Stage 2: Montecanti Terme - Montecantini Terme: 165.6km
The winner of the second stage should again come from a bunch sprint. But, the riders will be challenged by a big climb in the middle of the stage, and the hilly end could benefit a breakaway.
A smaller breakaway formed today, with only 6 riders making the move. Despite this, Androni found themselves in a great position with 2 riders, Fabio Taborre and Luca Solari in the lead group. Given this situation, a stage win would be on the mind of the team.
At the top of the climb, the breakaway had a lead of 5'58" when they began descending. Since Solari was feeling better than Taborre, he sat back in the breakaway while his teammate worked hard to maintain and grow the lead of the group.
Meanwhile, in the peloton, a crash effected some major riders on the descent, as Jakob Fuglsang, Marco Pinotti, and Mirco Lorenzetto fell. However, the riders were able to recover.
At the bottom of the climb, the Ceramica team moved to the front to begin the chasing, in order to protect Giordani's lead. With 45km remaining, the break had an advantage of 3'40". Something that should be reeled in.
At the last mountain sprint, with 12km left, Fabian Wegmann attacked the break. With Taborre exhausted, Androni sent Luca Solari after him. While the peloton was only 1 minute behind, and riding fast, Androni did not want to miss an opportunity to win.
Solari was gapped by Wegmann's attack, but fought hard to get back/
Solari and Wegman worked together, but it was fruitless, as with 4.5km, they were caught by the peloton.
Tom Boonen looked much more aware today, keeping himself forward in the peloton, after sprinting from behind yesterday. The former World Champion showed what a difference positioning can make as he completely dominated the sprint finish, winning by 4-5 bike lengths. He would assume the overall lead as well. Ginnani improved and finished in fourth.
Unfortunately the cameraman did not, as he again missed the finish. He has since been fired.
**Sorry for missing the finish again, and the lack of screens. Photobucket was being fussy and I couldn't be bothered. If you really want to see the shots from the race go here. The photos from the race are PCM152-154. You're not missing much though.**
Kami wrote:
Good results, really looking forward to MSR with Ginanni . Damn hard race, but you should be able to get a good result with Ginanni.
Good screens aswell, to bad we got a lazy as camera man .
Thanks. I'm excited for MSR. Ginnani is in great shape and should hopefully be able to get a good result. As for the cameraman...
Stage 3: San Miniato - Monsummano Terme: 152.8km
The third stage is again, fairly flat with some hills to potentially make the stage interesting. With this being the last sprinters stage until the finale, a breakaway win would seem unlikely.
Quick-Step did not even seem to want to take that chance today. With Tom Boonen in the lead, and hoping to extend that with time bonuses, his Belgian team would not allow a breakaway to escape. Even over 50km in, the peloton rode together.
As the group rode together over the first climb of the day at a leisurely pace, Androni seized on the opportunity to get some great publicity as they sent Leonardo Bertagnolli on the attack with 95km left in the stage.
Bertagnolli attacks, hoping to ignite some action.
Without looking back, Bertagnolli made his way up the hill, and looked back. No rider had followed him. With a lead of over 1 minute, the rider had a choice to sit up, or try an unlikely solo ride. Despite knowing he was probably not going to make it, Bertagnolli pushed on, and began carving out a lead.
By the first sprint point, the Androni rider had a lead of 3'51". He had found a good rhythm and was able to force Quick-Step to begin working. His maximum advantage over the group would be 4'30".
With 30km left, Bertagnolli arrived at the first mountain sprint, and was 2'08" ahead of the main field. At this point, he was tiring, but the Italian rider pushed on.
By the second mountain sprint, 18km from the finish, Bertagnolli was only 46" ahead of the peloton. It was clear he was going to be caught.
Bertagnolli, going through the 2nd mountain sprint, had a lonely day, but assumed the lead in the KOM contest.
However, to Bertagnolli's credit, he continued to fight and give his all. He was finally caught with 12.5km to go. A great ride for the Androni rider who took some time bonuses, mountain points, and provided great exposure for the team.
The teams shifted their attention to the inevitable sprint finish after Bertagnolli was captured. Ginnani tried to get on Boonen's wheel, but was muscled off by the young German Gerald Ciolek. His inability to get on the train in great position hurt him, as he finished in 8th on the stage.
