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Basso's gift goes to new son, not Simoni
Team CSC’s Ivan Basso barnstormed to victory Saturday in the final hard stage of the 89th Giro d’Italia in the style of the man everyone expects Basso to succeed – Lance Armstrong.
Basso wasn’t in a giving mood when he dropped an exasperated Gilberto Simoni (Saunier Duval) with about 4km to go in Saturday’s grueling, 211km 20th stage to win for the third time and widen his grip on the maglia rosa to more than nine minutes with just one day left.
An angry Simoni called Basso an "extraterrestrial" for his crushing performance and accused him riding unfairly by asking him to ride easy on the perilous descent off the Mortirolo only to leave him stranded on the final hump to Aprica.
"I don’t think I’ve stolen anything from Simoni," Basso countered. "The only thing I said to Simoni on the descent was to not take risks. I’ve proven to be very generous in numerous occasions in this Giro."
The Italians love a good polemica and Saturday’s finish-line fuss gave the papers just what they needed to spice up what’s been an otherwise flawless and dominant performance by Basso.
Basso’s win Saturday put the finishing touch on the most dominant Giro win in a generation. The winning difference of 9:18 to second-place José Enrique Gutiérrez (Phonak) is the widest margin since 1965, when Vitorrio Adorni won in 11:26. Simoni settled in for third at 11:59.
"This is the most beautiful day of my career, let me enjoy it," Basso said. "What I did today was proper and I did my work in the stage, but I don’t like it when someone calls me an extraterrestrial. People have to remember I was the only rider strong enough to follow (Lance) Armstrong at the Tour de France. I’ve worked hard for this moment."
A day after Team CSC’s Jens Voigt magnanimously decided not to contest the sprint in Friday’s epic stage to San Pellegrino against Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step), Basso found himself in a similar situation Saturday at the end of the seven-hour slugfest over the Gavia and the Mortirolo.
Simoni and Basso dropped the stubborn José Enrique Gutiérrez (Phonak) and Damiano Cunego (Lampre) just 4km up the 12.8km Mortirolo climb and rode together triumphantly up the Giro’s final climb up to Aprica.
Simoni was intent on winning the stage and bouncing up to second overall, but it wasn’t in the cards. Gutiérrez proved too resilient and Basso too strong.
Looking determined in the pink jersey, Basso punched the accelerator with about 4km to go and quickly gapped the proud Simoni, who turned his frustration toward Basso when he crossed the line at 1:17 back.
"Basso asked me to wait for him on the descent. If I had known he was going to do that, I would have used a different tactic. Obviously, there are no gentlemen in this game," an angry Simoni said. "I’ve never seen anyone dominate a race like this. He seems like an extraterrestrial."
Inspired by the birth of his first son the day before and keen to close the book on his first grand-tour victory, Basso refused to let the controversy spoil what he said was the "most beautiful day of my career."
"We’re not going to give away any more gifts," said Team CSC manager Bjarne Riis. "Ivan sometimes is too nice. I’m happy today that he wasn’t too nice. He demonstrated that he was the strongest in this race. He shouldn’t give away a victory."
Up the Gavia
The day started quietly enough in Trento with the news that Discovery Channel’s Tom Danielson, who was 16th overall following Friday’s 19th stage, wouldn’t be starting.
The 28-year-old had been struggling with sinus problems since the stage to La Thuile last weekend and his condition worsened overnight Friday after helping to tow team captain Paolo Savoldelli to Friday’s San Pellegrino summit.
"He’d been suffering from sinusitis and taking antibiotics ever since the stage to La Thuile last week," Bruyneel told VeloNews. "Then, yesterday, he felt bad throughout the stage. You could see that he'd gone over the limit. Then, after dinner, he started getting fever and we decided this morning that it wouldn't make sense for him to start, especially a stage like today's. He's given everything he could and he was completely empty."
Pulling out at about 70km into the stage was Italian veteran Vladimir Belli (Selle Italia). The 35-year-old started the day seventh overall, but succumbed to leg spasms that had been hurting him all week. His abandon marks the end of his long career, which included 12 wins with a stage in the Tour de Suisse.
Team CSC was pulling rank at the front of the peloton, powered by the prospects of closing the book on the 89th Giro.
"This is the last hard day and then we can breathe a little," said CSC’s Carlos Sastre, who signed a two-year extension overnight. "This is the last hurdle, but the team is being cautious about jinxing anything, so no champagne until Milan."
The peloton was in no hurry to begin the suffering. In fact, most riders stayed tucked inside their team buses until just before the race bell clanged in Trento.
The bunch stayed together up the day’s first climb at the Cat. 2 Passo di Tonale and the motors weren’t revved up until the course turned northward to the legendary Passo di Gavia (16.5km at 8 percent).
