5th Montepaschi Strade Bianche
Philippe Gilbert, Alessandro Ballan and Damiano Cunego battle in the final
kilometer for victory in Piazza del Campo in Siena
The Omega Pharma-Lotto's Philippe Gilbert won the fifth edition of
Montepaschi pitted in final kilometer three way battle with Alessandro Ballan
(BMC Racing) and Lampre's Damiano Cunego who blasted off a lead group of 20
riders on the uphill finish. The Belgian launched his sprint at250 meters
after Ballan made his move and won the day by two bike lengths on Ballan.
Gilbert celebrates his win. Ballan, Cunego and Kocjan follow
Photo © 2011 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Cunego active throughout the chase of the early break with his team mates in
the final 100 kilometers had little to give in give in the final 100 meters
followed on Ballan's wheel to take third.
Team Type 1's Jure Kocjan of Slovenia finished fourth; Fabian Cancellara
(Leopard-Trek) finished fifth of the lead group of 20 who finished in the same
time.
5th Montepaschi Strade Bianche
190 riders started the race unlike many of the recent races, today
the day it was under sunny skies and cool tempas... riding on dry roads to
take on the six gravel/dirt sections of the Italian classic. The race got off to
a fast start but none of the early breaks met with success; notably Andy Schleck
gave it a try but his effort was put to naught with a flat putting paid to
his chances.
With 147 km to go a break of 12 formed and opened a gap of 50 seconds.The gap
would go to over 3 minutes by the 100 km to go as they neared the feed zome the
pap fell to 1:45 with Lampre-ISD the major player in the chase.
Androni's Ciariro Ermeti and BMC's Martin Kohler lead the break
Photo © 2011 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
The dozen riders included: Androni Giocattoli's Giairo Ermeti and Alessandro
De Marchi, Keopard-Trek's Stuart O’Grady and Joost Posthuma, HTC's Peter
Velits, Martin Kohler (BMC), Federico Rocchetti (De Rosa), Davide Ricci and
Patrick Sinkewitz of Farnese-Neri Sottoli, Matthias Brandle (Geox-TMC), Paolo
Longo Borghini (Liquigas), Garmin's Thomas Peterson and Adam Hansen and
Greg Van Avermaet of OmegaPharma-Lotto.
Lampre having missed the break took control leading the chase eventually the
group was caught on the most difficult section of gravel road with 11.9 km to
go. Lampre continued to hammer at the front reducing the selection to 20 riders
hurtling to the finish in Siena.
Gilbert and Ballan positioned themselves for the sprint with Gilbert
launching in the final 250 meters to take the win.
Allesandro Ballan and Damiano Cunego finish...
Gilbert expressed his love and good fortune for Italy after the finish,
"Italy is a country that I love; my palmares are full of Italian victories
and I'm glad I started adding another in 2011 after winning the Lombardy at the
end of 2010 season. Yesterday I took advantage of the day trying to do only the
last 60 km: Montepaschi roads and a race that pretty much brings me back to my
early days on such routes. The dirt roads are an area that belongs to the world
of bicycle racing and always retains its charm. The paving is very different
because it requires strength, control is used on roads, "said Gilbert.
"The race had a very fast start with the compact group and then the riders
were able to keep cool enough. The finish however was very nervous I turned and
saw that Cunego on Ballan's wheel about 50 meters back. I preferred to wait for
the 250 meters sprint, because I knew it had to be taken in last corner on the
right side."
Gilbert looks forward to the coming races on his schedule: Tirreno-Adriatico
and Milano-Sanremo where he hopes to win before returning to Benelux to take on
his targets there, the Tour of Flanders and Liège,
An attack goes off the front of the peloton
Photo © 2011 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Team Comments
BMC Racing
Ballan 2nd
Alessandro Ballan earned the BMC Racing Team a runner-up finish Saturday at
Montepaschi Strade Bianche while teammate Greg Van Avermaet spent much of the
race in a breakaway before finishing ninth.
Second Runner-Up Finish
Ballan said he was feeling good about his chances in the final moments of the
190-kilometer race featuring 57 km of dirt and gravel sections. "I was behind
(eventual winner) Philippe Gilbert and Damiano Cunego was on my wheel," the
former world champion said. "Gilbert took the inside and I didn't want to pass
him on the outside because I was afraid that I would crash. Overall, I'm happy
with my condition. It bodes well for the upcoming races." Ballan also finished
runner-up on the opening stage of the Giro di Sardegna last month.
Van Avermaet, Kohler In Break
The BMC Racing Team had Van Avemaet and Martin Kohler in an early breakaway
group of 12. "It wasn't the perfect situation to go with the early breakaway but
(Stuart) O'Grady made the jump and I just followed him and we were gone,"
Van Avermaet said. "When you have such good
legs, you try to make the best of it." The break never led by more than three
minutes before Van Avermaet and O'Grady got away on their own, only to be caught
with 12 km to go.
Damiano Cunego attacks. Cadel Evans and Giovanni Visconti respond
Photo © 2011 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Lampre-ISD
Damiano Cunego on the podium of Strade Bianche.
The rider from Lampre-ISD obtained the 3rd place, preceded in th the final
sprint by Gilbert (winner) and by Ballan.