He had the right instinct for what it's worth, as Boonen sprinted to another stage win, ahead of Ciolek of Oscar Freire.
Today's stage should see some of the first real action of this year's Tirreno-Adriatico. A long hilly stage, there is nothing that should create real separations between the riders, but a well-timed attack over one of the last, short, steep climbs could be all that's needed for the stage win.
After various breaks failed to form, finally a group of 6 broke away from the peloton. These riders were Filippo Pozzato, Grega Bole, Sébastien Rosseler, Donato Cannone, Giuseppe Palumbo, and Lars Petter Nordhaug.
The days break moves through the rain.
The break was given a long leash as they reached their maximum advantage of 9 minutes, with 108km left in the stage. At this point, Saxobank moved to the front to push the pace.
Given the large lead of the breakaway, the peloton had to push extremely hard in order to close the gap. The high pace reeked havoc on the main field. All the teams were losing a lot of their helpers during this chase. Eventually, a group of 41 riders remained in the peloton as the breakaway still ad a lead of 2'42" with 20km remaining. Androni had 4 riders in this group: Scarponi, Ginnani, Bertagnolli, and A. Bertolini.
At this point, Kim Kirchen and Vladimir Efimkin tried to attack, but could not get away given the peloton was still moving quickly.
Up ahead, Pozzato and Grega Bole had moved ahead of their companions and were going to try to survive for the win. With 10km left, they had a 1'31" lead over the main field.
Philippe Gilbert, Rinaldo Nocentini, and Michele Scarponi burst out of the group, in an effort to bridge with the two leaders, and eventually pass them. Scarponi did not have the legs and soon fell back. Gilbert, who was the strongest, was able to reach the two breakaway survivors, with Nocentini a few seconds behind.
Gilbert making contact with the leaders, with the flamme rouge ahead.
With only a slight lead over the field, Gilbert pushed again, and this time only Bole could hang on with him. Pozzato was dropped and now working with Nocentini to stay ahead of the peloton.
Bole tried valiantly, but Gilbert was too strong and took the sprint to win the stage and overtake the race lead from Boonen. While Scarponi could not make the move with Gilbert, he did finish in 8th and was still level with his other competitors.
Agreed. I was happy with the result as Scarponi is not fully fit and his attacks don't really stick at this point of the season.
Stage 5: Chieti - Colmunaro: 226.6km
The queen stage of this year's Tirreno-Adriatico passes through the Apennines as we head East to the Adriatic Sea. The stage should see a lot of action, despite not being a mountaintop finis. The presence of the Forca di Presta and several sharp hills before reaching Colmunaro will really test the riders.
The day's break was formed rather early and contained some very dangerous riders. Andrey Kashechkin, Ben Hermans, Trent Lowe, and most notably, Igor Antón were in the move. Antón was nearly 14 minutes down at the start of the day.
The break moves along the coast and one lonely spectator.
As the breakaway riders reached the foothills of the Forca di Presta, they already had a lead of 8'28" over the peloton. This advantage was clearly too much for Stefano Garzelli, who took off, 37km from the top of the climb, in a highly unlikely bid to bridge the gap.
Garzelli attacking way, still nearly 20km before the climb really begins.
With a steady uphill until the real climb begins, Saxobank took to the front and began to work. At this point, the breakaway had a lead of 9'40" with Garzelli in between.
The Forca di Presta is an 11.4km climb with an average gradient of 7.5%. It would see plenty of action, as at the base, even with 100km remaining in the stage, several riders attacked. First, Branislau Samoilau and Maxime Monfort took off.
Samoilau and Monfort working at the base of the climb.
Right after those two left, Paulo Tiralongo and Valeri Agnoli tried to join their move. However, they weren't strong enough and became the third group on the road.
There were no further attacks from the peloton as the group moved up mountainside. It was moving at a fairly fast rate, but so were the breakaway riders and chasers. A group of 6 riders made it to the top first. All of these ridesr were from the original breakaway, including Hermans, Lowe, Kashechkin, and Antón were all still there. Ominously, Garzelli was only 47 seconds back! He had made a great ride and looked to be about to bridge the gap. Samoilau and Monfort were 4'35" behind, Tiralongo and Agnoli were 5'18" behind, while the ever-shrinking peloton was 8'35" behind.