The Cima Coppi – the highest point of this year’s Giro at 2618m – was too far from the finish with 101km to go to really play into the hands of the would-be attackers. Friday’s winner Juan Manuel Garate (Quick Step-Innergetic) sneaked away to win the prize over the summit with Jose Serpa (Selle Italia) coming through second, but they were swallowed up by the main bunch on the long descent to Bormio and the base of the Mortirolo.
It was good work for Garate, who will trade his Spanish national champion’s jersey for the best climber’s jersey at the end of the day.
Up the Mortirolo
Saunier Duval was intent on ramping up the pace. Simoni stayed hidden away inside the team’s camper all morning and slipped out in the last minute with a Cheshire cat’s grin. Smiling even more broadly was sport director Matxin Fernández, who said Simoni was going for the stage win.
The Mortirolo has been rechristened the Cima Pantani in honor of fallen star Marco Pantani, who enjoyed some of his finest moments on the slithering climb. It was in 1994 when he won over the Mortirolo that the Pantani legend was born.
Once the bunch steered onto the base of the 12.8km climb (10.3 percent average grade with ramps as steep as 18 percent), Saunier Duval wasted no time, sending Ruben Lobarto on the march. The narrow, twisting climb is shaded on the lower approaches, where Iñigo Cuesta and Volodmyr Gustov took over for Team CSC.
It started to blow up at the fourth kilometer, with Savoldelli losing contact under Basso’s insistence. Gutiérrez continued to show tremendous resolve, sitting on Basso’s wheel and soon the only riders still with them were Cunego, Simoni and Piepoli.
About 5km into the climb, new dad Basso shot away from the leaders, attacking with ferocity. Simoni hung on but Gutiérrez started to slip. The question was whether it was too late for Simoni to try to erase the 4:24 difference to the big Spaniard.
But it was too late for Simoni. Two kilometers from the summit, Gutiérrez was only 45 seconds behind and he kept that margin. On the descent, Cunego bridged up to Gutiérrez while Simoni and Basso churned their way up the final 20km toward the finish, nursing a gap of 1:12.
Riding on pride, frustrated after being zapped by allergies in the Giro, Savoldelli had one more surprise, dropping like a rock to live up to his reputation as the best descender in the game, taking back 45 seconds on Simoni and Basso on the 17km descent. It wasn’t enough to put him in contention for the stage, but his derring-do helped him hold on to fourth overall.
Milan festa
The 89th Giro d’Italia ends with a special touch in Sunday’s 140km finale from the Museo del Ghisallo to Milan. The course begins along Lake Como in front of Italy’s cycling museum, which is under construction alongside the famous Ghisallo chapel.
Inside the museum’s memorabilia are several bikes from the most important wins in cycling history, including world-championship bikes from Eddy Merckx (1974), Alfredo Binda (1927 and 1932) and Gino Bartali’s winning bikes from the 1938 and 1948 Tours.
From there, it’s a straight shot into Milan for the final laps and a final sprint. Who’s left to try to win? Henk Vogels, Paolo Bettini and Stefen Schumacher are all still in the bunch.
Results - Stage 20
1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 211km in 6:51:15 (30.784kph)
2. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 1:17
3. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 2:51
4. José E. Gutierrez Cataluna (Sp), Phonak, at 2:51
5. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, at 6:03
6. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, at 6:03
7. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 7:26
8. Manuel Juan Manuel (Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 7:26
9. Pena Grisales Victor Hugo (Col), Phonak, at 7:26
10. Giampaolo Caruso (I), Liberty Seguros, at 7:26
Overall
1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 87:37:33
2. José E. Gutierrez Cataluna (Sp), Phonak, at 9:18
3. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, at 11:59
4. Damiano Cunego (I), Lampre, at 18:16
5. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, at 19:22
6. Sandy Casar (F), Francaise des Jeux, at 23:53
7. Juan Manuel Garate(Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, at 24:26
8. Franco Pellizotti (I), Liquigas-Bianchi, at 25:57
9. Victor Hugo Pena Grisales (Col), Phonak, at 26:27
10. Francisco J.Vila Errandonea (Sp), Lampre, at 27:34
Overall Points
1. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 158 Pts.
2. Paolo Bettini (I), Quick Step-Innergetic, 147 Pts.
3. Gutierrez Cataluna José E. (Sp), Phonak, 132 Pts.
4. Paolo Savoldelli (I), Discovery Channel, 95 Pts.
5. Gilberto Simoni (I), Saunier Duval, 88 Pts.
Overall KOM
1. Juan Manuel Garate(Sp), Quick Step-Innergetic, 64 Pts.
2. Ivan Basso (I), CSC, 56 Pts.
3. Fortunato Baliani (I), Ceramica Panaria - Navigare, 52 Pts.
4. Leonardo Piepoli (I), Saunier Duval, 32 Pts.
5. Gutierrez Cataluna José E. (Sp), Phonak, 27 Pts.
To see how today's stage developed, simply CLICKHERE to open up our Live Update Window and then check back soon for more photos and a complete stage report from Andrew Hood.
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