May 21/02 10:13 am - Giro Stage 9, Tour de l'Aude Stage 5, Birthdays

Posted by Editoress on 05/21/02
 

Giro d'Italia

Stage 9: Tivoli-Caserta, 201 km

Italian Mario Cipollini (Acqua & Sapone) took his third stage win of this edition making his total count 37 wins at the Giro. The day featured a long break, which began after only 15 kms and included Colombian Rubén Alveiro Marin and Italians Mario Piccoli & Domenico Gualdi. Their escape would last almost 150 kms and they would not get caught until there were 30 kms to get to the finish. During the race the presence of Team Telekom of overall leader Jens Heppner was constant in the front and in the last section, after the break was caught, Cipollini's Acqua & Sapone took over. In the end Cipollini was the fastest to the line ahead of Australian Robbie McEwen (Lotto), while Heppner held on to his overall lead.

1 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 4:38:56
2 Robbie McEwen (Aus) Lotto-Adecco
3 Cristian Moreni (Ita) Alessio
4 Fabrizio Guidi (Ita) Team Coast
5 Ivan Quaranta (Ita) Index Alexia
6 Angelo Furlan (Ita) Alessio
7 Moreno Di Biase (Ita) Formaggi-Trentini
8 Mykhaylo Khalilov (Ukr) Colombia-Selle Italia
9 Sven Teutenberg (Ger) Phonak Hearing Systems
10 Miguel Angel Meza (Mex) Team Colpack-Astro
11 Steven De Jongh (Ned) Rabobank
12 Zoran Klemencic (Slo) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi
13 Massimo Strazzer (Ita) Phonak Hearing Systems
14 Rene' Haselbacher (Aut) Gerolsteiner
15 Giovanni Lombardi (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo
16 Alessandro Petacchi (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
17 Yuri Mitlushenko (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago
18 Mathew Hayman (Aus) Rabobank
19 Lars Michaelsen (Den) Team Coast
20 Isaac Galvez Lopez (Esp) Kelme-Costa Blanca

35 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC Tiscali
47 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo
49 Guido Trenti (USA) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo
50 Cadel Evans (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step
63 Jens Heppner (Ger) Team Telekom
67 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
93 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno
98 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport


GC
1 Jens Heppner (Ger) Team Telekom 45:52:24
2 Stefano Garzelli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step 3:33
3 Yaroslav Popovych (Ukr) Landbouwkrediet-Colnago 3:50
4 Eddy Mazzoleni (Ita) Tacconi Sport-Emmegi 3:57
5 Francesco Casagrande (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4:08
6 Angel Vicioso Arcos (Esp) Kelme-Costa Blanca 4:09
7 Paolo Savoldelli (Ita) Index Alexia 4:27
8 Gilberto Simoni (Ita) Saeco-Longoni Sport 4:29
9 Wladimir Belli (Ita) Fassa Bortolo 4:39
10 Pietro Caucchioli (Ita) Alessio 4:41

13 Tyler Hamilton (USA) Team CSC Tiscali 4:46
14 Cadel Evans (Aus) Mapei-Quick Step 4:47
49 Marco Pantani (Ita) Mercatone Uno 12:31
95 Mario Cipollini (Ita) Acqua & Sapone-Cantina Tollo 33:29


Garzelli is Out
Courtesy infociclismo

Italian Stefano Garzelli (Mapei) has abandoned the Giro after the counter-analysis of his doping tests came back positive a second time. Although initially people expected this edition of the Giro to be "quiet" in terms of doping scandals after the police raids of last year, it hasn't turned out to be that way. Already on the fifth stage police arrested Italian Nicola Chesini (Panaria) because of a link with the Antonio Varriale case, who was arrested a few days ago for his part in trafficking of soping substances.

A day later the Giro suffered another shock when it was announced that Garzelli, who had lead the Giro for a number of days and won two stages had tested positive for a banned diuretic called probenecide. This is the same substance that Spaniard Pedro Delgado tested positive for at the 1988 Tour de France when he won, but back then the product was not in the UCI's banned list of substances at the time. Garzelli solicited a counter-analysis and continued in the race awaiting the results. Today he had to leave the Giro a fter the second round came back positive. Garzelli spoke at a press conference: "Something strange has happened, it would be absurd to speculate, but I didn't take anything that contains the substance found in my urine". Garzelli will take a vacation and hopes to return to competition shortly, since he expects that the sanction will be "proportional and fair". "These have been some very tough four days and I feel that I have made an effort for nothing", added Garzelli.

There has been informal talk of a conspiracy, but Mapei won't say anything officially. Mapei's Sport Director Alvaro Crespi thought that foul play was involved: "if something strange happened it had to have been at the hotel in Cologne, between the time of our arrival in the afternoon and our departure in the morning". Crespi reaffirmed his confidence in Garzelli, "who has behaved in exemplary form and has followed the teams directions".


Tour deL'Aude Stage 5
Report courtesy Saturn

Teutenberg Continues to Triumph
Saturn Leads Tour de L'Aude by over two minutes

With the help of her four squad Saturn Team, Ina Teutenberg continued her dominance in the sprint finishes today at the Tour de L'Aude by winning her second consecutive stage and third of the Tour. After surviving the mountainous terrain today, she now leads the Tour by over two minutes, with her Saturn teammate, Judith Arndt in third.

Today began early for the competitors, with the first half stage of 45 kilometers taking them through the undulating terrain between Tuchan and Duilhac. The race caught many of the potential overall contenders by surprise with the narrow roads and a challenging QOM sprint fourteen kilometers into the race. In an offensive move, the Saturn Team put decisive pressure on the other teams from the gun, with Petra Rossner and Kristy Scrymgeour keeping a high tempo. The bunch stayed together, albeit strung out until the second QOM of the day. On the descent, a group of six riders were allowed to go away from the bunch, and seemingly were the six contending for the race win. However, with 7 kilometers to the finish, on a technical, narrow and dangerous descent the Saturn duo of Arndt and Teutenberg made an incredible move taking with them only Melchers, Polkanova and Pucinskaite. Many of the main contenders were caught off guard and missed the opportunity to make the winning move. Two riders from the earlier break stayed clear to capture a noteworthy first and second, with Arndt coming in for third. More importantly, there was now an additional 50 seconds between Teutenberg's Yellow Jersey and many of the riders who threatened to take it from her in the mountains.

In the afternoon the riders returned the 45 kilometers back from Tuchan to Duihlac. Although it appeared to have more of a downhill profile, there was a first category climb 10 kilometers from the finish. It was Rossner and Marsal this time keeping the bunch together until the bottom of the climb, allowing Arndt and Teutenberg to remain as fresh as possible for the climb. Once again, Teutenberg soared down the descent to capture her third stage win, making it the fourth for the Saturn Team in five days. Teutenberg was able to gain an additional 30 seconds of time to bring her overall cushion on second place to over two minutes. Results are not official at this time.

Tomorrow is the test of truth, which is an individual effort against the clock around the town of Castelnaudary. Yellow seems to suit Teutenberg, and she seems recalcitrant to let it go without a hard fought battle.

Results are delayed


Happy Birthday to.... Dave Cathcart and Andrew Shandro, both celebrated birthdays yesterday.