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Giro's 13th stage is lucky for Cavendish
Menchov and other GC fav's maintain their positions
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Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) carved another masterpiece Friday on the fast road to Florence, dashing to his third sprint victory in five stages before taking an early exit from the Giro d’Italia.
Within shot of the towering duomo, Cavendish made easy work of Italian star Alessandro Petacchi (LPR) to claim his 11th win on the season.
In post-race comments, Cavendish hinted that he would leave the Giro. A press release from his team a few hours later confirmed his early departure.
"Stage 13 will be Cavendish’s last stage of the 2009 Giro d’Italia. He will head home today and begin his recovery and lead up to the Tour de France," the release read.
Cavendish had said earlier he would talk to the team before making a decision. “I have to look at both sides. Nobody wants to stop what they start, but I just turned 24 yesterday and I want to have a long career. We’ll see what happens.”
Denis Menchov (Rabobank) enjoyed his first day in the pink jersey and rolled across the line 27th with the top favorites, at eight seconds back to retain the leader’s jersey.
Petacchi won the fight for Cavendish’s wheel, but got stuck in second place. Tyler Farrar (Garmin-Slipstream) was boxed in, finishing fifth behind Allan Davis (Quick Step) and Robert Hunter (Barloworld) in what’s likely the final bunch sprint of the centennial Giro.
2009 Giro d'Italia
- Stage 13: Lido di Camaiore to Florence
- 176km (109 miles)
- Stage winner: Mark Cavendish (Columbia-Highroad) in 3:48:36
- Stage winner's average speed: 45.9 kph (28.5 mph)
- GC leader: Denis Menchov (Rabobank)
- Points jersey: Danilo Di Luca (LPR Brakes)
- Climber's jersey: Stefano Garzelli (Acqua & Sapone)
- Team GC leader: Astana
- Most aggressive for the day: Cavendish
- Best young rider: Thomas Lovkvist (Columbia-Highroad)
- Previous stage winners/GC leaders:
- Stage 1: Team Columbia-Highroad/Cavendish
- Stage 2: Petacchi/Cavendish
- Stage 3: Petacchi/Petacchi
- Stage 4: Di Luca/Lovkvist
- Stage 5: Menchov/Di Luca
- Stage 6: Scarponi/Di Luca
- Stage 7: Boasson Hagen/Di Luca
- Stage 8: Sivtsov/Di Luca
- Stage 9: Cavendish/Di Luca
- Stage 10: Di Luca/Di Luca
- Stage 11: Cavendish/Di Luca
- Stage 12: Menchov/Menchov
- Up next: Stage 14
- Saturday's stage starts in Campi Bisenzio and finishes at the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca near Bologna. The 172km (107 mile) route crosses four major climbs and finishes with a short, steep climb up to the sanctuary.
With his fiancé, Melissa Phillips, watching with a group of friends from his European home base in nearby Quarrata, just 20km away, Cavendish was delivered perfectly to the line by Edvald Boasson Hagen and Mark Renshaw.
“I’ve got the best lead-out man in the world in Mark Renshaw. In the last 20km, I could sit on his back wheel,” Cavendish said. “The other teams are desperate now. We kept cool, sat back and used the strength we had to come past the other teams. All I have to do is finish it.”
Cavendish, who was caught up in a pileup in the opening 20km of the race, was clearly relishing his victory Friday. Of his three in this year’s Giro, it was the cleanest and most dominant so far.
“It was the most difficult. A lot of teams are getting desperate now, putting all their eggs into one basket,” Cavendish said. “The reason I am so professional is that I have so much romance with cycling. I love the sport, everything about racing.”
Menchov ready
While Cavendish took his early exit, the GC race in the Giro is finally clicking into gear.
Friday’s romp provided a chance for the overall contenders to regain their footing ahead of a string of highly unpredictable stages that should provide a thrilling conclusion to the Giro’s 100th birthday.
Bjorn Schroder (Milram) was the last man standing out of a three-man break on the mostly flat run from the Tuscan coast to Florence.
Menchov said he enjoyed a “nice day” in his first day in pink following his dramatic victory in Thursday’s Cinque Terre time trial, but admitted he knows the hardest is yet to come.
There were no changes in the overall standings, with Levi Leipheimer (Astana) retaining his third place at 40 seconds back.
Saturday’s explosive climbing finish up the short hill to the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca above Bologna will provide Menchov with a stiff challenge to fend off Danilo Di Luca (LPR), nipping at his heels at just 34 seconds back.
The climb seems perfect for the 2007 Giro champion, who hopes to gap Menchov and earn a 20-second time bonus that comes with the stage victory. So much so, Italians are already calling it San Di Luca.
“We all know the stage is better suited for him,” Menchov said. “If you have the chance to defend the leader’s jersey, you’ll want to take it. There are not a lot of days left, so you don’t want to let it get away. I will try to stay with him.”
Menchov is also bracing for grueling climbing stages across the Appenninie mountains of central Italy. Despite being out-gunned by the likes of LPR, Liquigas and Astana, Menchov is quietly confident in his Rabobank team.
“We know that teams like LPR, Liquigas and Astana are very motivated and they specialize in these types of races, but we have a team that’s getting better every day,” he said. “We have three or four riders who are becoming more comfortable in the mountains.”
Menchov pointed to Colombia climber Mauricio Ardila, Dutch riders Laurens Ten Dam and Maarten Tjallingii and compatriot Dmitry Kozontchuk.
Menchov will have to have his wits about him to avoid the disaster that befell him during the 2005 Vuelta a España, when a super-charged Liberty Seguros team isolated and dropped him in the wet mountains of Asturias to snatch away the Vuelta’s golden jersey.
Roberto Heras went on to win that edition, only to be later disqualified for injecting the banned blood booster, EPO. Menchov was later awarded the victory.
This time around, Menchov knows he will have to keep a close watch on the attacks in the coming days.
“Of course, you need a little bit of luck, but in a grand tour, the legs and the head are what’s most important,” he said. “I hope to have all three, head, legs and luck.”
So far, all three are holding up.
Tomorrow’s stage
Saturday's 14th stage starts in Campi Bisenzio and finishes at the Sanctuary of the Madonna di San Luca near Bologna. The 172km (107 mile) route crosses four major climbs and finishes with a short, steep climb up to the sanctuary.
