca and Cunego had gotten back on quickly so there were now five riders together up front with 15 kilometres to go. Garzelli had made up some time.

The Giro riders were descending the wide open descent at over 100km/hr towards Briançon and the steep final ascent to the Citadelle. The gutsy Le Boulanger had managed to descend fast enough to join Garzelli on the road to Briançon with 10 kilometres to race.

As the descent finished and the front runners hit Briançon with two kilometres to race, they passed through the lower town, then turned onto the final steep ramp to Citadelle and passed under the one kilometre to go kite. Garzelli and Le Boulanger were together but the Italian then rode away from the French rider. Up front, Di Luca attacked on the steep ramp at 900 metres and Schleck came across to him.

It was like a replay of Liège-Bastogne-Liège for a moment as both made the right hand turn into the Citadelle, with Simoni following. Di Luca went again on the steep narrow pavé road through the old town of Briançon, as Simoni then surged past Schleck in pursuit. Gibo gave it his all to get past Di Luca but the Liquigas rider was just too strong for him and won his second stage in the 2007 Giro d'Italia and took over the Maglia Rosa from his teammate Andrea Noè.

Mazzoleni and Cunego came in at 15", Garzelli dumped Le Boulanger in the last kilometre in Briançon and finished 6th at 2'17", while the courageous French rider merited a "chapeau" as he was 7th on the stage at 2'33", just holding off Saunier Duval's Riccò and Lampre's Marzio Bruseghin, who held on to his second place on GC.

Discovery Channel's Yaro Popovych had a bad day after his crash yesterday and lost over 7'00", thus ending his chances of Giro d'Italia overall glory for 2007.

Kisses
Photo ©: Sirotti

Danilo Di Luca traded his Maglia Verde of Best Climber for the Maglia Rosa, with Marzio Bruseghin of Lampre-Fondital in second and Caisse d'Epargne's David Arroyo maintained third, while Team CSC's Best Young Rider Andy Schleck moved to fourth on GC.

Lampre-Fondital's Patxi Vila is now fifth, just ahead of his team leader Damiano Cunego, so Lampre-Fondital will still have some cards to play for Cunego in the upcoming mountain stages of the Giro. Ceramica Panaria-Navigare's climber Emanuele Sella moved up to seventh, as crafty three time Giro winner Gibo Simoni of Saunier Duval-Prodir is now eighth, just 2'34" behind Di Luca.

Although it's clear that Danilo Di Luca is the strongest man in this years Giro d'Italia, his Liquigas team left him alone today while Simoni's Saunier Duval-Prodir was very strong. Di Luca wanted to wrap up the Giro d'Italia in Briançon but he is still only halfway there.

Stage 13 - Friday, May 25: Biella - Santuario Di Oropa (Mountain TT), 12.6 km

Short, steep and tough, Friday's uphill time test from the textile city famous for Ermengildo Zegna's fine wool fabrics will be unlucky for some riders after Thursday's tough mountain stage. Uphill all the way, Stage 13 gains 734m at an average grade of 5.8% and the steepest pitches of 13%.

This is a tough climb but the short distance will limit the time differences between the Giro contenders, and it's a perfect opportunity for Cunego and Simoni to take some time back from Di Luca if they can. Watch out for 21 year-old Andy Schleck to make his mark in the uphill TT as well.

Stage 8 - Sunday, May 20: Barberino Di Mugello - Fiorano Modenese, 200 km

Arvesen victorious among many breakaway companions

Pink Pinotti barely keeps lead

By Gregor Brown and Tim Maloney

Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Team CSC)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Kurt-Asle Arvesen grabbed success from an escape group of 22 riders in the eighth stage of the 2007 Giro d'Italia. The Norwegian CSC rider hooked on to World Champ Paolo Bettini's (Quickstep-Innergetic) wheel in the final 500 metres to capture a last minute dash by Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare). Marco Pinotti's T-Mobile had to work extremely hard to conserve the race lead but the team, thanks to the helping-hand of Saunier Duval, was able to keep the Maglia Rosa on the shoulders of its leader by 28 seconds.

The escape that formed by kilometre 49 worked smoothly all day until its dynamics fell apart in the final kilometres. Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r Prévoyance) opened up a gap that was followed by Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems) and then Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare). The latter kept going and looked to have a serious chance of winning the stage in Fiorano Modenese.

