Christophe Detilloux Abandons the Giro
Stage 1 of the Giro, Bettini in Pink
Pinotti and Savoldelli Giro d'Italia Stage 1
Colle delle Finestre, Marco Pinotti
11 May 2005
12 May News ...
Di Luca and Liquigas-Bianchi Open the Throttle
![Di Luca Cunego](javascript:ImagePopup("../../photo/2005/Giro/03/BianchiDiLucaCunegoTightSprint.jpg", 650, 430, "Di Luca and Cunego"); "Di Luca and Cunego in a Tight Sprint, photo: Bianchi")
Di Luca and Cunego, photo: Bianchi
Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi), leader of the ProTour and winner of Amstel Gold Race and Flèche Wallonne, added a Giro d'Italia (stage 3) win to the year's palmarès. Yesterday, after 205K he nipped Damiano Cunego, 2004 Giro d'Italia winner, at the line. Trailed in by teammate Garzelli, then Celestino and Ventoso. Paolo Bettini, finished sixth and kept close to Di Luca to take the maglia rosa, since McEwen, together with Petacchi, arrived a minute too late.
Di Luca was satisfied with his team afterwards, particularly Noè ("Brontolo"). Di Luca explained his upcoming goals in the Giro d'Italia, which include the maglia rosa. "I should thank all the squad, particularly il Brontolo. I directed an extraordinary team-game, that had the color of green-celeste, for the last 15 kilometers of the race. Now it would please me to give an encore, perhaps near my house, at L’Aquila [stage 5], and to aim at taking the maglia rosa".
Aussie Russel Van Hout (Selle Italia-Colombia) spent the day alone, riding a total of 166K with only his bicycle for company. Van Hout showed true spirit and determination, but by the slopes of Santa Tecla the action had begun. Bettini lit the fuse, but it was Di Luca who put in the move that exploded the gruppo. It was "ciao" to the sprinters Petacchi and McEwen by the top of the climb.
It was perhaps one of the most exciting stages so far in this years Giro d'Italia. Di Luca got his stage win in a fine fashion, beating out an on-form Cunego. Bettini is back in pink and should hold on to the jersey in today's stage 4.
Giro d'Italia Classifications
Maglia Rosa: From Lancaster to Bettini to McEwen, now back to Bettini. The maglia rosa has not spent more than one day on the shoulders of its owner. The battle will rage between riders like Di Luca and Bettini since the GC favorites won't want to waste precious energy protecting the lead this early on.
Maglia Ciclamino: McEwen's consolation for losing the maglia rosa is that he now get to don the maglia ciclamino. Top 4 in this category are as follows: McEwen, Bettini, Di Luca and Petacchi.
Maglia Verde: Dario Cioni (Liquigas-Bianchi) has managed to snatch away the green climber's jersey from Thorwald Veneberg (Rabobank). Don't expect Cioni to have it long though as his agenda is to protect his leader, Stefano Garzelli. Cioni has much bigger fish to fry than the green jersey. Second and third in this classification are Veneberg and Illiano (Selle Italia-Colombia) respectively.
Intergiro: Thanks to his exploits on stages one and two, Sven Krauss (Gerolsteiner) has earned the privilege to wear the sleek blue jersey yet one more day. Following him on the standings are Van Hout in second and Bettini in third.
Read the complete Giro d'Italia classification break-down.
- Paco
Update on Alberto Lopez de Munain
"What have I done to have such bad luck?" These are the words that Lopez de Munain said to his manager, Miguel Madariaga, after regaining consciousness in the hospital. Thankfully, doctors were able to resuscitate Lopez de Munain, and at this point he's out of immediate danger. His season, however, is basically done. It will take months before he'll be able to get back on a bicycle, much less race at the professional level.
On seeing his rider lying motionless on the ground, Euskaltel Euskadi manager, Miguel Madariaga, thought that he was dead, and luckily he was wrong. Although very much alive, Lopez de Munain has fractured 9 ribs, has blood in his lungs and has fractured his clavicle and scapula. Several scans done by doctors last night have revealed that the rider did not fracture his skull. They have also discarded the possibility of a cerebral hematoma. BiciRace.com wishes Alberto Lopez de Munain a quick recovery.
