2nd Giro della Provincia di Lucca - 2.3Italy, October 3-6, 20001999 results Preview Team List Past winners The stages:
PreviewThe four day, four stage Giro della Provincia di Lucca is the last Italian race before the World Championships in Plouay next week, and it will be the final selection race for the Italian team. A total of 24 professional teams are enrolled for the race, 15 of them Italian, with riders such as Erik Zabel (Telekom), Romans Vainsteins (Vini Caldirola), Davide Rebellin (Liquigas), Andrei Tchmil (Lotto), Serguei Gontchar (Liquigas), Oscar Freire (Mapei), Dimitri Konyshev, Fabio Baldato, and Wladimir Belli (Fassa Bortolo), Oscar Camenzind and Gilberto Simoni (Lampre), Stefano Garzelli (Mercatone Uno), Mirko Celestino and Ivan Gotti (Polti), as well as Francesco Casagrande (Vini Caldirola), Michele Bartoli and 1999 winner Paolo Bettini (Mapei). The four stages are hilly, but not overly so. Stage one from Massarosa-Viareggio is 156 kilometres, consisting of 50 kilometres in line, then three finishing circuits involving the 6.25 % climb of Monte Pitoro. Stage two from Fornaci di Barga to Marina di Massa is 187 kilometres, and contains the climbs of Perpoli (11.1 %), Foce (5.6 %), to be tackled three times. Stage three is the longest at 220 kilometres, a multiple circuit race starting in Capannori and finishing in Altopascio. The main climb, to be ridden nine times, is that of Montecarlo, a short 5.2 % hill. The final stage is 152 kilometres, from Marina di Carrara to Lucca which finishes with a six lap, 14.6 kilometre circuit with one climb per lap (San Martino in Vignola, 4 %).
Team list AG2R-Prevoyance Past Winners1999 Paolo Bettini (Ita) Mapei |