But it was the World Champion himself who reacted with less than five hundred metres remaining. Tagged by Arvesen, he immediately picked up Brutt and had the punchy Sella in his sites. Sella was smacked down with only 150 metres remaining, and at the same time, Arvesen started his sprint on Bettini's right. He continued his charge and nipped the Italian at the line.

"Today went very well," said the 32 year-old Arvesen after the stage win. "The team tried to get into an escape. Once in the escape, I think that the riders rode well together."

Regarding Bettini, he added, "I am sorry for him, but he wins a lot but I can only win every four years." It was his second win in the Corsa Rosa; his first one came exactly four years ago, on May 20.

Bettini seems to be getting better by the day and maybe tomorrow, when the race enters his home region of Tuscany, he will go one better. He showed an amazing turn of speed when he jumped to reel in Sella.

"I feel better than three days ago, but it is too bad that... Nothing," Bettini said with disappointed. "I knew the finale would be hard and that the others would watch me. It goes like that. ... I went at 150 metres but Kurt-Asle Arvesen is a great sprinter."

Controversy reigned early on in the race when Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Prodir) was part of the escape that formed on the backside of Passo della Futa. The rider from Formigine, near the stage finish, came under fire from his escape companions who believe his move would ruin the their chances of staying clear to the line.

Riccò and Gibo
Photo ©: Sirotti

"He was too close in the overall, also the young riders' classification. So we could not go on with him," said Arvesen after the finish.

"There were some 20 riders in that escape and there was not much agreement," Riccò recalled. "My directeur told me to come back and be with my captain Simoni." Riccò initially refused to talk when he crossed the finish line, but team captain Gilberto Simoni indicated that there was an order for him to return from the break to the peloton. "I decided on my own to come back; the riders in general did not want me in that escape," Riccò tried to clarify.

Due to the absence of a Saunier rider and several Liquigas and Lampre men up front, the yellow squad was forced to pull for the majority of the day. "I made a mistake to go back to the group," Riccò said.

Saunier Duval also got help from T-Mobile, who was desperate to save the Maglia Rosa of Pinotti. Andrea Noè (Liquigas) was the major threat in the escape as he started the day only 4'38" down on the race leader. Pinotti himself was pulling in the final kilometres to conserve race leadership.

"I saved the maglia thanks to my teammates," said the 31 year-old from Bergamo. "Bernucci, Merckx, Olson, and the others all did well, but we can't work like this again tomorrow."

How it unfolded

Marco Pinotti (T-Mobile)
Photo ©: Sirotti

On another beautiful late spring day, 185 riders departed Barberino di Mugello at noon for a 200-kilometre stage to the other side of the Apennine Mountains, with Bouygues rider Thomas Voeckler a non-starter.

There was a fast start up to the first GPM atop the Passo della Futa after 13 kilometres, won by Panaria's pocket climber Lele Selle ahead of Zampieri and Caucchioli. Then it was "la bagarre", constant attacks across the hilly heart of the Apennine Mountains. After 24 kilometres near Baragazzo, Predictor's big Dario Cioni struck out on his own and this provoked a major chase behind him that eventually put a big break of 27 riders up front.

After the first hour of racing, the average speed was 34.4 km/hr and after 40 kilometres, the break had a few minutes lead, but it also had a potential winner of the Giro in Saunier Duval's Riccardo Riccò and this was a problem for the "senatori", experienced riders like World Champion Bettini and Lampre's Marzio Bruseghin who wanted the break to succeed.

The other riders started to work over Riccò buy leaving gaps and trying to get him out of the break. Eventually Riccò got the message from the others and his direttore sportivo Pietro Algeri told him to come back, so he dropped backed to the gruppo on the descent to Porretta Terme after 55 kilometres with Tiralongo, Codol, Perget and Wegelius, while Cyrille Monnerais (Française Des Jeux) abandoned.

Saunier and T-Mobile
Photo ©: Sirotti

At Porretta Terme after 61 kilometres, the big escape of 22 riders was leading the gruppo maglia rosa at 4'15". The front-runners were Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Team CSC), Paolo Bettini (Quickstep-Innergetic), Assan Bazayev, Serguei Yakovlev (Astana), Evgeni Petrov, Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff Credit Systems), Dionisio Galparsoro (Euskaltel-Euskadi), George Hincapie, José Luis Rubiera (Discovery Channel), Alessandro Spezialetti, Andrea Noè (Liquigas), Rinaldo Nocentini (Ag2r Prévoyance), Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare), David Arroyo (Caisse d'Epargne), Alexandr Arekeev (Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo), Marzio Bruseghin, Patxi Vila, Marco Marzano (Lampre-Fondital), William Walker (Rabobank), Francis Mourey (Française Des Jeux), Mario Aerts, Dario Cioni (Predictor-Lotto).