Garzelli would make contact with the leading breakaway on the descent from the Forca di Presta as they began to prepare for the next climb. It wasn't as long, but the steepness of the ascent up the Frontignano would be equally as devastating.
On the ascent to the second mountain sprint atop the Frontignano, Garzelli took up the pace with the break and only Trent Lowe and Ben Hermans could hang on. Anton and Kashechkin cracked. At the second mountain sprint, 86km from the finish, the situation was as follows: Garzelli, Lowe, and Hermans were leading, Anton +31", Kashechkin +47", Samoilau and Monfort +2'46" and the peloton of around 50 riders was +5'14".
Garzelli leads Hermans and Lowe over the top of the Frontignano.
The third mountain sprint, 13km later, saw Garzelli leave Hermans and Lowe behind. They were no longer contributing any work so Garzelli was better off on his own. He was 4'26" ahead of the peloton.
With 33km remaining in the stage, the remaining favorites began to get nervy, about Garzelli's advantage and began attacking. Race leader Philippe Gilbert, Stijn Devolder, and Tiago Machado all attacked, but nothing stuck. After these attacks came and went, John Gadret, Frank Schleck and Scarponi attacked the group.
Scarponi, Gadret, and Schleck begin to work together.
With 20km remaining, Garzelli remained in the lead, with a 2'03" advantage over a chasing group. This group included Scarponi, Gadret, Schleck, and Ryder Hesjedal. The latter having bridged with a counterattack. The peloton, if it could be called that, was another minute behind them.
As Garzelli's lead began to evaporate, it was clear he would be caught by the chasers. Something that was accomplished on the penultimate climb. There was now a leading group of 5, with about 25 riders chasing, 45" behind.
Frank Schleck leads the first group up the penultimate climb after they caught Garzelli.
For a moment, it looked like the leading riders would be caught on the flat before the final rise to the finish line. They had to lift the pace again, which resulted in the exhausted Garzelli being dropped. It was a shame because he made a brilliant ride today. The rest of the leaders were able to summon a last bit of strength to hold off most of the chasers. However, Damiano Cunego and Jesus Hernandez were able to attack out of the chasers group and finish at the same time as the leaders.
John Gadret was the strongest in the final straights taking the stage win and assuming the race lead. The fourth leader in five days. Scarponi finished 4th in the sprint of 7 riders.
The second to the last stage is hilly in nature, and despite not having any really decisive hills, should determine the outcome of this year's Tirreno-Adriatico. With John Gadret leading by only 4 seconds over Ryder Hesjedal, and a total of 4 riders within 10 seconds of him, victory is still up for grabs. Michele Scarponi enters today as one of those with a chance to take victory.
A large breakaway of 14 riders formed fairly early. While none were in GC contention, there were some big names with the likes of Michael Rogers, Leif Hoste, and Danilo Napolitano involved in the move.
The day's break moves through the Italian countryside.
The peloton seemed rather relaxed with the growing lead, as the break had a maximum advantage of 5'45". Certainly not a large amount, the rate at which is came down was rather slow, and with 20km remaining, it still had a lead of 2'50" without doing much work. With the breakaway taking away all the time bonuses, the overall winner of Tirreno-Adriatico would have to earn it.
Sensing that moves were about to be made, Michele Scarponi found the wheel of Ryder Hesjedal and sat there until an important rider jumped.
Going around a turn with 5km remaining, Philippe Gilbert and Damiano Cunego left the peloton in their dust. Hesjedal and Scarponi tried to mount an immediate response but found themselves a little boxed in.
Scarponi and Hesjedal trying desperately to link up with Cunego and Gilbert.
Scarponi and Hesjedal worked hard and pushed themselves completely into the red, but they weren't able to make contact. Totally spent, they found themselves back in a small group of around 20 riders, hoping Cunego and Gilbert would be reeled in as well.
Up ahead of all this action, Michael Rogers was able to win the sprint of the breakaway riders to take the stage.
