A great day for one of the most outstanding members of Saeco's "Red Army": on Saturday afternoon 27-year-old Danilo Di Luca has won the Coppa Placci, snatched his fifth victory so far in the season (coming less than twenty days after his comeback to the top of the podium at "Tre Valli Varesine") and sent a clear message to the Italian National Team coach: he's strong, he's in top-form, and he could be a serious alternative to Paolo Bettini at the Hamilton Worlds.

It was a significative victory because of both the top-class field at the startline (the fairheaded Abruzzese left the likes of Rebellin, Camenzind, Markus Zberg, Casagrande and Basso behind) and the toughness of the route, encompassing three difficult ascents - Verrucchio, Monte Ventoso and Borgo Maggiore - before five, final laps including the Monte Titano ascent, and finishing in the most ancient Republic in the World, the small Republic of San Marino, an independent state near the Adriatic coast of Italy.

The race was first marked by some attempts by "serial escapee" Elio Aggiano (Ita - Formaggi Pinzolo Fiavé), once more one of the most combative guys in the pack, this time along with Saeco's Fabio Sacchi. As the peloton hit the Monte Titano, more skirmishes came featuring, among others, stagiaire Alessandro Vanotti, former U23 World Champion Leonardo Giordani (De Nardi-Colpack), veteran Gianni Faresin (Gerolsteiner) and Caldirola's neopro Andrea Masciarelli (whose younger brother Simone has won Saturday's stage at Giro della Lunigiana in the Junior Category, report later).

But as the finishing line was approaching, the big names came out, to start with main favourite Francesco Casagrande, two-time winner of this race and now looking for the hat-trick, who made his move in the penultimate lap, along with five more guys: Di Luca, Basso, Rebellin, Markus Zberg and Camenzind (beware the 1998 World Champion, he could have something to say at Hamilton!). They quickly opened a 15-second gap, and were never brought back by the peloton.

With just 1K to go, "Big House" attacked again, but his attempt failed. Then it was Ivan Basso's turn, but his efforts didn't bear fruit either. Such that the "Clash of Titans" on the Titano ended with Di Luca's superb sprint (which started with 200m to go), and the other ones just able to see him take an important win.

Team Saeco captain Danilo Di Luca has continued his build-up for the world championships in Hamilton with another great ride and another impressive victory.

Di Luca won the Coppa Placci race that finished in San Marino on Saturday. On the tough uphill finish he showed the form which should guarantee him a great end of season.

"I¹m sure I¹ll go to the world in Canada but it¹ll be up to the national coach Franco Ballerini to decide what role I¹ll have. Now I¹m going to take it easy for a few days, to recover ready for the final races of the season," Di Luca said.

The Saeco team leader beat a high quality field to win the Coppa Placci, with Davide Rebellin second, former world champion Oscar Camenzind third and Francesco Casagrande, Ivan Basso and Marcus Zberg part of the decisive last lap break.

Di Luca did not hesitate in the decisive moment of the race, leading out the uphill sprint and confidently showing his impressive end of season form. Yet again Di Luca was backed up perfectly by his Saeco team mates. Sacchi, Celestino and Bertagnolli all helped him to get the result the team deserved "I have to thank my team mates, they rode perfectly yet again, Di Luca said after his fifth win of the season. "It¹s hasn¹t been an easy or lucky year for me but there¹s still time and races to make up for it."

Gaggio Montano, September 6, 2003.

Starters: 122. Finishers: 49.