Best placed on GC in the break was the oldest rider in the race, 38 year-old Andrea Noè, in fifth place at 4'47". Both Noè and Spezialetti were not working in the break to save themselves in the future for Liquigas leader Di Luca, while World Champion Bettini was driving the break hard on the front.

On paper, the fastest man in the break was Kazakh sprinter Bazayev, with Bettini, Hincapie, and cyclo-cross specialist Mourey also having a strong final kick, but there would also be attacks by strong riders like Brutt, Arekeev and Arvesen. GC riders like Noè, Cioni, Petrov, Nocentini and perhaps Chechu Rubiera would gain time on their rivals.

At the day's second GPM in Sestola, after 101 kilometres, it was Panaria's pocket climber Sella who took the points again ahead of Vila and Walker with the Gruppo Maglia Rosa at 6'38" being driven by T-Mobile and Saunier Duval. After the descent to the valley, the lead after 75 kilometres to go was at 6'43" with T-Mobile and Saunier Duval still humping hard.

In Manaro sul Panaro with 52 kilometres to go, Lampre's climber Marco Marzano punctured but got back after a quick wheel change by ace mechanic Enrico Pengo.

The Ferrari HQ.
Photo ©: Sirotti

In Vignola, at the Garibaldi intermediate sprint with 47.5 kilometres to race, there was no sprint as Yakovlev passed over the line first. The gruppo maglia rosa was at 6'22", but the chase by T-Mobile and Saunier Duval, with Milram now helping, was closing the breakaway's lead down. With 30 kilometres to go, the escape made a left turn for a lap at the Ferrari test track in Fiorano with a lead of 5'15" and falling. Exiting the test track, the break began the final circuit of 24 kilometres around the local roads through ceramic city Sassuolo and the hometown of Riccardo Riccò, Formigine, with nine kilometres to go.

A gruppetto of Predictor riders including Robbie McEwen were 23 minutes behind. McEwen has had stomach problems for the last few days and was at risk of finishing outside the time limit on Stage 8. As the gruppo maglia rosa passed through the finish line, the desperate chase by T-Mobile and Saunier Duval had brought the gap back to 4'30" and the dreams of Noè to take the Maglia Rosa from were no longer.

Emanuele Sella (Ceramica Panaria-Navigare)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Already there were sly looks among the escapees to see who would attack first, as the gruppo maglia rosa was still led by Pinotti's T-Mobile squad, 4'01" behind. T-Mobile's Bernucci had dropped off the pace after some major work, while T-Mobile's American Aaron Olsen was having a bad day and was in the sprinters gruppetto at more than 24 minutes.

As huge crowds lined the roads of the finishing circuit in cycling-mad Emilia, up front in the hostilities began when Brutt attacked with five kilometres and his move was covered by World Champion Paolo Bettini in person.

Next to have a go at four kilometres to go was Rabobank's young Aussie Willy Walker, who had a go but was covered by Spezialetti. Then the long legs of Predictor's Mario Aerts pumped the former winner of Flèche Wallonne to a 50-metre gap at three kilometres to go, but Discovery Channel's Rubiera rode him down. With two kilometres to race, it was the turn of Ag2r's Nocentini to shoot his shot, but the brute force of Brutt's counter behind him exploded the break in two as the Russian shot past Nocentini into the lead.

Once again, it was the terrible Tinkoffs who were making the Giro extra-exciting and Brutt entered the last kilometre with a 50-metre lead.

Suddenly an orange flash bridged up to Brutt with incredible speed and then jumped him 100 metres later. It was Panaria's pocket climber Sella who made a brilliant attack but started to run out of gas with 500 metres to go.

Paolo Bettini (Quickstep-Innergetic)
Photo ©: Sirotti

Behind Sella, World Champ Bettini was on the move, looking for a big stage win, and chased the Panaria man down. But CSC's Arvesen had read the final kilometre perfectly, stayed in contact with Bettini and when the World Champ made his move, Arvesen went with him. He made a perfect contropiede move to pass Bettini with 120m to go and take the victory in Stage 8; the Norwegian's second career stage win at the Giro d'Italia after his win in Faenza in 2003.

