93rd Giro d'Italia - Stage 19 Team & Rider Reactions
The teams weigh in on the battle to Aprica today...
Sastre shows Grit, Richie Porte Focused, Gerdemann holds on, Scarponi, 'Its
going to war again' tomorrow...
© 210
Gazzetta dello Sport
2010 Giro d'Italia
Jersey Leaders - After Stage 19
Maglia Rosa:
Ivan Basso Liquigas/Doimo
Maglia Rossa
Points:
Cadel Evans BMC Racing
KOM Maglia Verde:
Ivan Basso Liquigas/Doimo
U26 Maglia Bianca: Richie
Porte Saxo Bank
Team: Liquigas/Doimo
Stage 19 Live
Report
Friday 28 May
Words from stage winner Michele Scarponi:
"It was a great stage. I'm very happy. We managed to go clear on the
Mortirolo,and I was good enough at staying with Basso and Nibali. Then we agreed
to go until the finish together, and I won the stage".
Michele Scarponi also confessed that his legs are not exactly that great at
that moment, but tomorrow 'it's gonna be war again', He wants a place on
the podium.
Ivan Basso: "I'm very, very happy. It was
a sensational day for sure. I could have tried to ride clear from the others on
the Mortirolo, but the best strategy for me and Nibali was to stay together,
such that both of us could improve our respective GC placings; then we found
also a great Scarponi that remained with us and helped us. I have to thank the
whole team that was great today".
Basso was all smiles as exactly four years later he found back the Maglia
Rosa. No smiling at all from Cadel Evans as he showed up on the podium for the
red jersey ceremony. Still, Cadel showed his usual great sportmanship as he
hugged Basso and congratulated him at the stage end.
Vincenzo Nibali: 'We've been thinking
about this stage for days. We were focused, and even nervous at the start this
morning, but in the end things turned out as we desired. Ivan took the jersey,
and that makes us happy. And if I finish the race in the podium spots, that
would be just great, and a morale booster for the future, as I still have a few
years to prove my strength. I showed some good signs at the past Tour de France
already, but I hope I can be a protagonist in Grand Tours also in years to
come'.
Ag2r La Mondiale
John Gadret 5th
The Liquigas team rose to the attack in the 19th stage and Ivan Basso
dethroned Arroyo. Three Italian's Ivan Basso, Michele Scarponi and
VincenzoNibali flew over the obstacles. Behind these three men, found
Vinokourov, Evans, Arroyo, Sastre accompanied by a John Gadret always present!
John fiished in 5th place in the stage and takes his new place of honor in
14th place.
The reaction of Lawrence Biondi:
"The balance is generally good with an excellent 5th place by John (Gadret) in
an extremely difficult stage. It was expected that Alexander (Efimkin) would be
in trouble today because this type of sage is not his favorite field. In
addition, he didn't feel very well physically."
" Tomorrow, we have every interest in trying to getting in a break if you
want to go win the stage. Yuriy (Krivtsov) did it today and it could, for
example, be a good move for Hubert (Dupont)."
Cervélo TestTeam
Carlos Sastre Shows his Grit
Alex Sans Vega on today's Tactics...
Carlos Sastre rode with grit in Friday’s epic, four-climb stage over the
Mortirolo to finish eighth in the 195km nineteenth stage and slot into sixth
overall at 5:32 back.
Sastre rode well to join a group of five chasers, including overnight leader
David Arroyo (ESP) and Cadel Evans (AUS) to trim the gap to 38 seconds with 10km
to go, but Basso, Scarponi and Vincenzo Nibali (ITA) poured on the gas on the
final Aprica climb to widen the gap to 3:05 to the five-man Arroyo group.
Carlos Sastre on the break...
“Behind, there wasn’t the necessary understanding or strength to reduce the
differences. At least we tried to save the day and I am content to be able to
arrive with this group behind the three strongest men of the race.”
“It was a very difficult stage. It was fast from the start and we spent a lot
of energy ahead of tomorrow’s stage." said Sastre after the race. "I didn’t have
bad legs, but aches and pains I’ve had are disappearing, but there are a few
riders who are going better than me,” Sastre said after the stage. “We have to
congratulate Liquigas, who did sensational work and who put their two leaders on
the podium today.”
D.S. Alex Sans Vega
“The others climbed the first part of the Mortirolo very fast, and that caught
out Carlos at first, but later he went at his rhythm and he maintained the same
distance to the top, so he wasn’t losing ground. He maintained that difference
until 10km to go the finish line. We didn’t think that they could lose two
minutes in 10km. The truth is that it was impressive what Nibali and Basso were
able to do.”
Sastre Aims for the final podium
Basso takes the pink jersey with two days remaining in the 2010 Giro. The 2006
Giro champion now leads Arroyo by 51 seconds and Nibali by 2:30. Sastre, now
sixth at 5:32 back, will try to fight for a spot on the final top-3 podium.
Saturday’s difficult climbing stage over the punishing Gavia climb could further
shake up the GC.
There’s a chance that snow could force race organizers to reroute the course
away from the Gavia, but Sans Vega says
they’re hoping the long, grinding climb will remain in place. Tomorrow is
another hard stage. "Anything could happen tomorrow. We’ll see if we do the
Gavia tomorrow or not,” he said. “For Carlos, the Gavia is a better climb than
the Mortirolo. We hope that they will make the climb.”