Rogers celebrates a stage win while the race win is still being determined behind him.
Cunego and Gilbert would hold on to the finish, as precious seconds began ticking away. They would cross the line 23" ahead of a chasing group of 17. Cunego would be pulling on the leader's jersey, 21" ahead of Hesjedal and 27" ahead of Scarponi, Gilbert, and Schleck.
Cunego's decisive move helped him take the overall lead.
Stage 7: Civitivano Marche - S.Benedetto del Tronto: 157.7km
The final stage of the race is flat and should once again belong to the sprinters, after 3 days in the hills and mountains. Barring a disaster, Damiano Cunego should win this year's Tirreno-Adriatico. It seems unlikely Michele Scarponi will be able to improve his positioning from 5th.
At the start of the stage, Leonardo Bertagnolli still held the KOM lead, although he was tied with 4 other riders on 10 points. Bertagnolli had earned all his KOM points on his solo ride in Stage 2. While it was not a focus coming into the race, with 2 mountain sprints in the final stage, the Androni team sent Bertagnolli out to truly claim the prize.
Only one of the other riders, Leonardo Giordani, on 10 points went with Bertagnolli on the attack to win the KOM jersey.
Bertagnolli aggressively chasing Giordani.
There were many attacks and counterattacks between to two riders, who were not working with any other rider who was simply trying to make a breakaway. With the first mountain points 34km in, Bertagnolli finally broke Giordani and rode through first. Bertagnolli would continue riding hard, passing through the final points first as well, winning the KOM competition.
At this point, Bertagnolli was 5'01" ahead of the peloton. Despite only being 2'03" behind Cunego, with 103km remaining, and his goals fulfilled, Bertagnolli sat up.
Behind him, only Reinier Honig and Giordani remained. They soon caught him and passed him.
As the peloton reached the flat where they would make several circuits around San Benedetto del Tronto, only the two riders were in front. Armed with this knowledge, Androni moved Michele Scarponi to the front of the peloton. If he could take 3rd in the intermediate sprint, he could move all the way from 5th to 3rd in the GC!
With the intermediate sprint approaching, Michele Scarponi burst from the group, with only Mirco Lorenzetto looking to challenge him. However, Scarponi's strong move worked, and he took 3rd in the intermediate sprint, giving him a 1 second time bonus.
Scarponi looks behind to see if any of his GC competitors followed him.
The main field soon captured Honig and Giordani, as they prepared for the mass sprint finish.
As it opened up, Francesco Ginnani was in good position, but simply didn't have the legs to beat Bennati or Petacchi today. Additionally, Alberto Loddo had his best sprint of the year finishing in 8th.
Bennati takes the win ahead of Petacchi and Ginnani.
Cunego would finish safely in 18th to seal his victory. Hesjedal finished in 9th to secure 2nd overall. And with his savy move, Scarponi finished in 64th to take 3rd overall.
***I felt a bit cheap doing that with Scarponi, but also figured it was somewhat realistic given the circumstances with only 2 riders ahead of the peloton.***
The 20th of March marks the second-most important race for the Androni Giocattoli team; the Spring Classic, la classica de Primavera, the 101st edition of Milano - San Remo is finally here. The course from Milan to the coastal city of San Remo is the longest one-day course in the racing calendar.
Francesco Ginanni leads the Androni team and he will be looking for victory. After finishing 112th last year, Ginanni is a much stronger rider and should be able to compete. However, it won't be easy race, especially against a deep field such as the one lining up at the start. He has an experienced team in Michele Scarponi, Alessandro Bertolini, and Leonardo Bertagnolli to help him over the numerous "capi" climbs in the second half of the race.
The race began, and Androni wanted to create some action in the early kilometers. The team didn't believe a breakaway would succeed today, but getting a rider in the break would be good exposure and potentially provide an ally for an attacking Ginanni on one of the climbs. Fabio Taborre started the attacking.
Taborre attacks in the streets of Milan.
Numerous riders wanted to make an appearance on the camera as dozens attacked in the opening kilometers. Even some of the bigger names like Ryder Hesjedal and Sergueï Ivanov tried to get away. However, HTC-Columbia was shutting down every break, driving the peloton on at a fast pace.