4'19" later, the Gruppo Maglia Rosa passed over the finish line led by Marco Pinotti, the Maglia Rosa himself, who had worked hard all day with his diminished team to save his race lead for another day. Finally, the curtain closed on the sprinters' gruppetto containing Robbie McEwen, who had been dropped on the first climb of the day 190-kilometre before, came in at 24'20", still with four minutes in hand for the time limit.

Stage 9 - Monday, May 21: Reggio nell'Emilia - Lido Di Camaiore, 177 km

Starting in the capital of Reggio Emilia province, Stage 9 heads west, up and over the Apennines, then south along the flat seacoast of the Tuscan Riviera to finish in the resort town of Lido di Camaiore, where Petacchi will be seeking another win to go along with his first place from 2004.

Start List - 2007 Giro d'Italia

QUICKSTEP - INNERGETIC
1. Paolo Bettini (I)
2. Addy Engels (Nl)
3. Mauro Facci (I)
4. Leonardo Scarselli (I)
5. Hubert Schwab (Swi)
6. Andrea Tonti (I)
7. Matteo Tosatto (I)
8. Jurgen Van De Walle (B)
9. Giovanni Visconti (I)

ASTANA
11. Paolo Savoldelli (I)
12. Maxim Gourov (Kz)
13. Benoit Joachim (Lux)
14. Assan Bazayev (Kz)
15. Serguei Yakovlev (Kz)
16. Eddy Mazzoleni (I)
17. Andrey Mizourov (Kz)
18. Steve Morabito (Swi)
19. Dmitriy Muravyev (Kz)

SAUNIER DUVAL - PRODIR
21. Gilberto Simoni (I)
22. Rubens Bertogliati (Swi)
23. Raivis Belohvosciks (Lat)
24. David Canada Gracia (Sp)
25. Angel Gomez Gomez (Sp)
26. Manuele Mori (I)
27. Iban Mayo Diez (Sp)
28. Leonardo Piepoli (I)
29. Riccardo Ricco' (I)

LAMPRE - FONDITAL
31. Damiano Cunego (I)
32. Marzio Bruseghin (I)
33. Giampaolo Caruso (I)
34. Danilo Napolitano (I)
35. Gorazd Stangelj (Slo)
36. Sylvester Szmyd (Pol)
37. Paolo Tiralongo (I)
38. Francisco J. Vila Errandonea (Sp)
39. Morris Possoni (I)

ACQUA & SAPONE - CAFFE' MOKAMBO
41. Stefano Garzelli (I)
42. Alexandr Arekeev (Rus)
43. Gabriele Balducci (I)
44. Massimo Codol (I)
45. Dario Andriotto (I)
46. Andrei Kunitski (Blr)
47. Giuseppe Palumbo (I)
48. Branislau Samoilau (Blr)
49. Michele Scarponi (I)

AG2R PREVOYANCE
51. Rinaldo Nocentini (I)
52. Hubert Dupont (F)
53. Yuriy Krivtsov (Ukr)
54. Rene Mandri (Est)
55. Laurent Mangel (F)
56. Lloyd Mondory (F)
57. Carl Naibo (F)
58. Christophe Riblon (F)
59. Aliaksandr Usau (Blr)

BOUYGUES TELECOM
61. Olivier Bonnaire (F)
62. Nicolas Crosbie (F)
63. Pierre Drancourt (B)
64. Yohann Gene (F)
65. Arnaud Labbe (F)
66. Yoann Le Boulanger (F)
67. Alexandre Pichot (F)
68. Franck Renier (F)
69. Thomas Voeckler (F)

CAISSE D'EPARGNE
71. David Arroyo Duran (Sp)
72. Eric Berthou (F)
73. Joan Horrach Rippoll (Sp)
74. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Sp)
75. Alberto Losada Alguacil (Sp)
76. Aitor Perez Arrieta (Sp)
77. Jose Joaquin Rojas Gil (Sp)
78. Ruben Plaza Molina (Sp)
79. Constant. Zaballa Gutierrez (Sp)

