34th Tirreno Adriatico - H.C.

Italy, March 8-15, 2000

Stage 7 - March 14: Teramo-Torricella Sicura, 214 km

Boogerd solos in

Although he has made it clear that he does not want to retain that ranking, World number two, Michael Boogerd (Rabobank) has helped it a little by winning stage 7 of the Tirreno-Adriatico. He finished the 214 km stage from Teramo to Torricella Sicura with 18 seconds to spare on Italian Marco Serpellini (Lampre) with Jens Voigt (Ger, Credit Agricole) in third.

The stage was run in an aggressive manner, especially by Rabobank who had Maarten den Bakker escape with Oscar Camenzind (Swi, Lampre) at 69 km on the climb of San Giacomo (1105 m). The two built a lead of up to 1.35 which they held with 30 km to go, before they started to be reeled in by the efforts of Voigt and others.

Den Bakker attacked Camenzind (who fell back) with 12 km to go, and was pursued by a group containing Voigt, Serpellini and Boogerd. The latter realised his chances of a sprint win were slim, and attacked the break, joining teammate Den Bakker towards the end. This did not last long as Den Bakker tired and Boogerd drove towards the end to win alone, with Den Bakker being caught by the pursuers to finish fourth.

Meanwhile, Abraham Olano's ONCE team kept up the tempo in the peloton and he came in 16th place. The Spaniard is now just one stage away from winning the Tirreno-Adriatico, his second stage race victory of the year. He should have no problem in tomorrow's 166 km stage around San Benedetto del Tronto which is suited to sprinters.

Results

1. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                      5.33.45 (37.753 km/h)
2. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre Daikin                0.18
3. Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole                    0.20
4. Maarten Den Bakker (Ned) Rabobank                   0.22
5. Serguei Ivanov (Rus) Farm Frites                    0.29
6. Davide Rebellin (Ita) Liquigas-Pata
7. Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step
8. Pascal Richard (Swi) Linda McCartney
9. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank
10. Rolf Sorensen (Dan) Rabobank                       0.34
...
16. Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank             0.39
18. Oscar Freire (Spa) Mapei-Quick Step               
20. Johan Museeuw (Bel) Mapei-Quick Step              
34. Eric Zabel (Ger) Deutsche Telekom                 
38. Michele Bartoli (Ita) Mapei-Quick Step            
45. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE-Deutsche Bank         
57. Oscar Camenzind (Swi) Lampre Daikin                4.21
104. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Deutsche Telekom               27.55

Classification after stage 7:

1. Abraham Olano (Spa) ONCE-Deutsche Bank          28.42.44
2. JanHruska (Tch) Vitalicio Seguros                   0.10
3. Carlos Dominguez (Spa) Vitalicio Seguros            0.18
4. Laurent Jalabert (Fra) ONCE-Deutsche Bank           0.38
5. Marco Serpellini (Ita) Lampre Daikin                0.46
6. Jens Voigt (Ger) Credit Agricole                    0.52
7. Marc Wauters (Bel) Rabobank                         0.55
8. David Romero Plaza (Spa) Festina-Lotus              1.02
9. Gabriele Colombo (Ita) Cantina Tollo                1.04
10. Michael Boogerd (Ned) Rabobank                     1.26
 
37. Erik Zabel (Ger) Deutsche Telekom                  4.05
132. Jan Ullrich (Ger) Deutsche Telekom             1.09.10