HTC wanted to control things, wanting to protect defending champion Mark Cavendish's interest.
Kilometer after kilometer went by, and still no breakaway could get away. Taborre was almost completely done after fighting for over 50km. Desperately wanting to get a man in the break, Androni turned to veteran Alessandro Bertolini to make an attempt. Despite being a key rider for Ginanni, the team sent Bertolini off.
This time, after nearly 75km of riding, Bertolini and a group of 11 riders got away. The biggest names in the group were Bram Tankink, André Greipel, and Alexandr Kolobnev. Greipel's inclusion was interesting, as heading into the race, most teams thought he would be a super-lead out man for Mark Cavendish. More surprising to the Androni team was the peloton allowing Kolobnev to get away. A very accomplished hilly rider, with enough of a lead, Kolobnev could be very dangerous.
Nevertheless, the lead of the breakaway grew at a steady rate. By the time they reached the top of the long and gentile climb of the Passo del Turchino they had a 7'01" advantage over the peloton. The last time a winner of MSR was first over the Passo del Turchino was in 1946, when the great Fausto Coppi accomplished the feat. Bertolini went over first...
Bertolini and the break begin to descend the Passo del Turchino.
Back in the peloton, Leonardo Bertagnolli would fall on the descent. He would recover and regain his position in the peloton, but he would have to burn a lot of energy to do so. He would likely not be much help to Ginanni now.
At the top of La Maine, the breakaway was still intact, but the lead had been cut to 6'32". With Liquigas and Lampre chasing, it didn't look good for the breakaway.
Sensing the impending capture, some riders in the break stopped taking turns and seemed resigned to capture. This particularly seemed to annoy Kolobnev, who was seemed shouting and waving his hands at some of his "companions."
A few kilometers later, on the Capo Cervo, Kolobnev attacked the breakaway trying to make a gap. Only Bertolini went with him.
Kolobnev and Bertolini, two of the most active breakaway riders, now working together alone.
The two leaders on the road, Bertolini and Kolobnev worked hard together, but the two riders did not appear to have the legs to hold off the peloton, getting caught rider before the Cipressa climb. They were absorbed the peloton of about 50 riders.
After nearly 270km done, the real race was beginning.
Near the base of the Cipressa, Tom Boonen took off from the field.
Boonen on the offensive on the penultimate climb.
Despite creating a respectable gap, Philippe Gilbert closed down his fellow Belgian's attack and the peloton would go over the Cipressa still together. The upping of the pace did drop a few riders, including a tired Bertolini. Ginanni now only had Michele Scarponi with him for help.
Tension was palpable as the peloton approached the final famous climb, the Poggio di San Remo. A decisive attack here could very easily lead to victory.
And the spectators did not have to wait long as Juan Antonio Flecha burst away.
The spectator looks less than impressed with Flecha's move.
Only two riders followed Flecha, Stijn Devolder, and strongman Jens Voigt.
The Mediterranean is in the background as Devolder and Voigt try to find Flecha's wheel.
Voigt was not quite strong enough, but Devolder reached Flecha. Near the top of the Cipressa, Devolder almost dropped the Spaniard, but Flecha dug deep and hung in there. The two had around 20" on the peloton.
Devolder couldn't quite get away from Flecha on the Cipressa.
By not being able to drop Flecha, Devolder now found the Team Sky rider in his wheel heading into the final straights.
The peloton descended furiously, hoping to catch the two leaders on the via Roma. Ginanni was well placed for the final sprint, on the wheel of another Sky rider, Edvald Boasson Hagen.
The peloton is about to begin sprinting, with Flecha and Devolder just ahead.
With only a kilometer to go, it now was clear, the winner would either be Flecha or Devolder. It would take a superhuman effort to bring either of them back. As they went around the final turn, it was neck and neck.
Flecha and Devolder aggressively round the final corner.
With 300km to go, Flecha found another gear and moved past Devolder and would take the victory.
Flecha celebrates the biggest win of his career.
The sprint for 3rd went to Fabian Cancellara, and Ginanni finished in 8th. Obviously a win would be better, but a great result for Ginanni and the Androni team.