- Paco
Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
The Dust Devil is in love with the 2005 Giro d'Italia. "What fun it is watching a race when you know what the outcome will be? I'm also very excited to see some "fly by the seat of your pants" style racing..." Read the Dust Devil's Daily Wrap, Gratitude
Stage 4: Flat for the Sprinters
Today's stage 4 should be a sprinter's affair. The Giro d'Italia keeps traveling North, today from Giffoni Valle Piana to Frosinone, for a total of 211K. The peloton skirts around Napoli in the first 30K and by this point there should be a break-away formed. If the sprinter's teams do their work correctly then they will have the break in hand with about 15K remaining. There is a little bump at 4K to go that should not cause too many problems.
The weather in Southern Italy is just perfect for racing. Today the riders will face partly cloudy skies and temperatures near 24°C (75°F). Look for the road-side tifosi to be eating gelatos and cheering on their favorite rider.
Losers of Stage 3
No, not a cyclist, all the riders racing the Giro d'Italia are champions. This award goes to the two nut-heads in Eboli (40K to go) who caused a scare in yesterday's stage 3. They thought it would be funny to stand in the road and threaten to knock over the riders. The two men, 44 and 50 years of age, have now been identified by the Carabinieri. Most of the Carabinieri (type of Italian police) are fans of cycling and should take care of the trouble-makers.
Thinning Out
![Christophe Detilloux](javascript:ImagePopup("../../photo/2005/Giro/03/MatteoAlgeriDetillouxFdjAbandons.jpg", 640, 480, "Christophe Detilloux Abandons"); "Christophe Detilloux (FDJ) Abandons, photo: Matteo Algeri")
Christophe Detilloux Abandons, photo: Matteo Algeri
The Giro d'Italia is losing some of the riders. Poor Alberto Lopez de Munain (Euskaltel-Euskadi) exited in a grand, and unfortunate, fashion in stage 2. Tom Steels (Davitamon-Lotto) DNF'd yesterday's stage 3 and now heads back to Belgium. Also, yesterday was the departure of Christophe Detilloux (FDJ) midway into the stage, suffering from cramps. Then back in stage 1, Didier Rous (Bouygues Telecom) called it quits, maybe to resurface in his home tour in July.
BiciRace.com Chats with the Director Sportivo, Matteo Algeri
Late last night BiciRace.com chatted with Matteo Algeri at the Giro d'Italia. Matteo gave his thoughts on his team, Saunier Duval - Prodir, and explained to us what he had been doing in the first 4 stages.
Matteo: Tutto OK sulle strade del Giro.
BiciRace.com: Ventoso was strong today!
Matteo: Yep, very strong
BiciRace.com: And Mori looks good!
Matteo: And Garate too...He is 6th in the GC
Matteo: Ventoso was the only real sprinter in the first group!
Read more of the Chat with the Director Sportivo, Matteo Algeri
Di Luca, The Numbers
Danilo Di Luca, born 2 January 1976 in Spoltore, on the East coast of Italy in le Marche. He turned pro on 5 September 1998, but before that he won the Giro d'Italia and was road champion of Italy as a amateur.
This season he is number 1 in the ProTour standings, he has 131 points to Tom Boonen at 112. Every Giro d'Italia stage he wins is worth 3 points, keeping him in that white kit. He has now won 3 Giro d'Italia stages, yesterday stage 3, 2000 at Peschici and 2001 at Montevergine. The Killer has notched up 34 career wins as a pro and looks to be on super form for 2005.
Read BiciRace.com's pink pages for toe-to-knee coverage of the 88th Giro d'Italia...
Startlist, Classifications, Dust Devil's Daily Wrap
Key Stages, Stages and Maps, Overall Map
Photos
10 May News ...
Pedro Delgado Interview - "In my opinion, of the directors I know, I like Vicente Belda the most."
Robbie McEwen in Pink after stage 2 of the Giro d'Italia
Tom Danielson Interview, Before the Giro d'Italia, "We looked at Lance a lot for that stage. And if I was able to do it, then I was going to try to do it. Lance had a lot of faith in me, and kind of stressed me out a little bit..."
Joseba Beloki Interview, "I'm not a real attacking kind of rider, but to attack one needs to have both confidence and physical strength to spare."
He was often criticized by the nay-sayers for not getting over the big mountains. True, he never made it to Paris. But, he knows his talents. He got paid to win races and get publicity for his sponsors., "The End of an Era"
"Every sprint is always different. There are always things going through my mind. The main thing I do is stay concentrated on the job and trying to get in the best position possible!" - Allan Davis
Phil Zajicek ... "I've had a few problems with my health this year so being here and getting healthy and getting some quality training in has been great. Haven't dropped Heras, we were doing hill repeats on the same climb the other day though and I'm pretty sure I was going faster than him. Just kidding, he is tiny though!"
