Hello and welcome to the Tirreno-Adriatico 2009. In fact, the organizers have decided to use the exact same route as in 2007, and back then it was Frank Schleck who took the victory ahead of Patxi Vila, Luca Mazzanti, Cunego and Brajkovic. As far as I can see none of them are present today, though, so the race is open for the likes of Ricco', Di Luca, Nibali, etc.
And we might already see the favourites today. The race ends slightly uphill, so it's perfect for the riders who are good at uphill sprints, for example Bettini, Gasparatto, etc. However, we might also see the traditional sprinters battle it out today - Hushovd, Petacchi, Bennati.
Four riders got away in the tv-break: Stamsnijder, Belohvosciks, Peña and Serebriakov. It didn't work out too well between them, though, as Pena and Serebriakov were dropped for no obvious reason. They regained contact with Belohvoscisk on the climb with 105 km. to go, but Stamsnidjer were going for the only mountain points of the day - alone.
With 90 km. to go, the gap reached its max of 8 minutes and 40 seconds. In the peloton, Magenta and Gazzetta had initiated the chase. They were also helped out by Philips and American Suzuki. With that much support, there was no doubt that the breakaway riders were going to be caught, and with 47 km. to go, the first three riders were reeled in, leaving Stamsnidjer in front.
Not very surprisingly, that happened with 32 km. to go, leaving much room to organize the sprint and eventual attacks. Before this, Grillo won the intermediate sprint ahead of Bennati and Bozic - and after, it was time for the final, uphill sprint. In front, it's Figueras, then Da Dalto, Sijmens, Kocjan, Monfort, Bernucci, Gerrans, etc. It's difficult to see who's going to win this one!
One km. to go, and it's Sijmens of Accumalux leading. Bernucci is behind him, followed by Carrara, Di Luca, Rabon, Gerrans and Figueras who seems to be fading.
And suddenly, it's the giants against each other. Bettini has come from out of nowhere and is competing with Di Luca for the win. It's Carara in third position.
It's a win for Bettini! What a comeback by him. 2nd for Di Luca, third for Carrara, and Carlsberg may be pleased with their 4th, 5th and 7th position. At least they positioned themselves well.
Stage Result:
1
Paolo Bettini
AMERICAN SUZUKI
4h00'56
2
Danilo Di Luca
LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT
s.t.
3
Matteo Carrara
WIKIPEDIA
s.t.
4
Frantisek Rabon
CARLSBERG
s.t.
5
Lorenzo Bernucci
CARLSBERG
s.t.
6
Enrico Gasparotto
DOMINA VACANZE
s.t.
7
Ruggero Marzoli
CARLSBERG
s.t.
8
Paride Grillo
SONY ERICSSON
s.t.
9
Nico Sijmens
ACCUMALUX - FORMEX
s.t.
10
Juan Van Heerden
MAPEI
s.t.
11
Simon Gerrans
CREDIT LYONNAIS
s.t.
12
Eros Capecchi
FRANCE TELEVISIONS
s.t.
13
Thor Hushovd
FESTINA
s.t.
14
Riccardo Ricco'
MAGENTA ALL-STARS
s.t.
15
Alessandro Petacchi
PHILIPS - HUMMEL
s.t.
16
Daniele Bennati
LA GAZETTA DELLO SPORT
s.t.
17
Andrea Moletta
AMERICAN SUZUKI
s.t.
18
Joaquin Rodriguez Oliver
VIRGIN MEDIA - CAISSE D'EPARGNE
s.t.
19
Mauro Da Dalto
DOMINA VACANZE
s.t.
20
Borut Bozic
CREDIT LYONNAIS
s.t.
Bettini takes the leader's jersey and the points jersey. Stamsnijder takes the mountain jersey.
Edited by Roman on 16-10-2016 22:59