CERAMICA PANARIA - NAVIGARE
81. Emanuele Sella (I)
82. Luca Mazzanti (I)
83. Paride Grillo (I)
84. Fortunato Baliani (I)
85. Luis Felipe Laverde Jimenez (Col)
86. Julio Alberto Perez Cuapio (Mex)
87. Domenico Pozzovivo (I)
88. Matteo Priamo (I)
89. Ariel Maximiliano Richeze (Arg)

COFIDIS
91. Ivan Ramiro Parra Pinto (Col)
92. Mickael Buffaz (F)
93. Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (F)
94. Bingen Fernandez Bustinza (Sp)
95. Mathieu Heijboer (Nl)
96. Amael Moinard (F)
97. Frédéric Bessy (F)
98. Tristan Valentin (F)
99. Steve Zampieri (Swi)

CRÉDIT AGRICOLE
101. Pietro Caucchioli (I)
102. Francesco Bellotti (I)
103. Laszlo Bodrogi (Hun)
104. Julian Dean (NZ)
105. Angelo Furlan (I)
106. Patrice Halgand (F)
107. Christophe Kern (F)
108. Thor Hushovd (N)
109. Nicolas Roche (Irl)

DISCOVERY CHANNEL
111. Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr)
112. Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr)
113. Steven Cummings (GB)
114. George Hincapie (USA)
115. Pavel Padrnos (Cz)
116. José Luis Rubiera Vigil (Sp)
117. Brian Bach Vandborg (Dk)
118. Jurgen Van Goolen (B)
119. Matthew White (Aus)

EUSKALTEL - EUSKADI
121. Benat Albizuri Aransolo (Sp)
122. Koldo Fernandez (Sp)
123. Dionisio Galparsoro Martinez (Sp)
124. Aitor Hernandez Gutierrez (Sp)
125. Markel Irizar Aranburu (Sp)
126. Anton Luengo Celaya (Sp)
127. Aketza Pena Iza (Sp)
128. Ivan Velasco Murillo (Sp)
129. Joseba Zubeldia Agirre (Sp)

FRANÇAISE DES JEUX
131. Carlos Da Cruz (F)
132. Arnaud Gerard (F)
133. Timothy Gudsell (NZ)
134. Lilian Jegou (F)
135. Ian Mcleod RSA
136. Cyrille Monnerais (F)
137. Francis Mourey (F)
138. Fabien Patanchon (F)
139. Jussi Veikkanen FIN

GEROLSTEINER
141. Davide Rebellin (I)
142. Robert Förster (G)
143. Thomas Fothen (G)
144. Oscar Gatto (I)
145. Tim Klinger (G)
146. Sven Krauss (G)
147. Volker Ordowski (G)
148. Matthias Russ (G)
149. Oliver Zaugg (Swi)

LIQUIGAS
151. Danilo Di Luca (I)
152. Enrico Gasparotto (I)
153. Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro)
154. Vincenzo Nibali (I)
155. Andrea Noe' (I)
156. Franco Pellizotti (I)
157. Alessandro Spezialetti (I)
158. Alessandro Vanotti (I)
159. Charles Wegelius (GB)

PREDICTOR - LOTTO
161. Robert Mc Ewen (Aus)
162. Dario David Cioni (I)
163. Josep Jufre Pou (Sp)
164. Matthew Lloyd (Aus)
165. Mario Aerts (B)
166. Jurgen Van Den Broeck (B)
167. Wim Vanhuffel (B)
168. Stefano Zanini (I)
169. Pieter Mertens (B)

RABOBANK
171. Michael Rasmussen (Dk)
172. Leon Van Bon (Nl)
173. Graeme Brown (Aus)
174. Max Van Heeswijk (Nl)
175. Pedro Horrillo Munoz (Sp)
176. Dmitry Kozontchuk (Rus)
177. Koos Moerenhout (Nl)
178. Mauricio Alberto Ardila Cano (Col)
179. William Walker (Aus)

CSC
181. Fabian Cancellara (Swi)
182. Andy Schleck (Lux)
183. David Zabriskie (USA)
184. Alexandr Kolobnev (Rus)
185. Juan José Haedo (Arg)
186. Kurt-Asle Arvesen (N)
187. Matti Breschel (Dk)
188. Michael Blaudzun (Dk)
189. Volodymir Gustov (Ukr)

