BiciRace.com :: 2006 Milano-Torino

2006 Milano-Torino, Report

Milano-Torino, Italy

4 March, 199K

Igor Astarloa Fires Back in Torino

Astarloa Wins on Corso Casale, photo: RCS Sport

Igor Astarloa (Barloworld) blasted his fellow escape companions in a sprint to win the oldest Italian race, Milano-Torino. On Corso Casale in Torino the 29 year-old Basque proved he is back on the big stage by out sprinting his three companions: Alessandro Ballan (Lampre-Fondital), Franco Pellizotti (Liquigas) and Mirko Celestino (Milram). The main gruppo, led by Erik Zabel (Milram), arrived in Torino a few seconds after the escapees.

The oldest race around, Milano-Torino, was run off under clouds and cool temperatures but that did not stop the action from heating up. Early on (81K) there was the day's big escape, a group of four that contained Roberto Petito (Tenax-Salmilano), Vladimir Duma (Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare), Massimo Mazzanti (Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi) and Raivis Belohvosciks (Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare).

The group of four had 4'12" by Asti (131K) but that was about as high as it would go, the peloton behind was gearing up for the finale. The four's lead was down to 1'00" near the foot of the Colle di Superga with 20K to go. On the early slopes they were quickly washed away in a charge that was led by Leonardo Bertagnolli (Cofidis). The Superga, combined with the pace, whittled the front bunch down to around 25 riders and then the missiles fired...

A red missile fired in the form of Igor Astarloa. Instantly marking the former World Champion's attack was the curly haired Pellizotti. The duo topped the Superga together (with 10") and began the tortuous descent, the same Pino Torinese descent that knocked Marco Pantani out of action a few years ago.

Celestino Goes Nuts, photo: BiciRace.com

The Basque was looking very comfortable on the run to Torino, and the Liquigas Italian was doing his part to stay aboard. The duo held 12" at 7K to go over the small gruppo behind. At 5K to go the descent became even hairier, and that is when Celestino went nuts and flashed his skills. The Italian is second only to Il Falco Bergamasco (Savoldelli) when it comes to hammering down the mountains.

Ballan was charging behind Celestino and the two joined forces right as the descent ended, with 1K to go. Up front Astarloa and Pellizotti started their games with -500m allowing the duo behind to catch. Celestino smartly started his sprint immediately, followed by Ballan, but Astarloa grabbed on. The Basque swung around in the final 100 meters to take victory on Corso Casale in front of his original companion, Pellizotti.

Astarloa before race, photo: BiciRace.com

It was a grand win for the 2003 World Champion and his Barloworld team. Over the last few years Astarloa has battled with injuries and team problems but looks to be starting 2006 in the right way. "I think the work that I did at the end of last year, and this winter, has paid off," said Astarloa at the finish. "I hope the season continues like this. This win will help the morale going into the races up North, Amstel Gold and Flèche Wallonne."

Astarloa gave Barloworld and Team Manager Claudio Corti a big showing in front of the large ProTour teams. "Thanks to the organizers of the Milano-Torino for inviting us. We hope that this win will help us get invited to more of the bigger races. Also, I want to say thanks to Claudio Corti for supporting me and the team this year."

