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Amstel Gold Race, Netherlands

17 April, 251K

Danilo Di Luca Scores a Big One

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Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) took a big step forward today by winning the Amstel Gold Race. Di Luca beat out Dutch-hopeful, Boogerd, on a drizzly Dutch day.

Four brave souls formed the main break today, and gave their sponsors their money's worth. The posse of four was formed at 10K into the Dutch classic and stayed together for nearly 200K! In the move was Erwin Thijs (MrBookmaker), Alain Van Katwijk (Shimano-Memory Corp), Christophe Moreau (Credit Agricole) and Andriy Grivko (Domina Vacanze). The four heroes battled it out in the thick fog, the same fog that prevented any TV coverage of note. Their gap grew from 2 minutes to a maximum of 12'30" but then began to fall apart due to fatigue and punctures.

With 30K left to go to the finish, a new move was formed by Steffen Wesemann (T-Mobile), David Etxebarria (Liberty), Mark Lotz (Quick.Step) and Karsten Kroon (Rabobank). Their move was joined by a much larger group, shortly after the Keutenberg, with 12K remaining. The large lead group now contained heavy-hitters including Valverde (Illes Balears), Rebellin (Gerolsteiner), Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi), Boogerd and Freire (both Rabobank).

A mass of riders was forming just as the riders hit the foot of the Cauberg. The boys of Rabobank were organized, and they looked impressive in front of their fans. Dekker, Kroon and Boogerd were setting the tempo on the power-climb for World-Champ Oscar Freire. All was in order as the riders approached the line but then chaos reined. Di Luca and Celestino fired their missiles past the Rabo boys and Boogerd reacted, abandoning Freire. Boogerd, however did not have the juice to handle Di Luca. The Dutch press is left to decide what went wrong with their team at the home race. Boogerd arriving second yet again does not sit well with any Rabobank fan. The fire between Freire and Boogerd will continue to burn strong.

Hats are tipped off to Di Luca as he kept his Basque txapela in le Marche and moved on to a nice cold Amstel Beer. Di Luca now looks towards his beloved Liège-Bastogne-Liège. All hail a new Italian champion!

Results: 6:21'07"
1 Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
2 Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank
3 Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze
4 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner
5 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak
6 Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick-Step
7 Bjorn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
8 David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
9 Jérôme Pineau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
10 Oscar Freire (Spa) Rabobank
11 Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo
12 Igor Astarloa (Spa) Barloworld-Valsir 0.10
13 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears
14 Kurt-Asle Arvesen (Nor) CSC
15 Stefan Schumacher (Ger) Shimano-Memory Corp
16 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
17 Johan Coenen (Bel) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
18 Christophe Brandt (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
19 Pieter Mertens (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
20 Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
21 Marcus Ljungqvist (Swe) Liquigas-Bianchi 0.17
22 Matthias Kessler (Ger) T-Mobile
23 Uros Murn (Slo) Phonak 0.21
24 Iñigo Landaluze (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
25 Oscar Pereiro (Spa) Phonak
26 Jens Voigt (Ger) CSC
27 Axel Merckx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
28 Nicki Sørensen (Den) CSC 0.19
29 Joaquím Rodríguez (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir 0.29
30 Alexandre Moos (Swi) Phonak 0.33
31 Marc Lotz (Ned) Quick-Step 0.36
32 Erik Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
33 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
34 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) CSC
35 Steffen Wesemann (Ger) T-Mobile 0.42
36 Rik Verbrugghe (Bel) Quick-Step
37 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick-Step 0.47
38 Bram Tankink (Ned) Quick-Step
39 Karsten Kroon (Ned) Rabobank 0.50
40 Andrey Kashechkin (Kaz) Crédit Agricole 0.52
41 Markus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner 1.58
42 Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
43 Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
44 Bradley Wiggins (GBr) Crédit Agricole
45 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
46 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole 2.02
47 Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel
48 Maarten Wijnants (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
49 Erik Zabel (Ger) T-Mobile
50 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
51 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
52 Konstantin Sivtsov (Rus) Fassa Bortolo
53 Steven Kleynen (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
54 Kevin De Weert (Bel) Quick-Step
55 Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi
56 Dmitri Fofonov (Kaz) Cofidis
57 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Caffita
58 Ivan Basso (Ita) CSC
59 Alexander Vinokourov (Kaz) T-Mobile
60 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis
61 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
62 Patxi Xabier Vila Errandonea (Spa) Lampre-Caffita 2.01
63 Laurent Brochard (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
64 Johan Vansummeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto 2.14
65 Leon Van Bon (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto 2.36
66 Benjamin Noval (Spa) Discovery Channel 3.02
67 George Hincapie (USA) Discovery Channel
68 Christophe Moreau (Fra) Crédit Agricole 3.36
69 Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
70 Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears 3.39
71 Preben Vanhecke (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
72 Sergey Lagutin (Uzb) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
73 Nicolas Jalabert (Fra) Phonak
74 Sergei Ivanov (Rus) T-Mobile
75 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile
76 Addy Engels (Ned) Quick-Step 3.49
77 Franco Pellizotti (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
78 Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step
79 David Loosli (Swi) Lampre-Caffita
80 Fabian Jeker (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 4.09
81 Samuel Sánchez (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 5.07
82 Erwin Thijs (Bel) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
83 Ruslan Ivanov (Mda) Domina Vacanze 5.28
84 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
85 Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
86 Pavel Padrnos (Cze) Discovery Channel
87 Angel Castresana Del Val (Spa) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
88 Christophe Mengin (Fra) Française Des Jeux
89 Mauro Facci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
90 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak
91 Bert Grabsch (Ger) Phonak
92 Christophe Le Mevel (Fra) Crédit Agricole
93 Kjell Carlström (Fin) Liquigas-Bianchi
94 Matthew White (Aus) Cofidis
95 Bert Dewaele (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
96 Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 5.39
97 Fränk Schleck (Lux) CSC 5.46
98 Oliver Zaugg (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir 5.53
99 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 6.22
100 Daniele Righi (Ita) Lampre-Caffita 7.04
101 Laurens Ten Dam (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp
102 Frederik Willems (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
103 Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
104 Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
105 Pedro Arreitunandia (Spa) Barloworld-Valsir
106 Thierry Marichal (Bel) Cofidis
107 Jörg Jaksche (Ger) Liberty Seguros-Würth
108 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth 7.54
109 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis
111 Benoît Joachim (Lux) Discovery Channel
112 Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis
113 Ryder Hesjedal (Can) Discovery Channel
115 Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank 10.18
116 Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
117 Tiaan Kannemeyer (RSA) Barloworld-Valsir
118 Matthé Pronk (Ned) MrBookmaker-Sports Tech
119 Eelke Van Der Wal (Ned) Shimano-Memory Corp
120 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze
121 Didier Rous (Fra) Bouygues Telecom 12.02
122 Markel Irizar (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
123 Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
124 Maxime Montfort (Bel) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
125 Jonathan Patrick McCarty (USA) Discovery Channel
126 Iñaki Flores (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi 14.49
127 Unai Etxebarria (Ven) Euskaltel-Euskadi
128 Benny De Schrooder (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim
129 Jussi Veikkanen (Fin) Française Des Jeux
130 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
131 Pieter Ghyllebert (Bel) Chocolade Jacques-T-Interim 15.55