The 8th dirty roads sectors (Radi, 13,5 km; Murio, 5,5 km; Lucignano d’Asso,
11,9 km; Pieve a Salti, 8 km; Monte Sante Marie, 11,5 km; Montechiaro, 3,3 km;
Colle Pinzuto, 2,4 km; Le Tolfe, 1,1 km) performed a lower selection than the
past editions of the race and so all the top athletes reached the final
kilometre in a 20 riders, after that the main breakaway of 12 cyclists (it began
at the 43rd km) were neutralized at 12 km to go.
In the head group of 20 cyclists there were for Lampre-ISD Bertagnolli,
Niemiec and Mori that supported Cunego in view of the arrival in Siena, where
the blue-fucsia captain could not overtake Gilbert and Ballan in the battle for
the victory that characterized the last 1000 mt.
"I'm satisfied for my performance and for the support the team gave me, the
only sorrow is the result - Cunego commented
- I could pedal on a bike set in the best way by the mechanics and on my team
that control the race after that we failed in inserting a man in the main
breakaway. As in the past races, I had good feelings and so I knew that I could
compete for the victory: unluckily, Gilbert too was in a good fit. Anyway, if my
fit will be the same in the next races, I could achieve important results".
Blue-fucsia sport director Orlando Maini
analyzed the race in the following way:
"The third place obtained by Damiano is the result of the perfect setting of the
bikes made by the mechanics, of the efforts performed by Buts, Kostyuk,
Szeghalmi and Malori with the aim of controlling the race and of the quality
shown by Mori, Bertagnolli and Niemiec in the final kilometres. We did our best,
maybe we only made one mistake when we missed the main breakaway: best
compliments to Gilbert who was able to precede Cunego".
Fabian Cancellara attacks.
Photo © 2011 Fotoreporter
Sirotti
Team Type 1 -
sanofi-aventis
Jure Kocjan rode to a triumphant fourth place
Kocjan rode into the final selection of Saturday's race with Ardennes Classics
winner Philipe Gilbert, former world champion Alessandro Ballan and Giro d'
Italia winner Damiano Cunego on the last paved section into Siena after plowing
through more than eight sectors of dirt farm roads over 60km in the hills of
Tuscany.
Jure Kocjan on the race...
"The last 15 km I was watching Cunego and (Italian national champion Giovanni)
VIsconti, because I knew they were strong at the finish. Some other teams missed
the break, and I knew they would chase hard, so it was the perfect option to
wait behind those guys for the sprint. The last climb into Siena was 300 meters
uphill, and then a right turn. I'm very happy to be in such good company, but I
have never felt fatigue like that on a bicycle," Kocjan said.
Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis Director Sportif
Vassili Davidenko said he was pleased with the result, and even more
satisfied with the teamwork of his riders...
"This was a brutal race, a really tough day in the saddle. Lots of very talented
riders were taken out by the hills or the roads or by bad luck. We kept our
heads when the race picked up and had the right people in the right places when
they needed to be there. Martijn Verschoor was exceptionally strong today, and
we're really happy to see all of our riders compete so well at the highest
levels of the sport," Davidenko said.
Team Type 1 - sanofi-aventis rider Martijn Verschoor,
who has type 1 diabetes and must monitor his blood glucose level constantly and
periodically inject insulin to manage the disease, said his participation in an
8-day stage race in South Africa helped bring his fitness up this early in the
season.
"The race had some steep climbs that tore things apart. Sector five was where
it all started to go really fast, and where most of the peloton lost contact.
Today's race was really important for us to get up in the front and push the
speed. We have a lot of talent, and we're motivated to race," Verschoor said.
Verschoor said his blood glucose level at the start of the race was good, around
175, and dropped to around 120 at the halfway mark.
"I ate some food when I was at 120 and that brought me up to around 220 at the
end of the race, which is good. The weather was around 10C all day and we had
some pretty strong winds out there, but it's not like 41C in Cape Town,"
Verschoor said.
Based in Atlanta, GA, Team Type 1 competes around the world with an
international squad of athletes to raise diabetes awareness and demonstrate that
the disease does not prevent individuals from living their lives.
Six of the professionals on the men's team are type 1 diabetics, and 15 are
non-diabetics. Team Type 1 also runs a women's professional team, a triathlon
team, an elite amateur squad, a development team for T1 diabetics under 25, and
a Type 2 team.
5th Montepaschi Strade Bianche Results UCI 1.1
190 km - 4:44:26 - 40,079 km/h
Philippe Gilbert Bel Omega Pharma-Lotto 4:44:26
2 Alessandro Ballan Ita BMC Racing Team - 0:00
3 Damiano Cunego Ita Lampre-ISD - 0:00
4 Jure Kocjan Slo Team Type 1 - 0:00
5 Fabian Cancellara Sui Leopard-Trek - 0:00
6 Angel Vicioso Arcos Esp Androni Giocattoli - 0:00
7 Oscar Gatto Ita Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli - 0:00
8 Giovanni Visconti Ita Farnese Vini-Neri Sottoli - 0:00
9 Greg Van Avermaet Bel BMC Racing Team - 0:00
10 Fabian Wegmann Ger Leopard-Trek - 0:00
Complete
Results and Photos
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