Results: 4:30'36"
1 Igor Astarloa, Barloworld
2 Franco Pellizotti, Liquigas
3 Mirko Celestino, Milram
4 Alessandro Ballan, Lampre-Fondital
5 Erik Zabel, Milram 0'07
6 Stefano Garzelli, Liquigas 0'07
7 Luca Mazzanti, Panaria-Navigare 0'07
8 Gabriele Bosisio, Tenax-Salmilano 0'07
9 Andrea Tonti, Acqua & Sapone 0'07
10 Sergio Barbero, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 0'07
11 Mikhaylo Khalilov, Team LPR 0'07
12 Cristian Gasperoni, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0'07
13 Daniele Righi, Lampre-Fondital 0'07
14 Massimiliano Maisto, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 0'07
15 Massimo Giunti, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0'07
16 Ignacio Gutierrez, Phonak 0'07
17 Marco Osella, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 0'07
18 Steve Zampieri, Phonak 0'07
19 Simone Bruson, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 0'07
20 Pedro Arreitunandia, Barloworld 0'07
21 Ruslan Pidgornyy, Tenax-Salmilano 0'07
22 Leonardo Bertagnolli, Cofidis 0'07
23 Massimiliano Gentili, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0'07
24 Ivan Basso, Team CSC 0'07
25 Mauricio Soler, Acqua & Sapone 0'31
26 Luca Ascani, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 0'31
27 Bert Grabsch, Phonak 0'31
28 Danilo Di Luca, Liquigas 0'31
29 Stefano Zanini, Liquigas 1'11
30 Claudio Corioni, Lampre-Fondital 1'11
31 Cristian Moreni, Cofidis 1'11
32 Antonio D'Aniello, Miche 1'11
33 Kurt-Asle Arvesen, Team CSC 1'11
34 Giuseppe Palumbo, Acqua & Sapone 1'11
35 Pasquale Muto, Miche 1'11
36 Matteo Lasurdi, OTC Doors-Lauretana 1'11
37 Aleksandr Kuschynski, Ceramica Flaminia 1'11
38 Gregory Rast, Phonak 1'11
39 Bingen Fernández, Cofidis 1'11
40 Krzysztof Szczawinski, Ceramica Flaminia 1'11
41 Jamie Burrow, OTC Doors-Lauretana 1'11
42 Raffaele Illiano, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 1'11
43 Manuele Spadi, Ceramica Flaminia 1'11
44 Armando Rupa, Miche 1'11
45 Paolo Bailetti, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 1'11
46 Cristiano Salerno, Tenax-Salmilano 1'11
47 Leonardo Giordani, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1'11
48 Fabio Baldato, Tenax-Salmilano 1'11
49 Giairo Ermeti, Team LPR 1'11
50 Brian Vandborg, Team CSC 1'11
51 Fortunato Baliani, Panaria-Navigare 1'11
52 Juan Pablo Magallanes, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 1'11
53 Ludovic Turpin, Ag2R Prévoyance 1'11
54 Luca Paolini, Liquigas 1'11
55 Frédéric Bessy, Cofidis 1'11
56 Stefano Boggia, Ceramica Flaminia 1'11
57 Ryder Hesjedal, Phonak 1'11
58 Roberto Petito, Tenax-Salmilano 1'11
59 Andy Schleck, Team CSC 1'11
60 Amaël Moinard, Cofidis 1'11
61 Laverde Felipe, Panaria-Navigare 1'11
62 Volodimir Gustov, Team CSC 1'11
63 Fabio Sacchi, Milram 1'11
64 Valerio Agnoli, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1'11
65 Enrico Poitschke, Milram 1'11
66 Daniele Pietropolli, Tenax-Salmilano 1'11
67 Morris Possoni, Lampre-Fondital 1'11
68 Wladimir Belli, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 1'11
69 Rinaldo Nocentini, Acqua & Sapone 1'11
70 Mauro Facci, Barloworld 1'11
71 Giampaolo Cheula, Barloworld 1'11
72 Sergio Ghisalberti, Milram 1'11
73 Andrea Noè, Liquigas 1'11
74 Mauro Gerosa, Miche 1'11
75 Vasil Kiryienka, OTC Doors-Lauretana 1'11
76 Gene Michael Bates, Team LPR 1'11
77 Alexander Efimkin, Barloworld 1'11
78 Paul Crake, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1'11
79 Sascha Urweider, Phonak 1'11
80 Giovanni Visconti, Milram 1'11
81 Filippo Simeoni, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 1'11
82 Alejandro Borrajo, Miche 2'04
83 Paride Grillo, Panaria-Navigare 2'08
84 Miculà De Matteis, Tenax-Salmilano 2'08
85 Dmitri Nikandrov, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 2'08
86 Daniele Contrini, Team LPR 2'08
87 Marcus Ljungqvist, Team CSC 2'08
88 David McPartland, Tenax-Salmilano 2'08
