1708
CEST - Gibo Simoni is 200m from the finish ... 100m Here he comes:
37'47". He lost 05 minutes and 02 seconds to Pinotti, but Gibo wasn't aiming for
stage victory today.
11 kilometres for Riccardo Riccò: 14'35". Losing 26" to Pellizotti and 22" to
Bruseghin. But at an earlier check (8 kilometres) his time-deficit to Alberto
Contador had gone up to 40 seconds.
1712 CEST - Jurgen van den Broeck to the
finish: 35'28". Not the greatest time ever.
1714 CEST - Alberto Contador's Cormano
time: 13'40". He's 20 seconds down to Ignatiev and Pinotti at km. 10.9, but
doing far better than all other top overall players. The Giro d'Italia 2008 is
in his hands. The man from Madrid took 55 seconds out of the man in white in
11 kilometres. A five-second-per-kilometre gain is not that bad, is it?
Contador grimaces, an all out effort to seal his victory in Milan.
Photo ©
2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti
Danilo Di Luca coming to the finish. Quite poor performance also today: his
time at the finish is 36'21".
1716 CEST - Folks we have race: Marzio
Bruseghin is losing 5 seconds to Pellizotti at km. 193. And it means the
two guys are tied on GC with 9.5 k to go!!
Denis Menchov's finishing time: 34'14".
The battle over third place is heating up while Ricco is limiting his time
losses to Pellizotti (50") and Bruseghin (45") after 20 kilometres. Contador is
flying towards race victory (and if it wasn't for the wind it might have been
stage victory too)
Sella scored 35'20" at the finish; he lost his fifth place in the GC to Denis
Menchov, but isn't too upset about it. Contador losing 20 seconds to Pinotti
after 20 kilomtres he's putting 01'30" into Ricco.
1723 CEST - Franco Pellizotti scored
34'15" at the line. Bruseghin must clock 34'20" if he wants to hold on to his
podium spot. So start flying, donkeys!
Marzio got us accustomed to fast finishes against the clock. We'll see
if can put up another flying performance today. He must cover the last
1,000 metres in 01 minute, 10 seconds! Marzio is giving it everything but it's
not going to be easy. Here we go, one last sprint... \
Bruseghin defends his podium position... Photo ©
2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti
and here it is... 34 MINUTES 18 SECONDS Bruseghin saved his podium place by 2
seconds!!!Pellizotti looked very disappointed it was a very, very tight battle,
with both riders deserving to find a place on the podium, but ONLY one spot was
at stake, so we had to get one winner and unfortunately one loser. kudos to both
guys anyway.
And kudos to Giro d'Italia 2008 winner Alberto Contador, even if both the
Spaniard and Riccò still have to cross the line. Riccardo Riccò maintains his
runner-up spot. One last sprint for the man in white. And here Ricco comes:
35'17".
1730 CEST - And now please say hello to
the winner ALBERTO CONTADOR. He crosses the line:
33'24" And raises his arms.
Stage winner: Marco Pinotti (his first
ever Giro d'Italia stage victory)
Giro d'Italia 2008 winner: Alberto Contador.
Giro d'Italia 2008 podium finishers: Riccardo Riccò and Marzio Bruseghin.
Alberto Contador finishes, giving a thumbs up to his fans.
Photo ©
2008 Fotoreporter Sirotti
1735 CEST - Some Spanish fans at the line
wave their national flag to celebrate the second GT win of their idol. And now
there's only one race left: the Vuelta a España. Will the talented man from El
Pinto, Madrid, make his fans happy on home roads after he picked up prestigious
victories abroad? Okay he dominated some smaller Vueltas on Spanish soil, but a
triumph in his nation's #1 cycling event would be a truly different thing.
A foreign rider has won the race 12 years after Pavel Tonkov's triumph, and
15 years after Miguel Indurain put Spain on the Giro roll of honour.
And kudos to Team High Road on their 1-2 punch to opposition in today's
stage. Bravo Pinotti, Bravo Martin! Bravo to Lampreman Marzio Bruseghin the
veteran improved his previous 7th place to the third step on the podium.
Stage 21 Results
1. MARCO PINOTTI
2. TONY MARTIN - at 07"
3. MIKHAIL IGNATIEV - at 10"
4. BRADLEY WIGGINS - at 13"
5. CHRISTIAN VANDEVELDE - at 22"
6 PATE DANNY 0:24
7 BENNATI DANIELE 0:24
8 CUMMINGS STEVEN 0:24
9 GUSEV VLADIMIR 0:31
10 VOIGT JENS 0:33
General Classification (top ten final)
1 Alberto Contador 89:56:49
2 Riccardo Ricco' 1:57
3 Marzio Bruseghin 2:54
4 Franco Pellizotti 2:56
5 Denis Menchov 3:37
6 Emanuele ITA Sella 4:31
7 Jurgen Van den Broucke 6:30
8 Danilo Di Luca 7:15
9 Domenico Pozzovivo 7:53
10 Gilberto Simoni 11:03
After Race Interviews
2008 Giro d'Italia Winner: Alberto Contador
Straight after taking Spain to the top of the Giro d'Italia podium after a
15-year spell, Alberto Contador was singing the praises of the Corsa Rosa: "I
could have never had any better reasons to put an end to my vacations than come
here and win the Giro, a race many wanted to win. I'm thoroughly happy, this
victory is as important to me as it was last year's Tour de France. Nope, maybe
it means even more!
The Tour 2008? Well, the organisers made their decision already, you know,
and they're not going to step back. I didn't like that, but I have to get on
with it. Moreover, I wouldn't be on top form (at the Tour) after racing this
Giro".
Riccardo Riccò
At his turn Riccardo Riccò ruled out any chances to continue his Grand Tour
campaign at the next Grande Boucle either. He's going to take some time off,
like a two-week holiday in Sardinia, and get back in the saddle later to start
his build-up to late season targets such as the Worlds and Tour of Lombardy.
Marzio Bruseghin
Some comments from the remaining podium finisher, the great Marzio Bruseghin:
"I just can't believe it. Had someone told me a few weeks ago, before the
start of the Giro, of this kind of Giro, that I was going to make the
podium in the race I would have thought he was talking nonsense. Now I'm truly
happy, but I would have been also in case of a fourth-place finish, because I
did everything I could. I could race the Tour in support of Damiano Cunego,
but no final decision about it has yet been made".
Daniele Bennati - Maglia Ciclamino
Daniele Bennati might have not been a factor in today's stage, but
nevertheless he managed to climb the Milan podium as winner of the cyclamen
jersey reserved for the points classification's leader: "It was a hard task
but I did my best in order to get it. I'm happy. But now I'm going to take
some well-earned "rest", so to speak".
2008 Final Giro d' Italia Jerseys
Maglia Rosa - Alberto Contador Astana
Maglia Ciclamino - Daniele Benatti Quick Step
Maglia Verde - Emmanuele Sella CSF
Maglia Bianca - Riccardo Ricco Saunier Duval/Scott
Thanks for joining us for the live coverage of the final stage, and all 21
stages... of this 91rst Giro... we hope you enjoyed the coverage. Please
join us in the future as we present other races and grand tours live. Thanks to
Fabio who did a majority of the commentary and was helped by Bart Hazen, Andy
McGrath, Michael Akinde and our neo tickerer Alicia. Have a great day and a good
day on your ride today.
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