This is a massive race and the riders are the biggest and best in the buisness, add to the big 4 from yesterday, Ponzi, Pozzato, Ginanni and Gilbert, the likes of Schumacher and home favourite Cobo, and combining a bigger feild with more points on offer and you get a much more difficult race than before.
In Italy the home riders dominated, with 4 in the top 5. The Spanish have less strength in depth, but will they be able to stop the Italian Juggernaut?
A break of 7 soon forms off the front: Pinot, Van Heerden, Murgoitio, Bol, Pietropolli, Grippo and Seledkov
A fall causes Murgoitio to drop off with 100km to go, at this point the peleton are 8 minutes behind, but the pace is starting to hot up
The break is back to 7 20km later, however the gap has dropped by 90 seconds
with 40km to go we hit the penultimate climb, the break is all but done, hanging on to a 2 minute lead
Everyone is happy to let Kirchen set the pace up the hill, he is reeling in the break quickly now
Schumacher and Ricco then attack, these two should be in a class of their own, are they just going to duke it out between themselves?
As the gap appears, Efimkin tries to follow. Cobo, Gil, Albasini and Anton also try their luck
Pozzato, Gilbert and Ginanni are in the next wave, while Schumacher has been pulled back
The final attacks don't get far
so with 29km to go we have 6 men off the front: Ricco, Efimkin, Cobo, Gil, Anton and Grippo a minute clear of the rest
As the road flattens with 20km left Rabon, Kirchen, Ochoa Quintero and Kolobnev all attack
Grippo runs out of steam, a good breakaway ride by him
Now Gilbert, Pozzato and Ponzi try to get to the leaders
It's all coming together as we hit the final hill. Ricco tries to get away
Ponzi, Anton and Cobo are the next to make a move
Gil and Efimkin follow, as Ponzi drops back. We are done climbing for the day now
Anton and Cobo join Ricco, a small distance ahead of all the other attackers
There is no orgnisation behind so the 3 start to slip away
Rabon and Pozzato decide attacking is the only option
Gilbert and Kirchen follow
Gilbert makes it to the front
The peleton is closing in on everyone
Gilbert's injection of pace pulls the four well clear of the rest with 4.5km left
Gil, Kolobnev and Kirchen are chasing hard
In the sprint Ricco and Gilbert are much quicker than Anton and Cobo, but after 230km of racing other things come into play. Also with the home fans on their side, Gil and Cobo will be inspired
Strangly Ricco is dropping back, has he run out of energy? He and Gilbert have definitely done the lions share of the work
The front 3 kick off the sprint with Gilbert in the lead
The Spainiards fly past him, it's between Anton and Cobo now
Cobo moves into the lead
And takes a brilliant victory, he stayed on Ricco's wheel the whole way and had saved just enough for the sprint, Anton takes a surprise 2nd, while Gilbert will be fairly satisfied with 3rd after making up a lot of ground in the last few km
Ricco gets 4th, just holding off Kolobnev
Gil's 6th makes it an excellent day for Spain
Claeys, Efimkin, Ginanni and Pozzato round out the top ten
Kirchen, Caruso and Rabon are next
before Schumacher leads home the peleton in 14th position.
however today, game, set and match goes to Cobo
Results:
Rank
Name
Team
Time
1
Juan José Cobo
Santander
5h41'07
2
Igor Antón
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
3
Philippe Gilbert
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
4
Riccardo Ricco
Bacardi - Colt
+ 19
5
Aleksandr Kolobnev
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
6
Koldo Gil
Team LEGO
+ 37
7
Dimitri Claeys
Team LEGO
+ 47
8
Aleksandr Efimkin
Milka
s.t.
9
Francesco Ginanni
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
10
Filippo Pozzato
Mercedes-Benz
s.t.
11
Kim Kirchen
Bacardi - Colt
s.t.
12
Damiano Caruso
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
13
Frantisek Rabon
Team LEGO
s.t.
14
Stefan Schumacher
UBS - Annie Chun's
+ 1'28
15
Francisco Ventoso
Santander
s.t.
16
Dario Cataldo
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
17
Simone Ponzi
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
18
Maxime Monfort
Team LEGO
s.t.
19
Rinaldo Nocentini
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
20
Marcel Wyss
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
s.t.
21
Johnny Hoogerland
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
s.t.
22
Lorenzo Bernucci
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
23
Michael Albasini
UBS - Annie Chun's
s.t.
24
Johan Vansummeren
Intesa
s.t.
25
René Mandri
Intesa
s.t.
26
Enrico Gasparotto
UniCredit
s.t.
27
Vasili Kiryenka
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
28
Mickaël Delage
Intesa
s.t.
29
Luis Pasamontes
Mercedes-Benz
s.t.
30
Iban Mayo
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
31
Tom Diggle
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
32
Jesus Del Nero
Santander
s.t.
33
Jordi Grau
UniCredit
s.t.
34
Pieter Ghyllebert
Mercedes-Benz
s.t.
35
Kevin Seeldraeyers
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
36
Peter Velits
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
37
Alessandro Proni
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
38
Florentino Marquez
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
39
Rui Costa
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
40
Dmitri Kozontchuk
Intesa
s.t.
41
Marcello Pavarin
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
42
Luca Paolini
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
43
Peter Pancake
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
44
Ivan Rovny
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
45
Cristiano Salerno
Intesa
s.t.
46
Massimo Iannetti
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
47
Juan Mora
UBS - Annie Chun's
s.t.
48
Jaume Rovira
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
49
Dmitri Grabovski
Intesa
s.t.
