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Bertolini wins a crash-filled stage 11
Italian Alessandro Bertolini (Diquigiovanni) won Wednesday's wild ride into Cesena in the 11th stage at the Giro d'Italia that saw a cascade of crashes in yet another wild day of racing at the corsa rosa.
Overnight leader Giovanni Visconti (Quick Step) defended his pink jersey, but only after being dropped twice and overcoming a crash with 30km to go in the 199km, mountainous stage over what were once the training routes of Marco Pantani.
As bad weather once again marred this Giro, several other riders crashed, including Denis Menchov (Rabobank), Levi Leipheimer (Astana) and Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval-Scott). Last year's best climber at the Tour de France, Mauricio Soler (Barloworld) abandoned, along with Rik Verbrugghe (Cofidis) as spills and injuries continue to pile up.
Bertolini, 36, took advantage of his rivals' bad luck and won for the first time at the Giro. Italian Fortunato Baliani was at the head of the race with a promising lead with less than 1km to go when he crashed. Bertolini, who'd suffered his own crash earlier, was in prime position when Baliani hit the deck. He charged.
"I've achieved my dream," Bertolini said. "I managed to win despite a fall and a knock I took to the elbow. I've never succeeded in winning a stage on the Giro and I have to thank (Gilberto) Simoni who gave me space and told me to go for the win."
Chasing Spanish rider Pablo Lastras wasn't able to get on Bertolini's wheel when he counter-attacked. At the line, the Italian finished five seconds ahead of Lastras, who was held up by the crash while the unlucky Baliani came through for third at 16 seconds back.
“I planned to attack today”, explained Lastras who attacked a first time at 25 km from the finish. “We cooperated very well and in the final everybody tried to attack on turn. Only three of us were left for the victory but Baliani’s crash in the last kilometer changed the development of the sprint. I had to brake very hard and start again. Bertolini who was in the lead when that happened took the opportunity to take some advance. It is a fact that I am disappointed for finishing only the second after I worked so hard during the whole stage but on the other side I am also satisfied because I showed today that I am able to achieve something good in the Giro and I hope I will have another chance before we reach Milan.”
After an active start, Lastras and Bertolini were among five riders who pulled clear in the hilly stage. Baliani bridged out in a counter-attack with compatriot Gabriele Bosisio, who later fell back after going down in another spill. French rider Laurent Mangel and Finn rider Jussi Veikkanen dropped out of the breakaway, leaving the tough men to duke it out for the win after they had opened up a gap of more than eight minutes.
There was plenty of action in the main pack as a string of steep climbs fractured the pack. Danilo Di Luca (LPR) tried to break the deadlock, but was unable to shake Alberto Contador (Astana) or his other GC rivals. Accelerations by Di Luca and Riccardo Ricco (Saunier Duval-Prodir) couldn't shake the rivals, but it put Visconti into the red. The race leader was twice dropped as the favorites took shots at each other over the bumpy run to Cesana.
Visconti showed his grit by chasing back on, thanks to help from his Quick Step squad, only to survive a nasty fall with about 30km to go. He finished safely in the main pack as it rolled across the line at 3:53 back with sprinter Daniele Bennati (Liquigas) leading the way.
Visconti said his day was made harder by an illness he's been suffering since Tuesday.
"I felt stick to my stomach and I vomited at the beginning of the stage," Visconti said, "I really want to thank my teammates, especially Bettini and Tonti. I was literally dead at the finish line."
Following the stage finish, Visconti visited a local hospital for x-rays on an injured left elbow and right hand which revealed he had not broken anything and should be able to start Thursday's 12th stage.
Despite his difficulties, Visconti, who began the day with a 3:31 lead over Gerolsteiner's Matthias Russ kept the jersey. Russ, however didn't fare as well. He finished in 108th place at 21:54 and slipped back to 42nd place on GC.
The 91st Giro continues Thursday with the 172km 12th stage from Forli to Carpi. Riders are hoping for a change after Wednesday's paifully difficult stage.
Race Notes
Mauricio Soler’s hopes of success at the Giro d’Italia ended after 96.9 km of Wednesday’s eleventh stage to Cesena. The Colombian climber was forced to climb off at the official feed zone of the stage after losing his battle against the pain caused by a micro fracture in his left wrist.
As feared, the tough stage packed with steep climbs was too much for Soler. The terrible weather conditions, the cold and the rain, made things even more difficult, and he was unable to hold onto the handlebars and struggled to use his brakes.
“There was no point him carrying on,” team manager Claudio Corti said. “We wanted Soler to see if he could stay in the race but it was clear he was in pain and so it didn’t make sense to suffer so much. We’re really sorry for the team and for the Giro d’Italia but now our priority is to help Mauricio get better as quickly as possible so he can get ready for the Tour de France.”
Later on Wednesday, it was revealed Italian climber Leonardo Piepoli (Saunier Duval) was suffering from severe pain in his ribs after falling during the stage.
Piepoli, the main lieutenant of overall contender Riccardo Ricco, fell in the same crash that took down Leipheimer and Visconti. Piepoli is currently awaiting x-ray results, as a fracture has not been ruled out.
"I feel very bad," said Piepoli. "Fortunately the next two stages are easy and I hope the pain will have got easier before Saturday's mountain stage."
The 36-year-old, who won a stage in both the Giro and the Vuelta a Espana last year, is in 20th spot overall at 10:16 from the leader.
Results
1. Alessandro Bertolini (I), Serramenti PVC Diquigiovanni, 199km in 5:44:22 (34.672kph)
2. Pablo Lastras Garcia (Sp), Caisse d'Epargne, at 0:05
3. Fortunato Baliani (It), CSF Group Navigare, at 0:16
4. Laurent Mangel (F), Ag2r, at 1:33
5. Jussi Veikkanen (Fin), Française des Jeux, at 1:33
>Overall, after Stage 11
1. Giovanni Visconti (ITA), Quick Step in 49:00:17
2. Gabriele Bosisio (ITA), Team L.P.R., at 5:50
3. Alberto Contador (ESP), Astana, at 6:59
4. Marzio Bruseghin (ITA), Lampre, at 7:52
5. Andreas Kloden (GER), Astana, at 7:54
6. Vincenzo Nibali (ITA), Liquigas, at 8:04
7. Paolo Savoldelli (ITA), Team L.P.R., at 8:09
8. Riccardo Ricco' (ITA), Saunier Duval, at 8:32
9. Danilo Di Luca (ITA), Team L.P.R., at 8:33
10. Erik Larsson Gustav (SWE), CSC, s.t.
