BiciRace.com :: 2005 Giro di Lombardia

2005 Giro di Lombardia, Report

Giro di Lombardia, Italy

15 October, 246K

Il Grillo Wins With Constant Attacks

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[Excuse the poor BiciRace.com photos. The BiciRace.com camera was hijacked before the race, so we had to resort to ... our mobile phone!]

Bettini Attacks and Attacks, photo: Quick-Step

Paolo Bettini (Quick-Step) won the 99th Giro di Lombardia by attacking at every opportunity. The Olympic champion formed the key escape on the mythical slopes of the Madonna del Ghisallo and then fine-tuned the affairs over the remaining smaller climbs. Schleck and Simoni held tight to Bettini's attacks all the way to Como, but the two were of no match to Il Grillo's final sprint.

Today's start in Mendrisio was cool but sunny. The riders gathered for the final big showdown of the season, the 'race of the falling leaves'. It was also the last race of the ProTour competition, which Danilo Di Luca (Liquigas-Bianchi) won. The Killer was attacking early today but was not allowed much freedom. He must have wanted to do something early, because after his attacks he abandoned in the feed zone.

Zaballa Leads Early Escape, photo: Graham Watson, Saunier Duval

A much larger, and solid, move of 12 formed. By Lecco (73K to go) they had about 1'10" on the chasing peloton. The Gruppo: Giovanni Visconti (Domina Vacanze), Marcus Zberg (Gerolsteiner), José Vicente Garcia (Illes Balears), Carlos Barredo and Allan Davis (Liberty Seguros-Würth), Devis Miorin (Liquigas-Bianchi), Valerio Agnoli (Naturino-Sapore di Mare), Davide Bramati (Quick-Step), Bram De Groot (Rabobank), Constantino Zaballa (Saunier Duval-Prodir), Ivan De Gasperi (Team LPR) and Sascha Urweider (Phonak).

BiciRace on Raisin Machine, photo: Raisin

As expected the race exploded 25K later on the opening slopes of the Madonna del Ghisallo. The Aussie, Allan Davis, was the last one of the group to hold-out. Behind it was Paolo Bettini who started his first of many attacks. Right on Bettini's wheel was Gilberto Simoni (Lampre-Caffita), Damiano Cunego (Lampre-Caffita), Fränk Schleck (Team CSC), Emanuele Sella (Panaria-Navigare), Giampaolo Caruso (Liberty Seguros-Würth) and Carlos Sastre (Team CSC). The rider from Livorno was making the majority of the pace. Even near the Santuario he was still putting in smaller digs to test his partners. These moves were contrary to what Bettini said at the start, which was that he would 'stay with the moves' rather than make them.

Cunego and Sella could not hold the Bettini rhythm and were ditched early on the slopes of Ghisallo. They formed a chase group with some other riders, such as Rebellin. At the top of the Ghisallo it was the five man move of Bettini, Simoni, Schleck, Sastre and Caruso (about 1' back to the main peloton, with chasers in between).

Last Race Together for Horner and Pinotti, photo: BiciRace.com

The group powered along to the penultimate climb of the day, Civiglio. On the 2.8K climb Bettini launched his offensives again. Simoni was able to follow and counter the Quick-Step rider. Under the pressure Sastre was the first to crack, leaving four. Then it was Caruso and Schleck to fade at the top. On the downhill Simoni and Bettini were making their way on some crazy-narrow roads. The descents were very, very risky. Schleck and Caruso were kept cool and recovered before the start of the final climb of the day, San Fermo della Battaglia (starting at 8.2K to go).

The attacks were delivered again on San Fermo. Bettini put in a small attack, which was countered by Gibo. Bettini was feeling very frisky, and he launched again with 1K to go. Simoni and Schleck were able to keep near over the top and get back to Bettini for the final drop into Como.

Simoni and Bettini lead Schleck, photo: Lampre-Caffita

Schleck was the one who the tifosi were questioning. He seemed to be saving himself on the climbs and maybe would be able to produce something in the closing kilometers. The three closed in on the final K, while behind Caruso closing fast. The Liberty rider caught and went past the trio. Bettini quickly reacted and closed down Caruso. The Quick-Step rider then had the confidence to lead-out, and no one was ever able to come through. From the front he opened up the gas on Simoni and Schleck. Simoni was able to hold of the Luxembourg rider but could not match Bettini.

Simoni Bettini Schleck On Podium, photo: Lampre-Caffita

Paolo Bettini capped off the season nicely. He was on fire at the World Championships, but was unable to produce victory due to team strategies. Then two weeks ago he won the Züri Metzgete in a long solo attack. And finally today, he attacked on every climb, and then was unbeatable in the sprint. Bravo Bettini for a wonder season finale.