50
Andrei Kunitski
Intesa
s.t.
51
Cédric Hervé
Bacardi - Colt
s.t.
52
Simon Zahner
UBS - Annie Chun's
s.t.
53
Javier Moreno
Santander
s.t.
54
Nuno Ribeiro
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
55
Matthew Lloyd
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
56
Maxim Belkov
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
57
Boris Shpilevski
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
58
Dionisio Galparsoro
Santander
s.t.
59
Christoff Van Heerden
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
s.t.
60
Björn Leukemans
Milka
s.t.
61
Iñigo Landaluze
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
62
Andrew Bajadali
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
63
Francisco Colorado
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
64
Manuel Quinziato
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
65
Pavel Brutt
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
66
Paolo Bettini
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
67
Ricardo Serrano
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
68
Gatis Smukulis
Bacardi - Colt
s.t.
69
Tom Zirbel
Mercedes-Benz
s.t.
70
Evgeni Sokolov
Bacardi - Colt
s.t.
71
Mathieu Perget
Bacardi - Colt
s.t.
72
Andres Saldarriaga
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
73
Amets Txurruka
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
74
Przemyslaw Niemiec
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
75
Amaël Moinard
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
76
Paolo Scarponi
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
77
Andrea Pagoto
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
78
David Garbelli
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
79
Julien El Fares
Bacardi - Colt
s.t.
80
Yevgeni Nepomnyachsniy
Milka
s.t.
81
Oliver Zaugg
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
82
Andrea Moletta
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
83
Mikaël Chérel
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
84
Eduard Vorganov
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
85
Sébastien Duret
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
86
Julien Mazet
UniCredit
s.t.
87
Richard Ochoa Quintero
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
88
Scott Nydam
Mercedes-Benz
s.t.
89
Frederik Willems
Pendleton's Twicer
s.t.
90
Ivan Seledkov
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
91
Shaun Lewis
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
92
Jetse Bol
Mercedes-Benz
+ 3'09
93
Egoitz Murgoitio
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
94
Juan Manuel Gárate
Santander
s.t.
95
Daniele Pietropolli
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
96
Richie Porte
Milka
s.t.
97
Chiaffredo Grippo
Wiggle - San Pellegrino
s.t.
98
Sergio Barrio
UBS - Annie Chun's
s.t.
99
Ben Jacques-Maynes
Mercedes-Benz
+ 4'55
100
Aurélien Passeron
Bacardi - Colt
+ 5'30
101
Ruslan Grychenko
Milka
s.t.
102
Timothy Cassidy
Vespa-Caffrey's
s.t.
103
Rafael Serrano
Santander
s.t.
104
Francesco Tizza
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
105
Jay Thomson
YouTube - Twitter
s.t.
106
Yauhen Sobal
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
107
Giovanny Báez
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
108
Peter Riis Andersen
UniCredit
s.t.
109
Julien Loubet
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
110
Iljo Keisse
Milka
s.t.
111
Davide Bragazzi
UniCredit
s.t.
112
Matthias Brändle
UniCredit
s.t.
113
Johan Le Bon
UBS - Annie Chun's
s.t.
114
Sergei Klimov
Tinkoff Credit Systems - Rosneft
s.t.
115
Daniel Teklehaimanot
UniCredit
s.t.
116
Nicola D'Andrea
Pirelli-Internazionale
s.t.
117
Thibaut Pinot
Intesa
s.t.
118
Andreas Stauff
Team LEGO
+ 8'28
119
Juan Abenhamar Gallego Martin
Santander
s.t.
120
Artemio Moschella
Team LEGO
s.t.
121
Pablo Urtasun
Sport Lisboa e Benfica
s.t.
122
Ethan Weiss
Mercedes-Benz
s.t.
123
Blaz Jarc
Milka
s.t.
124
Adrian Malori
Milka
s.t.
125
Georgos Tzortzakis
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
s.t.
126
Jérémie Allain
Team LEGO
s.t.
127
Alberigo Passalacqua
Vespa-Caffrey's
+ 10'28
128
Gian Piero Signorini
UBS - Annie Chun's
s.t.
129
Hipólito Elías Martino
Yamaha - Greenpeace
s.t.
130
Jude Libert
Team LEGO
s.t.
131
Thurakit Boonratanathanakorn
THE CONTROLTEAM
s.t.
132
Kim Michely
THE CONTROLTEAM
s.t.
133
Maciej Ulanowski
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
+ 11'40
134
Matthew Brammeier
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
135
Vojtech Hacecký
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
136
Joren Claes
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
137
Iman Suparman
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
138
Chu Thien Sinelobov
UBS - Annie Chun's
+ 12'36
139
Nikola Aistrup
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
+ 12'52
140
Jonas Holmkvist
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
+ 13'56
141
Jonas Decouttere
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
s.t.
142
Ahmed Ahmed
UniCredit
s.t.
143
Davronjan Shatskikh
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
144
Sebastian Batchelor
THE CONTROLTEAM
s.t.
145
Tiaan Kannemeyer
Pirelli-Internazionale
+ 15'32
146
Egbert Reekers
Cillit Bang - IT-Factory powered by The Moon X
s.t.
147
Kim Marius Nielsen
Team Falcon-Husqvarna
s.t.
148
Adrien Niyonshuti
THE CONTROLTEAM
+ 18'52
149
Saydou Sow
THE CONTROLTEAM
+ 23'41
[url=www.pcmdaily.com/forum/viewthread.php?thread_id=33182]Team Santander Media Thread[/url]