Early in the stage, Cervélo’s Xavier Tondo (ESP) snuck into a seven-man
breakaway just as the team had hoped. Later in the stage, Cervélo’s Marcel Wyss
(SUI) did a great job to pace Sastre up the lower and steepest flanks of the
Mortirolo.
“You never know what can happen, so it’s good to have someone out there in a
breakaway. If there’s not a lot of movement from behind, you can try to win the
stage, or, like today, there is a lot of movement, we can have an extra rider up
the road to help Carlos,” Sans Vega said. “The team worked well today.
Tondo was where the team wanted to have him. Marcel Wyss also did a great job.
He was with the favorites until the hardest ramps on the Mortirolo. We did the
race just as we had hoped. Today there were stronger people than us today,
that’s it.”
The 93rd Giro continues Saturday with the five-climb, 178km 20th stage from
Bormio to Ponte di Legno. The route tackles two, long-distance climbs, including
the Gavia summit at 148 km. That’s followed by a quick descent and a short, but
steep run to the line.
Saxo Bank
Richie Porte Focused on Maglia Bianca..
”Richie (Porte) is playing his cards just right by keeping his focus on his
nearest rivals in the young rider competition instead of jumping into a headless
adventure where he would explode sooner or later. Ivan took the jersey and
showed everyone that he is the strongest rider uphill which could make
tomorrow's stage a little easier for us in order to keep Richie's position
despite the mountainous profile. Chris (Anker Sørensen) had an off-day but we
hope he is good and ready to help again tomorrow,” said a pleased sports
director, Dan Frost.
Lampre/Farnese Vini
Damiano Cunego woke up feeling like cr... well not
good,
"It's been a tough day for me, I've suffered today, this morning at the
departure I wasn't feeling good. The pace at the beginning of Mortirolo drained
what energy I had. After I tried to get on my own rythm, but then I couldn't
recover fast enough on the descent. I hope that tomorrow I'll be more brilliant
in order to try an attack":
This was Cunego's comment about the events in stage19th. Cunego finished 17th
position, at 8:17 and he's now 11th in the overall standing at a little over 15
minutes from new leader Basso.
Team Milram
Linus Gerdemann Still in 13th
MILRAM captain Linus Gerdemann continues to fight impressively in this year's
Giro d'Italia. Still suffering from bronchitis, he led the third chase group to
the finish line on Friday and impressively defended his 13th overall ranking.
Team Quick Step
Branislau Samoilau in break of the day... Claims 9th place
After a very fast start a group with Branislau Samoilau escaped from the
peloton. When the lead group reached the first climb of the day the gap with the
peloton was 9 minutes, after they climbed the Aprica their lead was only 4,5
minutes.
On the Trevigno the lead group broke up. Samoilau was doing well and stayed in
the front with Failli, Duque and Rodriguez. Garzelli attacked the peloton,
launching a counter attack. The Italian rider caught the leading group in the
descent of the Trevigno. On the Mortirolo Garzelli tried it solo again, but this
time Samoilau was on his wheel. Our Belarusian rider couldn`t hang in there
however and had to let Garzelli go, but Samoilau limited the damage very well.
Behind him the battle for the overall win was on. Leader Arroyo dropped early on
the Mortirolo, while Basso and his companions accelerated and caught Samoilau.
Samoilau finished 5,5 minutes in a very well 9th place - Branislau
is now the top placed rider of the team in 33rd at 1:07.54.
Dario Cataldo Abandons due to illness
There was less good news about Dario Cataldo. The Italian Quick-Stepper got sick
yesterday, but he took the start today. On the Santa Christina Cataldo couldn't
follow the first group anymore and he abandoned the race. Cataldo was doing very
well this Giro, before today's stage he was 14th in the overall classification.
Bbox Bouygues Telecom
Bonnet in the Break...
William Bonnet took part in the breakaway of the day at the 19th stage of Tour
of Italy. Not surprisingly, the fight between the top names and the acceleration
of Liquigas ended the ambitions of daring. Michele Scarponi plucked the victory
like a flower but Ivan Basso won the the pink jersey, probably for
good.
The battle was terrible as it played out on the Mortirolo.
D.S. Dominique Arnold acknowledges that the day
was hard: "The leaders made war very early, too soon for the breakaway to
have a chance for the win." The Turquoise team properly followed the
instructions. Thomas Voeckler attempted to get in the break, but it was William
Bonnet wo crept in before the top names decided to initiate hostilities. This
Saturday, the scenario will likely be repeated: "It is impossible for a
breakaway go after tomorrow. We will give all we have left this Saturday."
Footon/Servetto/Fuji
The gold & black team still has four riders on course, after suffering
from bad weather and a terrific profile in the Corsa Rosa's most difficult stage
to date. The team has been a constant animator in the stages, active in the
breaks. Iban Mayoz is the best placed rider of the team at 27th place. Markus
Eibegger follows in 52nd and Mattias Brändle 98th, Marco Corti currently in
144th in the mythical Maglia Neri position.
Giles Belbin's
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