1997 Results
Brief:The headlines in the Italian newspapers echoed the immediate payback by Donati for the gift Piepoli offered in Race 1 of the Trofeo dello Scalatore. Today: 1. Piepoli 2. Donati - Yesterday: 1. Donati 2. Piepoli. The strategy by the Saeco team was the same as yesterday. Then Donati was pushed to victory and Piepoli made the break on the final climb. Any notion that they would contest the finish was quashed when Donati went ahead by 8 seconds to take the race.Today, up until 5 kms to go, there were 4 riders in contention - Piepoli, Donati, Laddomada and Fois. Piepoli forced the pace on the harder sections of the final climb. Fois was dropped first and then Laddomada went out the back. Donati sat his teammate's wheel until the last 2 kms and then he started to work hard. The Saeco pair arrived at the finish together with Piepoli just in front and his arms raised. What will now happen in the third race (Thursday) given that the Saeco team has virtually secured the trophy? Piepoli is the strongest of the two. He said later: "I will be content even if Donati wins overall. I gave it everything in this race. My legs held. But now I am tired. I have raced 89 times this year with two victories. But I have had many placings. And 4th in the Tour of Switzerland overall, 14th in the Tour and 16th in the Giro. I still plan to ride in the Tour of Veneto next Saturday and on Sunday in the Trophy Melinda at Cles. Banesto is currently bidding for him for 1999. Macugnaga, 130 kms:1. Leonardo Piepoli (Ita) Saeco 3.32.26 (36.716) 2. Massimo Donati (Ita) Saeco 3. Michele Laddomada (Ita) Scrigno 0.19 4. Cristian Gasperoni (Ita) Amore e Vita 0.28 5. Valentino Fois (Ita) Vini Caldirola 0.29 6. Filippo Simeoni (Ita) Asics 0.30 7. Alexander Shefer (Kaz) Asics 0.31 8. Fabio Malberti (Ita) Asics 0.32 9. Gianluca Valoti (Ita) Polti 0.33 10. Gianni Faresin (Ita) Mapei-Bricobi 0.44 11. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Polti 1.12 12. Aldo Zanetti (Ita) Scrigno 1.20 13. Massimiliano Gentili (Ita) Cantina Tollo 1.23 14. Rodolfo Ongarato (Ita) Ballan 1.25 15. Ruggero Borghi (Ita) Vini Caldirola 1.26 16. Daniel Atienza (Spa) Polti 1.36 17. Giuseppe Guerini (Ita) Polti 1.58 18. Roland Meier (Swi) Cofidis 2.00 19. Maurizio De Pasquale (Ita) Amore e Vita 2.25 20. Oscar Mason (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 2.31 .. 29. Claudio Chiappucci (Ita) Ros Mary 5.55 40. Enrico Zaina (Ita) Brescialat-Liquigas 8.47 51. Pavel Tonkov (Rus) Mapei-Bricobi 8.47 58. Bobby Julich (USA) Cofidis 66. Maurizio Fondriest (Ita) Cofidis 8.47 Trofeo dello Scalatore Standings after Race 2:1. Leonardo Piepoli 47 points 1. Massimo Donati 47 3. Michele Laddomada 40 4. Cristian Gasperoni 34 5. Valentino Fois 26 |