Hilly stage yet again, this time ending up on a rather steep hill. It's 185 km. long and seems very suited for an attack - but the GC contenders will also have a shot on this stage. Favourites are Bettini, of course, Di Luca, Ricco', etc.
A rather large group got away in today's tv-break: Martin (Domina), Klostergaard (Philips), Merckx (Eurosport), Redondo (Virgin), Sijmens (Accumalux), Di Maggio (Erste), Pasamontes (Wikipedia), Pena (France TV) and Van Impe (Warner Bros). They didn't work very well together, though. They constantly attacked each other, and at times, it made the group split as on this screenshot where Redondo, Klostergaard and Martin have been dropped with 82 km. to go.
At this point, the peloton has started the chase. And they had nearly catched the Redondo-group when Bertagnolli (Wiggle), Marzoli (Carlsberg) and Brandt (Nintendo) attacked. They are all 1'26 behind, so with a succesful break one of them can take the jersey! In front, Pena has been dropped.
There's now 50 km to go. E1 has a 2'50 lead, while the group with Bertagnolli has 1'20.
In the peloton, they are working hard to neutralize the breaks, but it seems like the front group is able to keep the peloton of them. They have just dropped Merckx, leaving Van Impe, Pasamontes, Sijmens and Di Maggio in front. As with the group behind them, these riders are also able to take the jersey since they are also just 1'26 behind. There's still two hills left, though.
With 20 km to go, the front group is 2'13 minutes in front, and they now take on the last hill before the finishing hill -- and the group is caught by Marzoli, Bertagnolli and Brandt. It's completely open now. Will the favourites open up?
No, Merckx is caught, but the riders in front manage to stay away. And shortly after, just before the finishing hill, the rest of the riders are caught, mainly due to Magenta who must have a good feeling about Ricco. Let's see how the hill turns out.
Pellizotti makes the first move with 2 km. to go! Rodriguez Oliver is following up on his attack. So is Lövkvist.
1 km to go! Pellizotti is leading, and he seems very strong. Ghisalberti has surprisingly managed to place himself 2nd with Di Luca behind him, then Sanchez Gil and Rodriguez Oliver.
500 meters. No changes at all compared to the previous screenshot.
And it's a win for Pellizotti! Di Luca manages to take 2nd with Ghisalberti third. And surprisingly, there's registered a gap between some riders. Pellizotti has taken some time .. but from who?