Great results and excellent story. I'm looking forward to Giro.
P.S. I tried to do something like you did with Scarponi, but on "hard" it's really hard. GC contenders always counter-attacked.
Edited by Starch27 on 15-08-2010 21:37
Starch27 wrote:
Great results and excellent story. I'm looking forward to Giro.
P.S. I tried to do something like you did with Scarponi, but on "hard" it's really hard. GC contenders always contr-attacked.
I've seen GC riders go for intermediate sprints in the past in PCM2010, so I was really surprised no one else really tried given the circumstances.
Settimana Coppi e Bartali
A week-long stage race in Italy, named after Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali. In the past several years, this race has attracted big names such as Damiano Cunego, Cadel Evans, Franco Pellizoti, and Michele Scarponi. None of those riders would be appearing in this edition.
Francesco Ginanni, coming off his 8th place finish in Milano - San Remo is in top form and doesn't have many sprint rivals in the field. Sacha Modolo and Emanuele Vona are probably his two biggest rivals. He is better climber than both, and depending on how the Androni team performs in the team time trial, Ginanni could have a good shot at the overall.
Stage 1: Riccione - Riccione: 85.4km
The first stage saw a small breakaway get away from the peloton. Being such a short stage, the breakaway riders never were given an advantage of more than 2 minutes. Androni, ISD, and Lampre all led the chase as the break was caught with 14km remaining in the stage. Francesco Ginanni found the wheel of Modolo heading into the final kilometers. Emanuele Vona was much further up and opened up earlier than his other two rivals. However, Ginanni's good positioning allowed him to narrowly beat Vona on the line.
Stage 2: Riccione - Riccione (TTT): 14.9km
A short team time trial around Riccione, would not go well for the Androni team. The team would come in last place, +53" on the winners, Team Katusha. ISD's 2nd place, coupled with Vona's time bonus from the first stage saw him take over the race lead.
Stage 3: San Lazzaro di Savena - Faenza: 179.9km
The third stage, to Faenza, should end in a sprint, but a decent sized climb 15km from the finish could see some attacks. As in the first stage, only a small break got away. It was easily controlled by the ISD and Androni teams. Only a weak attack from Andrea Noè came on the climbs before the finish. He was easily reeled in, as the peloton descended. Ginanni was much fresher than the other sprinters, who were not as good on hills as him, and he easily won the sprint, moving into 16th, 16 seconds behind leader Vona, who finished in 20th in the sprint.
Stage 4: Pavullo - Pavullo: 174.5km
This would certainly be the decisive stage in this year's race. Given, Ginanni's sprint dominance, should he be able to stay with the leader's over today's climbs, he should have a great chance at the overall. A break containing Giuseppe Palumbo and Massimiliano Gentili were hoping to get away, but the Androni team chased them hard. They were caught before the mountain sprint. As the peloton reached the Valico del Barigazzo, there were only 21 riders remaining, amazingly including 6 Androni riders.
On the final ascent, Emanuele Sella attacked this group.
Ginanni, Bertagnolli, Andrea Noè, and Francesco Masciarelli all tried to go with him, but none could find Sella's wheel. Sella would solo to stage victory and what would appear to be the race lead. However, to the shock of many, the race commissaires awarded all five leading riders the same time. Ginanni would move back into the race lead. The next group on the road, led by Vona, finished 1'42" back.
Stage 5: Rovigo - Finale Emilia: 187.3km
A flat, rather boring stage. No real breakaway ever formed as the peloton seemed to soft pedal its way to the finish line. Once there, Ginanni found himself in a precarious situation with Vona and Modolo on his wheel. He was barely able to hold off Modolo, but Vona was able to pass the Androni sprinter and exact a little revenge for the first stage.
Stage 6: Fiorano Modenese - Sassulo: 176.1km
The sixth stage had the potential to be exciting due to its hilly nature, but once again, the peloton did not seem in an attacking mood. For the first time this race, the peloton allowed a break to get away, and gain a sizable advantage. Marco Frapporti took advantage of this, breaking away on the last circuit of the Montegibbio climb, 13km from the finish. He would cross the line 1'45" before the peloton. There was not great interest in the sprint, as Emanuele Vona took 2nd place. Ginanni was disappointing, finishing in 15th.