Results: 5:56'22", 41.42 K/h
1 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Quick-Step
2 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
3 Fränk Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
4 Giampaolo Caruso (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth 0.04
5 Davide Rebellin (Ita) Gerolsteiner 0.54
6 Fabian Wegmann (Ger) Gerolsteiner
7 Gorazd Stangelj (Slo) Lampre-Caffita
8 Martin Elmiger (Swi) Phonak
9 Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
10 Santo Anza (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
11 Ruggero Marzoli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
12 Alejandro Valverde (Spa) Illes Balears
13 Luca Solari (Ita) Domina Vacanze
14 Luca Mazzanti (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
15 Iván Gutiérrez (Spa) Illes Balears
16 Vladimir Gusev (Rus) Team CSC
17 Bingen Fernández (Spa) Cofidis
18 Miguel Angel Perdiguero (Spa) Phonak
19 Mario Aerts (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
20 Marco Marzano (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
21 José Luis Rubiera (Spa) Discovery Channel
22 Rinaldo Nocentini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
23 Marzio Bruseghin (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
24 Gianluca Tonetti (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
25 Kanstantsin Siutsou (Blr) Fassa Bortolo
26 Juan Miguel Mercado (Spa) Quick-Step
27 Carlos Sastre (Spa) Team CSC
28 Marcos Serrano (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
29 Damiano Cunego (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
30 Pablo Lastras (Spa) Illes Balears
31 Viatcheslav Ekimov (Rus) Discovery Channel
32 Francisco Mancebo (Spa) Illes Balears
33 Leonardo Bertagnolli (Ita) Cofidis 0.58
34 Thomas Dekker (Ned) Rabobank
35 Andrea Noè (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 1.43
36 Marco Fertonani (Ita) Domina Vacanze
37 Pieter Weening (Ned) Rabobank
38 Guido Trentin (Ita) Cofidis
39 Steve Zampieri (Swi) Phonak 2.01
40 Vladimir Miholjevic (Cro) Liquigas-Bianchi
41 Theo Eltink (Ned) Rabobank 3.22
42 Stijn Devolder (Bel) Discovery Channel 4.29
43 Thomas Lövkvist (Swe) Française Des Jeux 4.57
44 Alexandr Arekeev (Rus) Acqua & Sapone 5.18
45 Luca Paolini (Ita) Quick-Step 6.35
46 Massimo Codol (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
47 Alessandro Bertolini (Ita) Domina Vacanze
48 Antonio Quadranti (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
49 Andriy Grivko (Ukr) Domina Vacanze
50 Domenico Pozzovivo (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
51 Mauro Gerosa (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi 7.29
52 Saul Raisin (USA) Crédit Agricole 8.00
53 Koos Moerenhout (Ned) Davitamon-Lotto
54 Allan Davis (Aus) Liberty Seguros-Würth 8.53
55 Nicolas Vogondy (Fra) Crédit Agricole
56 Staf Scheirlinckx (Bel) Cofidis
57 Nicki Sørensen (Den) Team CSC
58 Benoît Poilvet (Fra) Crédit Agricole
59 Michael Blaudzun (Den) Team CSC
60 Chris Horner (USA) Saunier Duval-Prodir
61 Marco Pinotti (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
62 Constantino Zaballa (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
63 Oscar Sevilla (Spa) T-Mobile
64 Andy Schleck (Lux) Team CSC
65 Grischa Niermann (Ger) Rabobank
66 Matthias Russ (Ger) Gerolsteiner
67 Giancarlo Ginestri (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
68 Emanuele Sella (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
69 Bernhard Kohl (Aut) T-Mobile
70 Marcus Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
71 Nicolas Fritsch (Fra) Saunier Duval-Prodir
72 Andrea Tonti (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
73 Carlos Barredo (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
74 Philippe Gilbert (Bel) Française Des Jeux
75 Bram De Groot (Ned) Rabobank
76 Alexandre Botcharov (Rus) Crédit Agricole
77 Cédric Vasseur (Fra) Cofidis
78 Andrea Moletta (Ita) Gerolsteiner
79 Gregory Rast (Swi) Phonak
80 Vincenzo Nibali (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
81 Rubens Bertogliati (Swi) Saunier Duval-Prodir
82 Andrea Masciarelli (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
83 Andrea Peron (Ita) Team CSC
84 Rolf Aldag (Ger) T-Mobile
85 Sylvain Chavanel (Fra) Cofidis
86 Paolo Valoti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
87 Mauricio Ardila Cano (Col) Davitamon-Lotto
88 Roberto Laiseka (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
89 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Quick-Step 9.03
90 Daniele Nardello (Ita) T-Mobile
91 Valerio Agnoli (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare 9.04
DNF Sylvester Szmyd (Pol) Lampre-Caffita
DNF Salvatore Commesso (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
DNF Alessandro Ballan (Ita) Lampre-Caffita
DNF Bo Hamburger (Den) Acqua & Sapone
DNF Giuseppe Palumbo (Ita) Acqua & Sapone
DNF Kyrylo Pospyeyev (Ukr) Acqua & Sapone
