After working for his team leader so many times in the past season, Gilberto Simoni's #1 domestique Leonardo Bertagnolli of Saeco, a 26-year-old from the same area (Trentino) as "Gibo", got a little bit of (well-deserved) personal glory in Monday's "Trofeo dell'Etna-Giro della Provincia di Catania" Sicilian race, covering 195 km. between Acicatena and Catania.
Coming nine days after his second place finish at GP Chiasso, where he lost to fellow Italian Franco Pellizotti, this is the first real success as a professional rider for Bertagnolli (pro since 2002, and also winner of a Criterium in the past month of June), that was the fastest in a three-man sprint, ahead of Ukraine's Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo) and Colombian sensation Marlón Pérez Arango (Selle Italia-Colombia), who at his turn added another good result to his early season collection.
Bertagnolli's determination to make his mark on the event was clear since the early stage of the race, as the man was part of the huge breakaway group that formed some 30 km. into the race, while tackling the first ascent, and contained also Mirko Celestino plus the likes of Giuliano Figueras, Stefano Garzelli, Fabio Baldato and Michele Scarponi.
And it was even more blatant when Bertagnolli, after a first failed attempt with 7k to go, launched another, decisive attack at 4km. from the line, and ... "Pospeyev followed my move, but I knew that I'm a faster rider than him" in Bertagnolli's own words. Facts proved him right as "Berta" comfortably pipped the Ukrainian (and Colombia's Pèrez, who joined the duo later) on the line.
And facts made the Saecoman happy. Not just him anyway, but also fellow trentino Simoni, who was at the startline today. Being Gibo's first lieutenant is a "status" that Bertagnolli -who followed the 2003 Giro winner also in the past autumn, when "Berta" and Simoni tested some the climbs of the 2004 Tour of Italy penultimate stage for RAI-TV- doesn't want to give up: "I'll race a little less than in past years before the Giro", he confessed to "Gazzetta dello Sport", in order to save his legs for the 2004 "corsa rosa", where, as the man perfectly knows, "there will be a lot of work to be done to help Gilberto".
Bertagnolli gave us some tidbits on his pre-Giro schedule anyway, that includes the Settimana Coppi e Bartali in late March, plus the Tour of the Basque Country in Spain and "home race" Giro del Trentino in late April.
Saeco's Bertagnolli talking to past Giro winner Evgeni Berzin
at the 2003 Broni Criterium (June 03, 2003)
--- From Saeco's Press Release ---
Saeco win again at the Giro dell’Etna
Bertagnolli finally gets the win he deserves
Team Saeco’s 2004 season takes off in style. After the first win of the season by Danilo Di Luca in Spain on Saturday, Leonardo Bertagnolli today won the Giro dell’Etna in Sicily with an impressive sprint in the centre of Catania.
Bertagnolli is not one of the stars of the Saeco team but his hard work ethic and results are always appreciated by team manager Claudio Corti and all the staff and riders. The victory was the result of a great team performance by the Saeco riders, with Mirko Celestino also finishing seventh. Under the expert guidance of directeur sportif Flavio Miozzo the team controlled the race during the opening miles before creating the decisive selection on the last climb with Bertagnolli and Celestino part of a 19 rider front group. Bertagnolli made his winning attack four kilometres from the finish. Kyrylo Pospyeyev of the Ukraine and Colombian Alirio Perez Arango went with him but he then beat them with ease in the sprint in Catania.
"I’ve been waiting for a while for this win," Bertagnolli said overjoyed as his captain and fellow Trentino Gilberto Simoni congratulated him on his success. "I just missed out in Switzerland last week but now I’ve been paid back for my patience." "This year I want use my experience to race less and prepare better for my decisive races. My first big objective is to be in great form for the Giro d’Italia so that I can help Gilberto. I also think I can get a few results for myself, especially with such a great team like Saeco there to help me."
Bertagnolli was 26 on January 8 and comes from Val di Non in the Dolomite Trentino region. He turned professional with Team Saeco in 2002 and bifore winning in Sicily had only won one other race (the Broni circuit race last year). His best placings include second in the GP Chiasso on February 28. At Team Saeco Bertagnolli is considered a key rider for the huge amount of work he does for his friend and fellow Trentino Gilberto Simoni in the major stage races. Naturally this responsibility does not stop him riding for himself and getting results as he did today.
Trofeo dell'Etna/Giro della Provincia di Catania: Top 101. Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita - Saeco) - 05h24'08" (36.037 kph)
2. Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr - Acqua & Sapone-Caffè Mokambo) - s.t.
3. Marlon Pérez Arango (Col - Selle italia-Colombia) - s.t.
4. Vladimir Duma (Ukr - Landbouwkrediet-Colnago) - at 05"
5. Luca Mazzanti (Ita - Ceramiche Panaria-Margres) - s.t.
6. Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita - Formaggi Pinzolo Fiavè ) - at 07"
7. Sergio Barbero (Ita - Lampre) - at 12"
8. Mirko Celestino (Ita - Saeco) - at 13"
9. Domenico Passuello (Ita - ???) - s.t.
10. Michele Scarponi (Ita - Domina Vacanze) - s.t.
Trofeo dell'Etna: Winners
1980 Wladimiro Panizza (Ita)
1981 Giuseppe Saronni (Ita)
1982 Wladimiro Panizza (Ita)
1983 Giovanni Mantovani (Ita)
1984 Francesco Moser (Ita)
1985 Francesco Moser (Ita)
1986 Francesco Moser (Ita)
1987 Adriano Baffi (Ita)
1988 Paolo Cimini (Ita)
1989 Rölf Sorensen (Den)
1990 Adriano Baffi (Ita)
1991 Mario Cipollini (Ita)
1992 Stefano Colagé (Ita)
1994 Stefano Zanini (Ita)
1995 Stefano Colagé (Ita)
1996 Fabiano Fontanelli (Ita)
1997 Biagio Conte (Ita)
1997 Nicola Minali (Ita)
2000 Alessandro Baronti (Ita)
2001 Timothy Jones (Zim)
2002 Fabio Baldato (Ita)
2003 Filippo Pozzato (Ita)
2004 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita)