This would however, be enough to hold off Sella for the overall victory. Much controversy surrounded the commissaires' decision on stage 4, and the CarmioOro team said they rejected the results. Nevertheless, it was Francesco Ginanni who climbed to the top step of the podium for the Androni team.
The month of March saw Androni Giocattoli's successful season continue. A very busy month for the team, with all riders in action, and 176 race days. The team participated in 5 races, 3 of which, were week-long stage races. In these races, the team performed extremely well, seeing a rider on the podium in all three (Le Tour de Langkawi: Serpa 2nd, Tirreno-Adriatico: Scarponi 3rd, and Settimana Coppi e Bartali: Ginanni 1st).
In addition to these fine stage race performances, Ginanni took 8th in Milano - San Remo, a great result for the team. As preparation really begins to gear up for the Giro d'Italia, the Androni team once again has a strong month build on.
In April, Ginanni is expected to take part in one last race, Settimana Ciclistica Lombarda, before taking a well deserved rest. At the same time, Michele Scarponi and the rest of our preliminary Giro team begin to amp up, with participation in the Giro del Trentino, and the Ardennes classics, for which the Androni team has been granted wild card entries.
Rider of the Month: Francesco Ginanni
It's hard to look past Ginanni, and for a second straight month, he was our best rider. 2 stage wins in the Settimana Coppi e Bartali, plus the overall victory, 8th in Milano - San Remo, and 4 top 10s in Tirreno-Adriatico.
Other Race Results:
Le Samyn: Jurgen Roelandts (Omega)
Vuelta a la Region de Murcia: Benat Intxausti (Euskaltel)
Driedaagse van West - Vlaanderen: Remy Di Gregorio (FDJ)
Paris - Nice: Alexandre Vinokourov (Astana)
Grand Prix de la Ville de Lillers Souvernir: Grega Bole (Lampre)
Nokere - Koerse: Gorik Gardeyn (Vacansoleil)
Classic Loier Atlantique: Yury Trofimov (Bbox)
Cholet - Pays De Loire: William Bonnet (Bbox)
Volta Ciclista a Catalunya: Benat Intxausti (Euskaltel)
Dwars door Vlaanderen: Bernhard Eisel (HTC)
Criterium International: Frank Schleck (Saxo)
E3 Prijs Vlaanderen - Harelbeke: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step)
Gent - Wevelgem: Fabian Cancellara (Saxo)
KBC - Driedaagse De Panne - Koksijde: Tom Boonen (Quick-Step)
CQ Rankings: Riders
1
Tom Boonen
Quick·Step
817
2
Fabian Cancellara
Team Saxo Bank
723
3
Daniele Bennati
Liquigas - Doimo
642
4
Benat Intxausti
Euskaltel - Euskadi
620
5
Francesco Ginanni
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
580
6
Tyler Farrar
Garmin - Transitions
553
7
Thomas Voeckler
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
529
8
Ryder Hesjedal
Garmin - Transitions
520
9
Stijn Devolder
Quick·Step
468
10
Juan Antonio Flecha
Sky Professional Cycling Team
443
CQ Rankings: Teams
1
Garmin - Transitions
1914
2
Team Saxo Bank
1807
3
Quick·Step
1748
4
Astana
1556
5
Bbox Bouygues Télécom
1513
6
AG2R La Mondiale
1401
7
Androni Giocattoli - Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni
1349
8
Liquigas - Doimo
1257
9
Team HTC - Columbia
1244
10
Team Katusha
1159
Tyler Farrar leads the peloton with 9 victories, followed by Daniele Bennati with 7, and Tom Boonen and Mark Cavendish, each with 6.
When you sprint with Ginanni you dont create a train but still manage victories. How and when do you judge what wheel to take. Could you give me a wlk through of what you do from the 15km mark with him?
Just sit in the front of the peleton with the "Hold posistion" button. And then put it up to 99% in the last 6km. And then take the wheel of the best sprinter that is in front of you. If there is none in front of you. Just take the wheel of the fastest man that is in front of you, when the sprint has started.
. Damn hard race, but you should be able to get a good result with Ginanni.
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