MILRAM
191. Alessandro Petacchi (I)
192. Alessandro Cortinovis (I)
193. Sergio Ghisalberti (I)
194. Christian Knees (G)
195. Brett Lancaster (Aus)
196. Martin Müller (G)
197. Alberto Ongarato (I)
198. Fabio Sabatini (I)
199. Fabio Sacchi (I)

TINKOFF CREDIT SYSTEMS
201. Salvatore Commesso (I)
202. Evgeni Petrov (Rus)
203. Daniele Contrini (I)
204. Ivan Rovny (Rus)
205. Ricardo Serrano Gonzalez (Sp)
206. Mikhail Ignatiev (Rus)
207. Pavel Brutt (Rus)
208. Elio Aggiano (I)
209. Ruggero Marzoli (I)

T-MOBILE
211. Serhiy Honchar (Ukr)
212. Lorenzo Bernucci (I)
213. Adam Hansen (Aus)
214. Gregory Henderson (NZ)
215. Axel Merckx (B)
216. Aaron Olson (USA)
217. Marco Pinotti (I)
218. Frantisek Rabon (Cz)
219. Thomas Ziegler (G)

Stage 1 - March 12: Cloyes-sur-le-Loir - Buzançais, 186 km

JP Nazon is back on track

David Millar retains lead

By Jean-François Quénet in Buzançais

Nazon tastes victory
Photo ©: AFP

The top three of the first bunch sprint in Paris-Nice was definitely an unexpected lot, with Jean-Patrick Nazon (Ag2r) finishing ahead of Sebastian Siedler (Milram) and Mathew Hayman (Rabobank), all who were no threat to David Millar's yellow jersey.

It might have a lot to do with the misunderstanding inside the Quickstep-Innergetic team. In the morning, they decided to reverse the roles and get Tom Boonen to lead out for Gert Steegmans as a reward for the way he delivered the former world champion's six wins since the beginning of the 2007 season at the Tour of Qatar and, more recently, Kuurne-Brussel-Kuurne. "I didn't dare to take the responsibilities," Steegmans admitted. He was bumped by a Caisse d'Epargne rider and the time wasted putting his foot back in the pedal was enough for many other riders to pass him and he had lost Boonen's wheel.

"The Quick-Step riders were first in the last curve but looked at each other afterwards," Nazon confirmed. "Boonen just stopped sprinting, I don't know why. In one fourth of a second, I looked at the finishing line and I decided to go. I went flat out. I did this kind of sprint at the Tour of Spain last year as well, but I only came third."

The youngest of the Nazon brothers (Damien quit cycling one year ago) only scored twice last year; at the Circuit de Lorraine (in his region) and the Route du Sud. But those wins at the end of June didn't change General Manager Vincent Lavenu's decision of not selecting him for the Tour de France.

Yellow jersey David Millar
Photo ©: AFP

It was a surprise for the readers of French daily sports paper L'Equipe to see a cycling article that wasn't about the Operación Puerto or the UCI-ASO boxing match, it was about Nazon and the fact that France's only true sprinter isn't given much exposure although he's one of the very few local riders (they are less than ten) who have won a bunch sprint in the Tour de France since the legendary André Darrigade in the 1960's. Nazon was first won the Champs-Élysées the year of the shoulder-to-shoulder duel between Robbie McEwen and Baden Cooke for the green jersey win in 2003 and then, one year later, he won the Northern pavé stage ahead of McEwen.

In the team meeting prior to stage one, Lavenu based his speech on Nazon's complaint about not being supported enough inside Ag2r. "For winning, Jean-Patrick needs to have good form and the pressure of terminating a contract," Lavenu noted after the stage.

Nazon added, "I didn't win much in a recent past because I was unhappy," Nazon explained. "I felt no confidence from the team. I need support. I'm like a kid. ... For being consistent, a sprinter needs the support of a team," he continued. "I can't be left in the wind all year. Sprinting isn't only a question of muscles; it depends on the energy spent before the sprint. Today, Sam (Dumoulin) made an effort for me in the last five kilometres; Sylvain (Calzati) has also been very helpful."

On the roads of Paris-Nice, Nazon has made way to securing a ride in the Tour de France. He knows he will also have to be a team player.