89 Santo Anzà, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 2'08
90 Oleksandr Kvachuk, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 2'24
91 Philippe Schnyder, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 3'56
92 Peter Luttenberger, Team CSC 3'56
93 Lorenzo Cardellini, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 3'56
94 Daniele Di Nucci, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 3'56
95 Daniele De Paoli, Team LPR 3'56
96 Arkadiusz Wojtas, Miche 3'56
97 David Navas, Ag2R Prévoyance 3'56
98 Niklas Axelsson, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 3'56
99 Konstantin Klyuev, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 3'56
100 Roman Luhovyy, OTC Doors-Lauretana 4'11
101 Emanuele Rizza, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 4'11
102 Fabio Borghesi, OTC Doors-Lauretana 4'11
103 Vladimir Duma, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 4'50
104 Loyd Mondory, Ag2R Prévoyance 4'55
105 Raivis Belohvosciks, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 4'55
106 Geoffroy Lequatre, Cofidis 4'55
107 Erki Pütsep, Ag2R Prévoyance 4'55
108 Hubert Krys, Ceramica Flaminia 4'55
109 Roberto Traficante, Team LPR 4'55
110 Ivan De Nobile, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 4'55
111 Paolo Bossoni, Tenax-Salmilano 4'55
112 Przemyslaw Niemec, Miche 4'55
113 Bo Hamburger, Miche 4'55
114 Brett Lancaster, Panaria-Navigare 4'55
115 Mirko Allegrini, Panaria-Navigare 4'55
116 Alessandro Spezialetti, Liquigas 5'03
117 Andrea Masciarelli, Acqua & Sapone 5'03
118 Donato Cannone, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 5'03
119 Salvatore Commesso, Lampre-Fondital 5'03
120 Gianluca Geremia, Ceramica Flaminia 5'03
121 Alessandro Bertolini, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 5'03
122 Aníbal Andres Borrajo, Universal Caffè-CB Immobiliare 5'03
123 Emanuele Bindi, OTC Doors-Lauretana 5'03
124 Nicola Scattolin, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 5'03
125 Diego Genovesi, OTC Doors-Lauretana 5'03
126 Blazej Janiaczyk, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 5'03
127 Carl Naibo, Ag2R Prévoyance 5'03
128 Kanstantsin Siutsou, Acqua & Sapone 5'35
129 Daniel Musiol, Milram 6'19
130 Fabien Sanchez, Cofidis 6'20
131 Steve Morabito, Phonak 6'20
132 David Vitoria, Phonak 6'20
133 Simone Masciarelli, Acqua & Sapone 6'42
134 Gabriele Balducci, Acqua & Sapone 6'42
135 Maxim Rudenko, Ceramica Flaminia 6'42
136 Alessio Signego, OTC Doors-Lauretana 10'03
137 Alessio Ricciardi, OTC Doors-Lauretana 10'03
138 Matteo Bono, Lampre-Fondital 4:43'25 12'49
139 Massimo Mazzanti, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 4:43'25 12'49
140 Dario Pieri, Team LPR 4:43'28 12'52
141 Hugo Sabido, Barloworld 12'54
142 Alessandro Cortinovis, Milram 12'54
143 Enrico Degano, Barloworld 12'54
144 Christian Knees, Milram 12'54
145 Gabriele Missaglia, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni 13'02
146 Alessandro Maserati, Team LPR 13'02
147 Raffaele Ferrara, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 13'02
148 Riccardo Chiarini, Androni Giocattoli-3C Casalinghi 13'02
149 Alessandro Vanotti, Milram 13'02
150 Mauro Da Dalto, Liquigas 13'02
151 Marco Milesi, Liquigas 13'02
152 Paolo Valoti, Team LPR 13'02
153 Simon Gerrans, Ag2R Prévoyance 13'02
154 Michele Maccanti, Team LPR 13'02
155 Matteo Priamo, Panaria-Navigare 13'02
156 Mads Christensen, Barloworld 13'02
157 Staf Scheirlinckx, Cofidis 13'02
158 Charles Wegelius, Liquigas 13'02
159 Julien Loubet, Ag2R Prévoyance 13'02
160 Christophe Riblon, Ag2R Prévoyance 13'02
161 Victor Hugo Peña, Phonak 13'02
162 Sergio Marinangeli, Naturino-Sapore di Mare 13'02
163 Maurizio Varini, Ceramica Flaminia 13'02
164 Massimiliano Martella, Ceramica Flaminia 13'02
165 Christian Murro, Tenax-Salmilano 13'02
166 Ruggero Marzoli, Lampre-Fondital 13'02
167 Nicki Sørensen, Team CSC NP
168 Diego Nosotti, Selle Italia-Serramenti Diquigiovanni NA