DNF Giovanni Bernaudeau (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Olivier Bonnaire (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Mathieu Claude (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Yohann Gene (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Anthony Geslin (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Franck Renier (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Thomas Voeckler (Fra) Bouygues Telecom
DNF Mirko Allegrini (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
DNF Paride Grillo (Ita) Panaria-Navigare
DNF Laverde Felipe (Col) Panaria-Navigare
DNF Sergiy Matveyev (Ukr) Panaria-Navigare
DNF Alejandro Borrajo (Arg) Panaria-Navigare
DNF Peter Farazijn (Bel) Cofidis
DNF Amaël Moinard (Fra) Cofidis
DNF Francesco Bellotti (Ita) Crédit Agricole
DNF Eric Leblacher (Fra) Crédit Agricole
DNF Yannick Talabardon (Fra) Crédit Agricole
DNF Cadel Evans (Aus) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Björn Leukemans (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Johan Van Summeren (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Wim Vansevenant (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto
DNF Volodymyr Bileka (Ukr) Discovery Channel
DNF Janez Brajkovic (Slo) Discovery Channel
DNF Guennadi Mikhailov (Rus) Discovery Channel
DNF Jurgen Van Den Broeck (Bel) Discovery Channel
DNF Mirko Celestino (Ita) Domina Vacanze
DNF Matej Jurco (Svk) Domina Vacanze
DNF Giovanni Visconti (Ita) Domina Vacanze
DNF Gorka González (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF David López García (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Anton Luengo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Aketza Peña (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Gorka Verdugo (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Joseba Zubeldia (Spa) Euskaltel-Euskadi
DNF Lorenzo Bernucci (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
DNF Juan Antonio Flecha (Spa) Fassa Bortolo
DNF Massimo Giunti (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
DNF Kim Kirchen (Lux) Fassa Bortolo
DNF Mickaël Delage (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Christophe Detilloux (Bel) Française Des Jeux
DNF Arnaud Gerard (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Frédéric Guesdon (Fra) Française Des Jeux
DNF Heinrich Haussler (Ger) Gerolsteiner
DNF Marco Serpellini (Ita) Gerolsteiner
DNF Beat Zberg (Swi) Gerolsteiner
DNF Vicente Reynes (Spa) Illes Balears
DNF José Vicente Garcia (Spa) Illes Balears
DNF Joan Horrach (Spa) Illes Balears
DNF Mikel Pradera (Spa) Illes Balears
DNF David Etxebarria (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
DNF Isidro Nozal (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
DNF Michele Scarponi (Ita) Liberty Seguros-Würth
DNF Ángel Vicioso (Spa) Liberty Seguros-Würth
DNF Patrick Calcagni (Swi) Liquigas-Bianchi
DNF Danilo Di Luca (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
DNF Enrico Gasparotto (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
DNF Nicola Loda (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
DNF Devis Miorin (Ita) Liquigas-Bianchi
DNF Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
DNF Murilo Fischer (Bra) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
DNF Massimiliano Mori (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
DNF Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Naturino-Sapore di Mare
DNF Ignacio Gutierrez (Spa) Phonak
DNF Victor Hugo Peña (Col) Phonak
DNF Sascha Urweider (Swi) Phonak
DNF Tadej Valjavec (Slo) Phonak
DNF Davide Bramati (Ita) Quick-Step
DNF Filippo Pozzato (Ita) Quick-Step
DNF Patrik Sinkewitz (Ger) Quick-Step
DNF Guido Trenti (USA) Quick-Step
DNF Joost Posthuma (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Thorwald Veneberg (Ned) Rabobank
DNF Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank
DNF José Angel Gomez Marchante (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Rubén Lobato (Spa) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Manuele Mori (Ita) Saunier Duval-Prodir
DNF Christian Vande Velde (USA) Team CSC
DNF Luca Nardello (Ita) Team LPR
DNF Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Team LPR
DNF Daniele Masolino (Ita) Team LPR
DNF Mauro Santambrogio (Ita) Team LPR
DNF Ivan Degasperi (Ita) Team LPR
DNF Giuseppe Muraglia (Ita) Team LPR
DNF Aitor Hernández Gutiérrez (Spa) Team LPR
DNF Mikhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Team LPR
DNF Gabriele Bosisio (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
DNF Cristiano Frattini (Ita) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
DNF David John Betts (Aus) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
DNF Kristjan Fajt (Slo) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
DNF David McPartland (Aus) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
DNF Ruslan Pidgornyy (Ukr) Tenax-Nobili Rubinetterie
DNF Eric Baumann (Ger) T-Mobile
DNF Bas Giling (Ned) T-Mobile
DNF Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) T-Mobile
DNF Tomas Konecny (Cze) T-Mobile
DNS Bart Dockx (Bel) Davitamon-Lotto

Starters 192
Classified 91