How it unfolded

Christophe Laurent (Credit Agricole)
Photo ©: AFP

Under the initiative of Romain Feillu (Agritubel), the silver medallist at last year's U23 World Championship, who hails from the neighbourhood of the starting town of Cloyes-sur-Loir, a group of four breakaway riders was formed from the gun. The three others were Spain's Iban Velasco Murillo (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and two more Frenchmen, Christophe Laurent (Crédit Agricole), who was very active during the Tour of California, and Hervé Duclos-Lassalle (Cofidis), who was born only three months before his father Gilbert won Paris-Nice back in 1980.

The peloton didn't react, and the breakaway built a 10'30" lead by kilometre 47 while the peloton enjoyed the sunny weather and the nice landscape of the Loire valley, riding through the Sologne forest nearby the castle of Chambord. Under the guidance of David Millar's teammates from Saunier Duval-Prodir and also the Lampre-Fondital riders with the idea of leading Daniele Bennati to a bunch sprint, the gap came down to 8'20" at kilometre 100.

In 40 kilometres of chasing, the bunch reduced the difference to five minutes, as Quickstep-Innergetic and Lampre clearly took the responsibilities in favour of Tom Boonen and Bennati. With 15 kilometres to go, the quartet was still 1'55" ahead, that's when Milram gathered at the head of the peloton.

Duclos-Lassalle tried to go it alone, and then Feuillu gave a final attack but was caught inside the last kilometre. Quickstep-Innergetic led Boonen out but the Belgian gave up and Jean-Patrick Nazon took the opportunity to accelerate with 200 meters to go. It was the right move, at the right time.

Photography

Paris-Nice, the first major stage race of the season, gets under way on Sunday without 2006 champion Floyd Landis and the Unibet.com team.

Last year's rivals for the overall: Landis, Sanchez and Vila

photo: Graham Watson

The riders will then make their way towards the south coast, with the seventh and final 129km stage being held in and around Nice on March 18.

Being a short but demanding race, Paris-Nice should favor the riders who are already on form early in the season, such as Levi Leipheimer (Discovery Channel), who recently won the Tour of California.

However, nothing will be for certain, as previous Paris-Nice races have proven; the race often goes down to the wire. Last year, American rider Landis won by just nine seconds over Spain's Patxi Vila.

Landis will not be on hand to defend his title. Nor will Unibet.com, whose exclusion from the event led to a war of words between race organizer ASO and the UCI that put the season-opening event in doubt.

Cycling was on the verge of a major split after the major race organizers had all but cut ties with the UCI's ProTour format and threatened to create a rival racing circuit.

The UCI called for a boycott of Paris-Nice, and vowed to fine and sanction any team that showed up for the traditional season-opener.

Cooler heads prevailed after a last-ditch meeting Monday in Brussels. The UCI agreed to include only 18 of its 20 ProTour teams at events organized by ASO, RCS and Unipublic - which means that Astana and Unibet.com will have to bank on wild-card invitations to those races - and conceded that the major organizers are not legally bound to the ProTour concept during the course of the temporary agreement.

Major players agreed to meet once a month to discuss a long-term solution and have a workable agreement ready by September 21.

The deal did not satisfy the Belgian-Swedish team Unibet.com, which took its case to the French courts, without success.

"We began a procedure at the Nanterre (Paris region) court to try to be included in the Paris-Nice race, but the judge threw it out," said team spokesman Manuel De Smet.

UCI chief Pat McQuaid offered little sympathy for Unibet.com, despite having taken the team's side.

"You have to respect the decision of the courts," said McQuaid

2007 Stage 7 Quotes

Levi Leipheimer (Santa Rosa, Calif.) General Classification Winner

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On cycling as a profession
“For me it is special because this is exactly what I wanted to do with my life.”

On leading each stage of the race
“This year’s race was extremely competitive. Team CSC and the other teams really put a lot of pressure on us. Without that level of competition this victory wouldn’t be as satisfying as it is. It’s really one of my most satisfying victories.”

On his victory
“Maybe my most satisfying victory. I don’t know if I could call it my biggest victory. I have a wall at home with some jerseys on it and I can tell you this jersey is going on that wall.”

On Discovery Channel Pro’s plan of attack
“We knew that everyone was going to come out and be aggressive. We counted on the other teams trying to win the stage. We tried to keep the gap close, so it was manageable for those teams to bring it to a sprint.”

On Hincapie’s injury
“Obviously that’s a big blow to our team. Now he’s going to miss the Classics. This race wasn’t supposed to be so difficult for us to win. The team was put under a lot of pressure. It was a big blow for us to loose George (Hincapie). We’re looking forward to having him back. The team is not the same without him.”

