THIS WEEK IN PRO CYCLING
Bennati survives carnage to win stage 3
Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) survived to win a crash-laden 222km third stage at the Giro d’Italia on Monday that saw scores of riders hit the deck in a nervous, technical race around the flanks of Mt. Etna.
While Europe’s most active volcano remained quiet, there was plenty of action on the road as wind and light rain thrashed the peloton in what was one of the few chances for sprinters in this climb-heavy edition of the Giro.
Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) finished safely in the bunch to defend the pink jersey with Christian Vande Velde (Slipstream-Chipotle) remaining second. Others were less fortunate.
“The last 30km were very narrow and dangerous,” said Bennati, who scored his career-first Giro win to go along with stage victories at the Tour de France and Vuelta a España. “I was staying in the front but it must have been hell in the back.”
It was. Three major crashes disrupted the final two hours of racing as light rain began to fall just as the peloton ratcheted up the pace to reel in a six-man breakaway.
“You get four drops of rain and the roads turned to an ice-skating rink,” said Tour champ Alberto Contador (Astana), who didn’t crash. “It was very dangerous out there and I was close to falling. The only goal in these first stages is to arrive to the finish line.”
The first big spill came with about 65km to go when Sunday’s stage winner Riccardo Riccò (Saunier Duval-Scott) crashed hard with another dozen riders, including Slipstream-Chipotle’s David Millar and Pat McCarty. Riccò dislocated a finger, but managed to regain contact with the surging pack.
The second spill was even nastier. Russian rider Vasil Kiryienka (Tinkoff) was too hot through a sweeping left-hander and slid out on gravel. He skidded head-first into a cement curb and his bike bounced off the curb and bounded into the peloton.
Several riders hit the deck, including Slipstream’s Magnus Backstedt. Team CSC got the worst of it. The team lost Aussie vets Brad McGee and Stuart O’Grady with broken clavicles and later forfeited its hold on the best young rider’s jersey when climber Chris-Anker Sorensen had to change a wheel with 9km to go on the final 11km circuit loop.
“It was a bad day for us. We lost both Brad and Stuart with broken collarbones and then Chris had to change the wheel in the worst possible moment,” said sport director Kim Andersen. “They ride together, so when one falls, they all fall.”
There was yet another crash in the final 500 meters when another Tinkoff rider squeezed Aussie sprinter Graeme Brown (Rabobank) into the fences.
“I was feeling great today, but I crashed first with Riccò and then again at the end,” Brown said. “I got squeezed into the fences and there was nowhere to go. It’s too bad because there aren’t a lot of chances for sprinters in this Giro.”
Despite the crashes, Vande Velde survived unscathed to remain second overall just one second back.
“We were working to keep Christian out of trouble today. I was riding hard to keep him safely in the front on the final circuit. The roads were really narrow and it was sketchy,” said Danny Pate. “Magnus was going to try the sprint, but he crashed. Chris (Sutton) was too tired from pulling yesterday and Julian (Dean) crashed yesterday, so we just wanted to keep Christian in good position.”
Break falls short
Geographically speaking, it’s hard to imagine a more spectacular course than Monday’s 222km stage from Catania to Milazzo.
After rolling out of Sicily’s bustling port city of Catania, the route climbed past the western flank of the menacing cone of Mt. Etna. Emanuele Sella (CSF-Navigare) led the way over the day’s main obstacle at the category 3 climb at Maletto to fortify his grip on the green best climber’s jersey that he won Sunday.
Europe’s most active volcano was capped in clouds as the peloton and there were no eruptions until Jérémy Roy (FDJeux) opened up the action at 60km with a surging attack.
Following the move were Riccardo Chiarini (LPR), Mickael Buffaz (Cofidis), Kevin Seeldrayers (Silence-Lotto), Matej Jurco (Milram) and Pavel Brutt (Tinkoff).
The leaders quickly opened up a four-minute gap as the course swept along Etna’s lush northern slopes down to the sun-splashed shore past the Greek ruins at Giardini-Naxos.
Liquigas put its men on the front to shorten the leash to three minutes as the leaders were pushed north by brisk tailwinds along the Strait of Messina, with the “toe” of Italy’s boot jutting dramatically across the windswept waters.
“We wanted to defend the jersey today because we might lose the jersey tomorrow because the finish really favors riders such as Di Luca or Savoldelli,” said Pellizotti. “We had a great day. We won the stage, kept the jersey and took the points jersey (with Bennati). The Giro is just starting, so if we lose the Giro this week, that’s fine. I wouldn’t mind having it again in the third week, though!”
Building clouds and strong tailwinds pushed along the peloton when light sprinkles doused the road with two hours of racing to go.
With about 65km to go, a rider slipped on wet roads and sent a dozen riders splaying to the asphalt. Joining Riccò on the deck were Mark Cavendish and Andrei Greipel (High Road), Ivan Velasco (Euskaltel-Euskadi) and Pat McCarty and David Millar (Slipstream-Chipotle).
Stage-2 winner Riccò was gingerly holding his left hand as three riders pulled back to help him chase back to the peloton. After a few nervous kilometers, Riccò, Millar and Co. all latched back on.
From there, the sprinters’ teams helped Liquigas finish off the breakaway with about 20km to go as the course pushed toward the Milazzo peninsula and the 11km finishing circuit.
Vicenzo Nibali (Liquigas) gave it a stab just as CSC’s Sorensen had his mechanical, but LPR chased him down. Jurgen Van den Brouck (Silence-Lotto) tried in vain to surprise the bunch with 5km to go on another short rise, but nothing was going to stop the sprinters.
With Alessandro Petacchi sidelined by a controversial doping ban, Milram was riding to set up Erik Zabel for the sprint. But Bennati was perfectly positioned, shooting off his wheel to take his first career Giro win ahead of Zabel and Danilo Hondo (Diquigiovanni-Androni), who came through third.
“This is a great win for me because I’ve only ridden the Giro once and I crashed out after one stage,” Bennati said. “I’d love to say I will finish this Giro, but the final week is very hard. I’m a big guy, but I would like to get over the mountains to try to win in the final week. I won the final stage in the Tour and the Vuelta, but this year’s Giro ends with a time trial, so I cannot honestly say right now if I will arrive to Milan.”
Transfer to Italy
The Giro entourage was scheduled to make a short, 20-minute ferry ride across the Strait of Messina and then drive toward the start of Tuesday’s stage at Pizzo Calabrio.
The 91st Giro doesn’t get any easier after returning to the mainland. The 183km fourth stage is a bumpy ride featuring a Cat. 3 climb at Passo di Pietra Spada at 64km followed by an unrated climb with 19km to go that could serve as a trampoline for attacking riders trying to deny the sprinters’ another of their few chances in this year’s Giro.
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