On the climbs
“Sierra was the hardest climb. That’s where I had to put in the most effort to keep up with Jens (Voigt).”

Ivan Dominguez (CUB) Stage 7 Winner

Toyota-United Pro Cycling Team
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the crowds
“This crowd was huge. I live here in LA (Agoura Hills) and so for me, this one is bigger than NY (referring to the crowds at another race).” On the climbs
“Every day was hard.”

Bobby Julich (USA) Representative for Overall Team Classification

Team CSC
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On overall competition
“I thought it (the race) was fantastic. It was just much more interesting this year. All of the riders here were more fit and aggressive. We got in a couple of wins as well. It’s good for us to start the season off with a couple of wins. We always want to win that classification (overall team) in every race that we do.”

On the difference in level of competition between teams
“There’s definitely a gap still (between ProTour and Continental teams). I was pretty impressed with Jonathan’s team (Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle). The Amgen Tour of California is very nice to let the American teams compete and not just let in ProTour teams. They (the Continental teams) need to step it up and take advantage of that.”

Jason McCartney (USA) Third Place, General Classification

Discovery Channel Pro Cycling Team
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race overall
“Last year was the inaugural year and no one knew what to expect, but it’s just fantastic. From start to finish, there was a lot of sweat on the road. And it ended up being a really great race.”

Christophe Laurent (FRA) Winner, California Travel and Tourism King of the Mountains Jersey

Credit Agricole
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On overall competition
“This week is a very good week for me. Fantastic finish. There were lots of people at the start and finish…and the encouragement was great. The races in Europe have to be envious of this race. There isn’t a race in Europe that is this well organized.”

Robert Gesink (NED) Union Bank Best Young Rider Winner

Rabobank
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race overall
“The organization, I think, was really good. It was a perfect race. The course was good, we had good conditions. I am very happy to win here in America. If it is on my team’s schedule next year, I won’t hesitate to come back here.”

Danny Pate (USA) Stage 7 Adobe Most Aggressive Rider Winner

Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race today
“We were trying to play for the breakaway finishes. Just being aggressive out there. I’m honored to receive the award. I was in a lot of important moves. We were out there and made a race of it.”

Gerald Ciolek (GER), Third Place, Stage 7

T-Mobile Team
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race overall
“I will take home some good impressions of California. It’s a really nice race. I’d like to compete here next year, and maybe come here for training. It’s well organized; many, many people come here to watch the race; it’s good.”

Michael Rogers (AUS), Seventh Place, Stage 7

T-Mobile Team
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race overall
“It’s superb. I think 99 percent of the races could learn a lot from the organization here. This is my second time here, and I’ll be back again next year for sure.”

Jonathan Vaughters (USA), Manager

Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle, Team Manager
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race overall
“It’s been great. The organization level, the crowd level, the enthusiasm surrounding it…it’s on par with the Grand Tours around the world. The atmosphere isn’t that of real excitement (at other races), but at this race the fans are like those at the Tour de France. The fans are ecstatic. After watching this race it shocks me that cycling isn’t bigger in the US. It’s enormously exciting …If we could build this race up to a three week tour, why would we even go race in Europe?”

Shawn Hunter

President AEG Sports, Race Presenters
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On AEG’s commitment to cycling
"In only its second year, the Amgen Tour of California continues to grow as the largest cycling event in America, and we've been proud to host the best field of cyclists ever to race on U.S. soil. We love this sport, and we are committed to making it bigger and better every year to come. We want this race to be as important on U.S. soil as the Tour de France is in that country one day." On the success of the race
“We’ve had 16 days of racing and 16 days of sunshine. I heard someone say, ‘God must be a cyclist.’ The race was exciting from start to finish. The communities did a wonderful job. There were close to 1.6 million fans. “

On the future of the Amgen tour of California
“One of the goals of the Amgen Tour of California is to make it has hard as possible on these guys, and secondly we want to showcase the state of California.”

On the possibility of being included in the ProTour
“The first time that would be available is 2009. We want this to be as important of a cycling event on us as the Tour de France.”

Jim Birrell

Race Director, Amgen Tour of California
Stage 7 Post-Race Comments

On the race overall
“We saw more than 4,000 volunteers this year. Our staff has dedicated their heart and soul to help these fine athletes perform.”